This picture was taken after a FULL day of wearing.
I made view A (which is the view in the photo, only I didn't make the belt) and my skirt came out almost identical to the one in the photo (even down to the similar print!). I swear it was a coincidence that the pattern's fabric almost matched what I ended up using. I made it in a straight size 20 based on my hip measurement and decided not to lengthen it any.
The fabric I used is a cotton/lycra stretch twill with a sateen finish in a black and white leaf/bubble motif that I got at Hancock Fabrics. I was originally going to make a pair of capris from the fabric but decided to use it as a wearable muslin of sorts for this skirt. The fabric cuts and sews up beautifully. The other great thing about the pattern on this fabric is that it's not really necessary to match up the pattern because of how the design is laid out...it seemed to match up for the most part no matter how I laid out my patterns. This was a relief because I didn't really have a ton of yardage to begin with.
When I first basted the side seams together I thought the finished skirt may be a little snug in the hip area, so I sewed the side seams of the top skirt and flounce with 3/8" seams instead of the standard 5/8". I also attached the flounce to the top skirt with 3/8" seams to give me some leeway with the overall length. It turned out I could have done my 5/8" seams and been fine in the end. Something to remember for next time.
The pattern calls for twill tape to be stitched to the top edge, turned over and topstitched. I used 7/8" grosgrain ribbon instead of 1/2" twill tape (I think twill tape looks yucky anyway) and really like how stable and comfortable the waistband is - and I don't have to worry about tucking in a facing, it lies totally flat. I also did a Hong Kong finish on all of the inside seams (including the long seam that attaches the flounce at the bottom) and did my usual invisible zipper application rather than the lapped zipper the pattern called for. The instructions called for the zipper to be inserted 3/8" (I think that's the measurement, I don't have the instructions in front of me) from the finished lower edge but I don't like having the gap at the waist, so whenever I have a pattern that calls for this treatment I insert the zipper to the top and then put the hook and eye below the zipper pull. It's not only easier to get to for me (especially on dresses) but it has that extra protection to keep the zipper from inching its way too far down (which I've honestly never had happen). For the hem, I played around with using a couple different types of seam finishes and in the end opted to sew a finishing stitch around the bottom hem and turn it up 3/8" and topstitch. Anything else I tried (including a double-turned hem or anything wider than 3/8" ended up interfering with the flowy-ness of the flounce. I ended up cutting about 1/2" off the bottom of the flounce to get the final length at mid-knee (which is the ideal length on me for shorter skirts and dresses), which accounts for my 3/8" seam between the flounce and skirt and the 3/8" hem rather than 5/8". This skirt also falls more than 1" below my natural waist because of my increased side seams. I like where it falls, so when I make it again I will probably keep the waist seam the same and taper down to 5/8" at the bottom of the upper skirt.
The interesting thing about this skirt is that it calls for 2-1/8 yards for a size 18+ but then it only uses 2/3 of the full width of fabric. My fabric was 45" wide. Three of the four pieces are cut on a fold and with 45" fabric the fourth piece cannot be cut to the side of any of the folded pieces. This left me with easily 12" of fabric down the entire folded length of fabric. I'm not sure what I'll do with the leftover piece of fabric, but it's definitely enough that I could do a simple tank.
I wore the skirt to work on Monday with cute fitted black knit top and dressy beaded black flip-flops. I wish I had gotten a picture of me in it. It is definitely a flattering look for me and was comfortable and wore great (no wrinkles!). This is absolutely something I will make again.
2 comments:
I really like this skirt. Interesting about the grosgrain ribbon...did you say how you tacked it down? I might like to try that sometime.
Your skirt is fantastic. Re the grosgrain ribbon. A pattern I was using called for this to finish the waistband but the store I went to didn't stock it. Instead they had a similar sort of ribbon which is slightly curved to fit the curve of your waist. It's very cool and I would recommend it if you can find it. I'm not sure what it's called.
Maree
Sydney - Australia
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