So, as my blog title
I actually made this at my sewing weekend away in May, but just haven't got around to taking a photo of it as yet. Taking photos for this skirt yesterday afternoon was quite difficult too because it was blowing a gale outside even though it was bright sunshine, so I've had to settle for some rather ordinary indoor photographs in front of a freshly painted wall (ignore the skirting boards though - they're next to be painted) in my bedroom where my beloved shoe cupboard used to be (those indents in the carpet). As part of our decluttering we've dismantled it, I've thrown out a good many pairs of worn out shoes and packed the rest into my cupboard. I can't wait to move - one of the things I'm looking for in the next place is a nice big walk in robe!
Anyway, this is a pencil skirt pattern from a 2010 issue of Burda that I had overlooked at the time but found it recently when I was looking for a pencil skirt pattern . This doesn't seem to be available for download on the Burda Style website, but the pattern looks like this:
The navy blue polka dot fabric is a 100% cotton that I bought online from fabric.com back in March that was quite stiff much quilting fabric. After I prewashed the fabric, it lost some of the glossiness but not the stiffness, which actually worked ok for a fitted skirt like this but probably wouldn't be so great for other types of clothing unless you wanted some stiffness and volume to it. I made the welt pockets in a white cotton sateen to make them stand out - they look much larger than the pattern drawing suggest but I'm pretty sure I followed Burda's instructions for them.
It's supposed to have a fly front zipper at the centre front but I changed this to an invisible zip at the side purely because I forgot to take a normal zipper away with me on the weekend and I really wanted to finish it that weekend. But it turns out that was actually a stroke of fortune because according to the others who have made this skirt finishing the waistband with a facing and a fly front zipper was a bit awkward (see KBenco's post on how she dealt with it). In the end I just lined this to the finished edge, and sewed the waistline seam using some twill tape that Sharon graciously gifted to me on the weekend because I didn't have any of that with me at the time either.
The back is cut on the fold so no pesky pattern matching with the polka dots was required,and I chose to leave off the welt pockets on the back view:
And I think I did a pretty good job almost matching the polka dots at the side seams:
But now for the moment of truth - this skirt might look ok in these photos, but it is unwearable at the moment. I should have taken these photos 2 months ago when I made it, because it fitted perfectly then but unfortunately I've put on a few kilos since them due to my normal winter weight gain (and not all related to a fondness for rich self saucing puddings and a preference for inactivity!) and now the skirt is way too tight to wear.
I don't think the weight gain is noticeable, but the weight has gone straight to my hips and thighs which is typical for a pear shape body, and now the skirt slides upward and twists around with each and every step I take. In fact even just posing for these photos I had to keep tugging the skirt down, and you can see in a few photos the horizontal wrinkles across the front indicating that it's too small.
I suppose I could let out all the seams and hope that I could make it fit. Or I could just wait until spring or early summer and hope my weight drops back as it usually does! I fully lined this skirt so that I could wear it to work and casually in winter (ie over nude pantyhose), and even had some outfit ideas lined up:
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| red wool crepe jacket made from , red Nine West slingbacks |
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| red cardigan from Target, red flats from Nine West |
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| navy blue Cue blazer, red Nine West slingbacks |
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