A skirt for a jeans kind of gal

So, as promised, here’s the update on the shiny scales fabric. I had this idea, but no idea if it would work (spoiler: it did!) to use the skirt from this Suede Says pattern:

I liked the maximum mullety goodness of View A. Pic from Simplicity’s website.

I wanted the stripes to be vertical in the back and almost horizontal on the front, but wasn’t completely sure how to do that, so I took the instruction page with the pattern pieces image on it to my copier and enlarged them to 200%, and tested on some scrap fabric that I had lying around. They’re kind of cute, and they saved the real fabric from potential destruction.

The skirt as drafted. As you can see, it was a no go.

After eliminating the side seams I had exactly what I wanted.

So then I very carefully laid my fabric out on the floor of my sewing room and cut out the piece (only one, since I got rid of the side seams). After that, all I needed to do was sew on the elastic waistband and admire. 🙂 No, really. It’s not hemmed or anything (I didn’t want to ruin the float with a hem), so it was probably 20 minutes from cutting to done. There are a few things I would do differently if I decided to do it again (and I might):

1. The pattern has a flat edge that is meant to be stitched into the side seam, I’d get rid of it (or at least not clip the notches–OOPS! They’re not noticeable though.)
2. I’d do the waistband tighter. I’m slowly losing some weight, and this may not fit for long, since it’s not really as snug as it should be now.
3. That’s it! Well, unless you count maybe trying it in a woven fabric next time, instead of a slinky textured knit. 😉

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