DIY Couture Skater Skirt

After a resounding success of my Grecian Dress I gave another pattern in the book a go. I took another trip to the market and picked up some yellow gingham. There really seems to be a lack of yellow gingham items in the shops! So I thought making my own would be the perfect solution.

I eagerly followed all the instructions in the book and cut out two half circles to make the skirt. It wasn't until I got them sewn up that I realised the skirt was MUCH too big to fit around my waist! All the pies in the world weren't going to make this guy fit snugly! So I re-read the instructions and tried to make it smaller, this time really buggering it up and making something big enough to fit Barbie. I ended up buying more fabric and re-reading again. I found the skirt was frustratingly STILL much too big. It said in the book if it was too big then you could cut some off, but I found it really difficult to know what angle to cut my chunk off. The result of this, it warned me, was that it could slightly change the way the skirt hangs. You can kind of tell a little bit when I am wearing it, but if I don't tell anyone I don't think they will know!

After putting it together I was quite disappointed to find that the fabric was ridiculously see-through! I was so disappointed! I knew I was faced with the options of either putting in a lining (erk!), or making an underskirt. I ended up knocking together a really tiny skirt with a simple elastic waistband with what little gingham I had left to wear underneath. I really wish I'd picked a heavier fabric to make the whole thing out of. I find it's a bit too flappy and despite having a cased-bottom around the hem, the skirt is much too light and doesn't hang very well at all. So far I've only worn it out once, and that was just to watch telly at John's. I'm a bit timid to make another one out of something heavier as I really couldn't work out why the sizing wasn't working in the first place.

For the sake of these photos and bragging on Facebook, the skirt doesn't look to bad, but it's not something I want to wear on a windy day. Lesson learned.

Tx

Currently listening to: 'We Wait Too Long' Nicole Atkins