Not a Sham Skirt

This week I had to take a break and sew something easy and satisfying. Mostly because my sewing time was being taken up with watching live fashion shows from New York Fashion Week** -- have to keep up on those, you know! So with reduced time for actual sewing of my own, I decided to remake a wonderful fabric into a practical skirt.

I found this fabric at the Goodwill a week or two ago, and could not resist its autumnal colour and print. Even if it did come in the form of a giant pillow sham! I took a look at it and thought that I could make a quick and easy gathered skirt by putting some elastic into the existing button band and just cutting the bottom open and hemming. But when I tried that....well, not so much. It gave far too much of a dirndl effect -- too much fabric, not enough waist...

So on to Plan B. I looked through all my skirt patterns to find just the right one for this fabric. I ended up going with the basic A-line view of New Look 6843, which is also the pattern I used to make my first ever skirt, one I still wear! I pressed the pillow sham so that the serged seams were now in the middle, so I could cut my skirt pieces avoiding that chunky seam. I also left the skirt a good bit longer than the pattern, as I didn't want to waste any of my wonderful print.

I found the perfect button from a bunch I also recently thrifted

 

This pattern is so basic and reliable! I cut size 16 and the only adaptation I made was to add some side seam pockets (I just grabbed Butterick 6090, as it was handy in my sewing queue basket, and copied the pocket piece). I wanted to use self-fabric but there just wasn't enough -- so I cut them out of white cotton and just used a strip of the remaining print at the edge of the pocket. That way, if/when the pockets gape there won't be a flash of white.

This pattern used up most of the fabric -- this was nearly a zero-waste project. Only 4 buttons, and this little bit of fabric was left over:

Anyhow, it's a simple, well-fitting skirt pattern that I recommend, having made it twice now. It has a narrow waistband that actually sits at the waist, which I like. Comfortable and sleek, with two darts in front and four in back, which allows for a very nice fit. I like this version in its below-the-knee length, and feel like it was a great project to get back on track, just in time for autumn to arrive!

Wearing it with old standby KwikSew 3658 in the perfect colour

 

**New York Fashion Week was very absorbing. I loved lots of the new looks -- much lace, embroidery and romanticism, which I am very drawn to even if I don't wear it much myself. But the highlights were some of the wonderfully produced runway shows. My favourites were Prabal Gurung's ode to Nepal, and Givenchy's stunning Sept. 11th show.