My New Skirt

I should have had this skirt finished earlier in the week. After all, the muslin only took me about 10 minutes to sew. I tried every day this week to get this skirt done. I got the back seams done during my intermediate sewing class on Tuesday while the students were cutting out their patterns. I finally took the time to sit down yesterday and got most of it done, and I finished it this morning.


I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. The fit with the lycra fabric is perfect. If I were going to nitpick about the fit, it would be that I need to remove another 1/4" from the back as it's got just a tad bit too much length under the waistband. But like I said, that's nitpicking and with an untucked top, no one would notice.


I'm very happy about the length. I would have looked ridiculous in the micro-mini length that was drafted, but with my additional 6 inches, it's perfect for a middle aged overweight mom. It looks good with low heeled sandals and with my platform sandals, which is how I'd probably wear it to work.


I love the details in this skirt pattern. The pocket is a nice touch and my fly zipper turned out great. It's the first one I've done without first reviewing Debbie's tutorial. I decided not to use a straight waistband, which I said I was going to use after trying on the muslin. Instead I altered the front band so that it had very little curve while I left the back waistband unaltered. You can see in the pic that it's pulling just a tiny bit, but it's much better than the muslin. Again, that's just nitpicking.

I searched my stash and then went JoAnn's and couldn't find a button that matched to use on the skirt. I just used a white button and painted it with a blue permanent marker. It'll be interesting to see how this does in the wash.


In order to make this skirt adjustable for weight loss, I sewed it a bit differently from the pattern instructions. (At least I think they're different as I didn't really read the directions.) I made the back, added the waistband, then the facing. I made the front piece the same way, with the waist band and facing attached. Then I sewed the front and back together all the way through the waistband and facing.


This way, all I have to do is remove the stitching that holds the facing down, press the seam closed and then take in the side seams. No fussing with the waistband at all. The only problem with this method is that I eliminated the staystitching, which means that the facing wants to turn out and show at the top of the waistband. That wouldn't have been a problem if my facing had matched but I was trying to use up some old quilt fabric scraps. The best part is that you can't even tell I didn't sew the waistband as one piece and I'll be able to wear the skirt for a longer time through my weight loss.

I did make the belt loops but decided to leave them off for now. If the skirt becomes too baggy after I've altered it once, then I will apply them so that I can use a belt to hold the skirt up if I still feel like wearing it. It's just one of the trick used for sewing for weight loss.


While I'm usually not a tuck-in kind of girl, I'm thinking this skirt looks OK on me with the top tucked in. I didn't pull it out for any of the pictures because, well, I was trying to show you the skirt. What do you think, tucked or untucked?