Horse beating of the dead variety

Can you stand another round of photos of the burgundy twill skirt?  sorrynotsorry.

I've worn and washed this skirt a few times now, and every time I wear it, something new annoys me about it, so about a week ago, I decided I just needed to take it apart and see if I could fix it from the inside out, so to speak.  I unpicked every stitch except the pockets and kept the waistband and petersham to the side.  The petersham ribbon had shrunk quite a bit in the wash, but the waistband was still in good shape, and had the hand-worked buttonhole that I didn't want to lose.

I decided that the main problems were the darts and the skirt fullness, particularly in the back.  For whatever reason, this skirt came out significantly bigger in the back, and it just hung strangely.  The zipper insertion was causing some weird rippling at the side that emphasized the oversize back, and the darts (even after I moved and deepened them) were in the wrong place and looked weird.  I also felt the skirt was a bit too long.

I pulled out my vintage Anne Adams 9481 pattern (the one I used for my beloved flannel skirt last winter) and decided to use it as a guide to remove some of the back fullness and also to straighten the lines of the skirt slightly.  I also used the darts as a guide.  It was a bit of a slap dash, as a skirt cut to a-line doesn't just magically straighten to a pencil-style silhouette, but in the end, I trimmed off a big triangle of fabric on both sides, including a lot of the pocket facing.  I trimmed 1.5 inches off the bottom as well.  

I resewed everything, reinserted the zipper, checked the fit, and put the waistband back on.  I added about 6" of petersham to the end to make up the difference in shrinkage and put the button back on the band.  I decided to leave off the decorative buttons on the pocket edges because the pockets are now much narrower and further back from the center, and I felt the skirt would work better plain.  

I think I need to move the button over, as there is a little too much room between the buttonhole and the edge, so the waistband is belling a bit at the side, and the pocket on the zipper side doesn't really want to lay totally flat, but I do like the straighter silhouette better, and have decided that I really just need to use that Anne Adams pattern more--it fits quite nicely, and I like the look of it, particularly for fall/winter skirts.  

One thing about feeling older, I like less full skirts, and straight skirts just feel "right" to me at the moment.  I do need to keep the length right (25-26") to keep it from being frumpy, but it helps me to plan appropriate projects for myself going forward.

I'm still not 100% satisfied with it, but I like it better than before.  Sorry about the rumpled state of myself; I took these photos late in the day, after a long day of running about after children, and a bunch of sewing, including this vintage beauty, coming soon to a blog near you:

I'm also retaining enough water to qualify as part of Thailand, so I'm feeling a bit puffy and swollen too.  Blerg.

Just the facts:

Burgundy twill skirt (version 1.3): McCall's 4275/Anne Adams 9481, Hollyburn pocket, Robert Kaufman Hampton Twill, all-purpose zip, bias binding (in berry, a close match), vintage resin button

Water to Wine rayon blouse: vintage rayon remnant, Gertie's Portrait blouse pattern (from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing)

Brown t shirt: Ann Taylor via ThredUp

Boots: Modcloth (still hanging on...the ebay boots were a bust and are going back.  Still looking for a replacement)

Acorn necklace: Weeping Grove (etsy)

Earrings: Target (old)

Wood hair barrett: St Augustine Vintage (etsy)