Wool Crepe Everyday Skirt

Let me tell you a tale of bottle green wool crepe.  When Sunni at a Fashionable Stitch shut down her fabric store, she had a great sale on her inventory to get rid of it.  This included a wonderful bottle green wool crepe that she had used to make a Hollyburn skirt.  At the time, I had recently made a Hollyburn, and thought I'd like a wool one too.  

The pattern is very fabric hungry, so I got the 3 yards it requires.  By the time the fabric arrived, I realized I didn't like the Hollyburn on me at all (too much volume!) and the crepe languished in my stash.  I'd pull it out occasionally, look at it and think about what to make with it, but I always put it back, the cost of the fabric a deterrent to casual use.

After doing some sketching on my Body Model croquis, I got interested in the idea of a winter jumper.  There are a lot of patterns available for pinafores right now, but my sketches were along the lines of a sleeveless Washi, so I decided to work with what I had.  *cue ominous music*  I squeezed a half bodice lining out of some rayon bemberg remnant and set to work.  The result was horrid.  So horrid in fact that I can't bring myself to show you a picture of it on my body, so you get to see it on a loveseat in my living room.  Ugh.  

I threw it in the naughty corner and sulked about the whole thing for a bit.  After I thought more rationally about it, I decided that I should make what I had originally intended for the fabric: a skirt.  I had cut my Washi carefully enough to preserve yardage (the fabric is 60" wide) and so had more than enough left over to cut an Everyday skirt.  The drape of the wool crepe seemed a poor fit with a more fitted pencil skirt, even though I'm really into slim skirts right now.  I took apart the original garment and stored it with my scraps in case I try it on a pencil skirt at some point.

I ordered additional bemberg to line it, since I figured it would make for a nicer finished skirt and set to work.  I remembered that lining my orange wool skirt was kind of a pain, and this time was no different.  The problem is the waist band construction isn't done in one piece.  It is clever for the insertion of the elastics, but it makes putting in a lining very tricky.  I also ran out of dark green thread and had to wait for more to arrive, only to find that when it arrived, it was slightly lighter than my previous green thread (even though they were supposed to be the same) and shows more on the hem and top stitching.  I stitched in the ditch on the waistband, and the gathering around the elastics hides it in the back, but the hem is rather obviously a different color.  I may take out the hem and blind stitch it instead.

That said, even though this was a tortuously slow make (more than 2 weeks start to finish because of waiting for supplies and time to sew), I think I like the finished skirt.  It isn't as warm as I thought it would be, but I think it will be a great spring/fall skirt. 

I did a 1" petersham interfaced waistband again, but also did a 1" elastic in the back.  I may end up taking that out and putting in the double line of elastics as on the spice cake skirt, since I like the fit better.  This one still feels slightly too big on me even though I've cinched it and cinched it.  1" braided elastic behaves so differently from 1/2" braided elastic and I don't really understand why.  It is 10" or less at this point and still feels too big.

  I also did the same pleated pattern as on the spice cake skirt and I really like it.  And even though the lining was a serious pain in the patootie, I'm glad it is there, because it just makes the skirt feel more luxe and professional.  That hem, tho.  I'm definitely going to fix it.

So while the make is a successful one, and I'm glad to have it in my closet, I need a little space from the process of making it before I'm ready to really wear it.  (Apologies for monotonous styling decisions--I took all the photos for this week's makes on the weekend and couldn't be bothered to completely change my clothes again.  Looks good with this shirt anyway!)