Party in the back

This year, in addition to sewing whatever strikes my fancy, I decided to take a look at my wardrobe and see what I was actually lacking. Novel idea, no?

And one thing that I've needed for some time, and haven't made an adequate version of is, of all things, a black skirt. A longer (though not too long) skirt, full (but not too full). Early last year I made the Ottobre 10 gore skirt, which was fine, but the fabric wasn't as good as it should have been and the seams started showing wear entirely too soon. To the thrift store it went.

I also had a black A-line skirt (my TNT Burda pattern) but though it was longer than my usual take on that pattern, I wanted something below the knee, that I could wear with boots without that gap showing in between.

The newer patterns I've seen just weren't doing it for me, and then I realized I had the perfect pattern all along. (Don't we always realize that?) I'd even already made it up once, in a cream summer fabric. Here's the original patternreview, back in the mists of time.

BWOF 4/06 #122, skirt with back pleats. I used some of my apparently abundant collection of black rayon poly lycra (RPL), which I keep buying in the mistaken idea that I don't have any in stash. This is some serious skirt, people. The back pattern piece measures 44" before pleating, and the front is about 20". Which gives you some significant swish behind, and almost feels like I'm wearing a train. Very cool. The front is much more serious, just a slight flare to it, and the skirt drops from a front and back yoke, the back one curved to accommodate the curved line of pleats. Side zip. Loud lining of black and white floral poly charmeuse.


Original BWOF photo


Even adding 2.5" in length to the existing pattern, I found that if I hemmed the skirt properly, it wouldn't be long enough.  And can I tell you, I also didn't feel like hand-hemming a skirt that had a hem of more than 5 feet in circumference? 

My solution, otherwise known as a design opportunity, was to press the hem up by about an inch and use one of my machine's ornamental stitches to cover the raw edge. Then I added more rows of ornamental stitching on either side.  All in all, the hem is about 1.5" high, and adds a nice bit of weight and interest to the skirt.  And it used up almost 2 bobbins, so you know just how much sewing was involved, though it was the kind where I could just sit back and make sure it fed into the machine evenly. 

I love it.  I don't think I'm going to feel the need to replace this one any time soon, unless I wear it out.