Thursday, August 9, 2007

Reconfigured

I had to got to a wedding, I procrastinated on what I was going to wear, till the night before, as usual...

I knew by this time with not even a plan, I wasn't going to be fashionable, but due to a larger butt than normal, I REALLY didn't have anything to wear.

I'm always picking up things secondhand, mostly because I buy vintage to sell on various online venues. And because I like textiles and I'm cheap....

So I dove into the pile and came up with this. Sorry for the poor picture. I was in a hurry. The pics get better because it was working and I started to hurry less. And for a better view of any of the pics please click to open in a new window.



before
I like the color, grey, I'm boring. I like the fabric, its polyester but feels like washed charmeuse. But I hate one piece dresses, they never fit at the waist, and this one was particularly uncomfortable because it was made for someone with bird arms and cut into me at the underarms. It has a jacket (or shirt) so I, in this late hour of need, decided to make it into a skirt.


First it should be noted that this will only work for someone who is relatively straight figured (like me), no hourglasses will be fitted here. But you can take a look anyway, it might inspire you!




before
While I was looking in the mirror I tugged up the hem a little to see where I could have the skirt fit and be past the zipper, no playing with zippers! You can see my marks were a little off each other but I feel more confidant with what my right hand marks so I use that mark, I guess the other side is for amusement purposes...




before
I lay it out on the table to even up my two sides and to measure where I'll be cutting. I added about 1 1/2" above the pins for the waist band foldover.





before
This is how long it will be, remember I'm in a hurry! You can be more exact.






before
My chalk line.



before
Cut and serged.






before
Normally I would just serge the elastic in. (Pinned at quarters) This time I wasn't sure how it would turn out so I wanted less picking if the need should arise.





before
Another view of elastic going in.






before
Elastic turned and stitched down again.





before
And since I pulled the skirt up to adjust fit I had to shorten the slit.






before
Another view of the slit.



I know I have left out pertinent information! Please ask questions I'll clarify. I understand how pattern companies have trouble with instructions. Once I do things so many times it is difficult to point out every step. Hail to the good teachers...

I really wanted to get another post up. Its been a month since I posted here. This wedding was also June 6th so this is late going up too. I will show you how the skirt turned out, but I want to clean it first, I managed to get ranch dressing on the front of it!

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