WWSSD? (What Would Selfish Seamstress Do?)

Probably not this.

Gathered skirt

Yes, this is the other piece of “nice” fabric Her Selfishness accidentally included with the poly chiffon and fun-fur. (Don’t you worry… we’re getting to the fun fur.) It is apparently a Vera Wang jaquard. This probably makes it the first “designer” fabric I’ve ever had the privilege of mangling. It’s navy/black, variably shiny, with a pattern of concentric circles. It’s crisp to the point of cardboardy and takes a crease very nicely. It would make an extremely elegant coat, ball-gown (if I had, y’know, more than about 3/4 of a metre), or maybe even a sheath-dress for someone with superior fitting skills.

I made a gathered skirt.

In hindsight, it might have been better pleated. Or perhaps I should’ve paid attention to the 2:1 golden rule of gathering, rather than just taking a double-width panel and

Gathered from the back

gathering it all onto my skirt yoke. If I could’ve made it longer I would have—or rather, I’d have made it about the same length but with a wider hem. I think it needs a little bit more weight at the hem… Or something. Anything to reduce that pouf! The pouf does not help with the natural tendency of such skirts to be longer at the front than the back.

Actually, the pictures look pretty good, about what I was going for, so perhaps it’s just that I need a petticoat or bloomers underneath (Madeleine, anyone?) to reduce the feeling of “my bum is hanging out in space” that I get when wearing this. It certainly doesn’t need a crinoline for volume.

This is, however, another item that is not likely to make it into my regular rotation of clothing, and hence not something I should’ve been working on during my precious Self-Stitched September sewing time. I can only conclude that there was some seriously evil mojo infused into that fabric her Selfishness “gave” me.

Pouf!

Or, y’know, that sometimes you just have to make a pouffy skirt.

I used the yoke from the A-Plus A-Line on Burdastyle (graded from a size 4 at the hip to a size 8 at the waist as I didn’t want it sitting at my natural waist), and just gathered the rectangular panels to it. I made my first attempt at a lapped zipper on the side, which turned out awful. If I really want a nice zipper I should really bite the bullet and do it by hand, but I already did the whole hem by hand last night and I didn’t feel like it.

In Self-Stitched September News, Day 4: Are you sick of JJ’s yet?

Self-Stitched September, Day 4

I know I am! (I’m also sick of my usual poses so you can look forward to some doofy ones. This one is called “Oh Noes! I am being Followed!”)