Burda Skirt 10-2011-119

Well it’s finally done, and I’m quite pleased with it. When I saw Mary Nanna’s version (both of them) I had to make one, but hers are absolutely marvellous. My mystery fabric (from Value Village!) is no where as lovely as silk dupioni, but after the final pressing I think it might actually have some natural fibre in it as it was a dream to press with steam! This started out as another wearable muslin, but it’s a keeper. Even my mum commented on it, and that’s praise indeed! (Actually, I did make a real muslin to check the fit before cutting my cheapo *interesting* fabric.)

 

I was worried that the pockets would be too much for me, but they’re not too bad.

Here’s the list of alterations:

1. Shortened the skirt by about 2 1/2 inches.
2. Chopped 1 inch off the bottom of the front pockets; the proportions just weren’t right with the skirt’s shorter length.
3. Added a 2nd dart to the back pieces (1st pic below).
4. Made a swayback alteration: dropped the waist by 1/2 inch at CB, tapering to 0 at the side seams. I might tweak the shaping of the waist band there to smooth out the curve a bit more.
5. The zip is moved from the side seam to the back. I’m doing this now on all skirts so I can ensure a good fit and make any future sizing adjustments if needed.
6. I changed the construction order, and attached the facings to the front and back panels separately, before sewing the side seams. Again, this is so I can make future alterations if needed.
7. It’s lined (a nice bonus), and the lining is hand stitched to the zip.
8. CB seam is topstitched like the CF seam (2nd pic).
9. The side seams were taken in by about 1/2 inch at the bottom and tapered to the hips.

 

Now, here’s something I never realized before: the lining *should* be about 1 inch shorter than the skirt fabric, and here’s why!

 

Yup, there’s the lining peaking out. Aaarrrrrgh! But it is the NEATEST hem I’ve ever done on lining, and it’s all thanks to this Industry Insider video (Hem Shears with Ease) I watched on Threads insider (their new subscription service). Just need to do it again, no big deal!

And now I think I’ll go make another one! There’s some navy ramie (linen-like) that’s been lingering in my stash for about a year. I might try to make the pockets internal though, but I’ll wait and see, and maybe bring the sides in a bit more to less of an A-line. It’s getting to be a lot of fun now, making modifications to patterns!