Fall/Spring Skirt - BurdaStyle 08.2011 #131

            
Pattern: BurdaStyle 08.2011 #131
Size: 36
Fabric: wool
Alterations: made it shorter, lining not sewn to front pleats
Techniques: invisible zipper, lining

This skirt has been waiting for a really long time to take this form. I started it about a year ago but left it aside due to my inability to successfully decipher "The Burda Code". You know... that very ambiguous listing of words that are supposed to instruct you into sewing the garment... I abandoned the quest when trying to sew the pleats in the front. And the skirt ended up spending the following year in a plastic zipper bag.

                                                       

Until last week!
I decided to be brave and try again. Only I had to do it from the very start because I am now about 10 kilos slimmer than last year so I had to trace the pattern again and grade all the skirt pieces down to a 36 size.

       

Although my skills at interpreting Burda instructions have somewhat improved over the time, I still could not understand what they were saying when explaining how should the pleats be done so that they can be sewn to the lining... I read both the romanian and english versions and still didn't figure it out. So I decided to do what I should have done from the beginning: put away the instructions and follow my instinct. I didn't sew the lining to the pleats after all.

                          

The result however is not very satisfactory. I like how it turned out but it's not a favorite.
First of all, the lining is kind of a disaster. This is Totally my fault because I knew the piece of fabric I had was not enough and still I was too lazy to go out and buy a larger one. I guess I really wanted to finish the skirt and didn't have enough patience... So the lining is now way too short and way too... unequal. It's kind of annoying because due to the fact that it's too short, the wool fabric of the skirt sticks to thick stockings. (Now try reading the last part very quickly!) You can have a closer look at the lining disaster in this photo:

                                                        

Another thing I don't like is the way the narrow waistband sticks out. Don't know if this is my fault though... This time I did follow the instructions. I tried to fix it by sewing a snap and trying to pull the ends of the waistband closer but it doesn't look that nice.

   

Anyway, it's a wearable skirt. It's just that it won't make it to the favorites list. One can only hope to do a better job next time around, right?