Monday, November 18, 2013

Finished: High Waisted Couture Style Skirt! Yaaaayyy!

Here's my couture style high waisted skirt! With the holidays coming, and lots of occasions for dress up, I decided to style it as a day-to-evening outfit for these photos. And I even used props and accessories for the photo shoot. So, you know I'm super excited (!!!!) about how it came out.

For day, I'd wear it with a cropped jacket and boots...

On my commute (prop coffee mug and tote)


I'm just as happy with the fit of this skirt as the original version. Really, for a pencil skirt for me, self drafted is the way to go. As a reminder, I took my original draft, and converted two front darts into princess seams and extended the waist by 4 inches (details here).


Hmm, maybe a final pressing would have been advisable. Oh well.

My original skirt had an extra pair of front darts which, for the pear shaped/those who have a significant difference between their waist and hips, helps prevent distortion over the hips. You couldn't really see the darts in my original wax cloth skirt due to the busy print. However, here you can see that my skirt actually has that extra set of darts next to the princess seams.





Someone needs a haircut. Yikes!






Given that it was an afterthought, I'm really pleased with how the front slit came out.  It didn't occur to me until after I was half done sewing that it would be more fun to move it to the front, but I'm glad I did. It's really rather functional and I love the style.


Front slit

OK, so now you've seen one way I could wear it to the office (really, I have loads of options!). But here's where I decided to change for an evening affair.  A quick change of shoes and accessories plus an up-do transform the outfit for a holiday outing or date... (Pretend it's night time and I'm off to somewhere elegant, like a holiday concert or party.)


I can sit in it!

Here you can see how high the boned waist comes:




I may take some additional photos with a different color top so that you can see the waist a bit better. The corselette is definitely doing it's job. I'm not sure that slouching in this skirt is really an option. 

So, here is my hand-picked zipper. I think I like it. I'm not 100% sure, but that's more because of my imperfect execution rather than anything inherently wrong with hand picked zippers. It's supposed to create a little dome/spine where the fabric meets at the zipper, which it does. This is supposed to relax after a few wearings so that it lays flat. We shall see! 

Hand picked zipper

 I think that's all there is to tell about the outside of the skirt....


Date night!

So now, for those of you who like to see all the inner workings, here are some of the inside details...



Waist stay
I added a grosgrain waist stay to anchor the skirt and bones to my waist. The only thing I didn't think of was that I would be tucking a top into the skirt most likely. But there is enough wiggle room for it to go under the stay, anyway.

Waist stay and hanging loop

Above you can see that I tacked the stay in to all the seams and darts, making sure to go thru to the corselette, but not to the outside. Also, I added silk ribbon as hanging loops. When I'm wearing the skirt, they lay flat along the inside of the waist. But when I hang it: 



Hung up inside out.

Here's the lining, which I finished with narrow hem lace. 


Lining at the hem

And underneath, here is the hem and seams. I finished the hem with hem lace and I left the seams raw and catch stitched down with red thread for fun. 

Finished details

Lastly, here is the slit from the inside. At first, I just attached the lining with it's beautiful lace edge with a thread chain at the hem. But during the photo shoot it kept peeking out. So, I'm going to slip or fell stitch it in place before I wear it out.




I don't really think that there is much else that I would have done differently. I had several hold-ups making this skirt because of my travels and schedule, but it came together very quickly in terms of hours spent on it. Working with my custom skirt pattern definitely helped. Also, for the amount of work that I wanted to do, I think I picked the right blend of couture and regular sewing techniques. The beautiful fabrics that I was working with - textured wool suiting from Beckenstein and leopard organza from Paron - kept me motivated and behaved beautifully at every step.

Ready for the holidays!

So that's it! I think my skirt is classic, but sexy and I feel like I've made it my own with all the beautiful details. And now I plan to wear it non-stop for all of the holiday functions that I have coming up. Woot! And I have a few tops in the works, so expect to see it in a supporting role in future projects.

All posts about my skirts can be found under the label Pimp My Skirt

30 comments:

Clio said...

Wow! This is perfect! The fit is amazing! I'm really, really impressed by all the fine details. This is so versatile and fabulous! Also, DUDE-- you have a SLAMMIN' figure!

Clio said...

What an impressive make! Fits perfectly. So flattering. I love it!

Clio said...

Oooooo!! Beautiful details, elegant simplicity of lines, and wearabilty: A triumph! Bring on the holidays!

Clio said...

Phwoar! Especially love the holiday / date night ensemble. Look at that gorgeously wasp waist. Definitely a keeper - that skirt. And love how the black lace looks on your lining. You should make sure that lace peeks out every once in a while. Too beautiful to be kept hidden! :-D

Clio said...

Sha-zam! That is an awesome skirt. Love how it can absolutely be worn for every sort of occasion - though the dressed up version is my favorite. Definitely has inspired me to think about making a versatile pencil skirt for myself.

Clio said...

There were so many other possible outfits that I made while playing dress up! Serious versatility!

Clio said...

Corselette! ;-) Seriously, old fashioned ladies knew how to enhance their figures. It's like magic!

Clio said...

THe lace - yes, I'm torn, but is wasn't peeking out in a pretty/cute way. So, I'm going to have to hope for gusts of wind so that slit can blow open a little...

Clio said...

YES! This looks amazing! You did an awesome job. And, might I add, your waist is soooo teeny tiny!

Clio said...

What a beautiful skirt and the fit is excellent. Very inspired by all your couture techniques!

Clio said...

Very cute Clio - you look fab!

Clio said...

You did an awesome job and you look fabulous.

Clio said...

I love the versatility of the skirt! You did a great job on this!

Clio said...

Hooray for beautifully fitted pencil skirts - brava!

Clio said...

This is gorgeous - so worth the effort! And I love how the change to high-waistedness! I'll be using your directions to draft this on my own pencil skirt pattern. I second (or third) that this really showcases your lovely figure!

Clio said...

Gorgeous skirt! Very flattering. Your waist looks tiny and your butt looks great.

Clio said...

YOWZA SHE'S GORGEOUS!!!


and the skirt is pretty nifty too. :)) teehee.

Clio said...

he he - Thanks!

Clio said...

LOL. Honestly, Kenneth King's skirt drafting method has magical butt flattering properties.

Clio said...

WOW, you look stunning and that skirt is GORGEOUS!! I'm going back now to check out all your construction posts because I am so intrigued by the boning/waist stay...

Clio said...

You nailed it. Perfectly. What a great skirt! And I love all the interior details: lace, organza, RED THREAD (why wouldn't I think of that?!), and a striped bit of waist stay. PERFECT.

Clio said...

Oh wow - my jaw is definitely on the floor with this make! What I love about sewing at this level is how all the intricate inner details make the spectator view appear so clean, simple and polished. It really is stunning - and thanks for all the close up detail shots - it's as gorgeous on the inside as it looks from the outside!

Clio said...

You know, I feel like when you sew something so basic as a black pencil skirt, it's the little or inside details that make it really special. So, I definitely feel like a million bucks in it!

Clio said...

The red just went so well with the leopard.... why fight it? Next time hot pink.

Clio said...

Looks AMAZING! I love all the cotoure details. Lovely Job.

Clio said...

I absolutely love to see the inside of this skirt. It is GORGEOUS - WS and RS! It has never occurred to me that for very curvy lower halves (with lots of diff between waist and hips), the princess seam is just the ticket - just as it is over breasts when the waist and under bust are relatively small. Fascinating.

Clio said...

A beautiful, versatile piece. Did you make the black silk top? If so more detail on that too.

Clio said...

Wow your waist looks TINY in this skirt, amazing job and well worth spending the time on all those couture details for a classic black pencil skirt.

Clio said...

This is GORGEOUS and so incredibly flattering. It really works your hourglass figure. You're going to stop everyone in their tracks at your holiday parties!

Clio said...

Princess seams rule!