Maxi Skirt

We must begin this post with how I'm terrified of sewing clothes.  I can rock a quilt and can crochet most anything but 3-D sewn objects scare me. It all started with my upcoming vacation and my accompanying skirt crisis.  The skirt crisis began months ago but has just now been solved.

You see I fell in love with a pencil skirt at New York and Company clothing store.  It flattered me and was a great simple piece to update my wardrobe.  Last year I bought one and have subsequently purchased three more.  It was upon receipt of the last one that I noticed a problem.  There is a slit in the back that when the tacking stitches are cut and I bend over it shows all they way up to my bum.  OH NO!  I've owned a version of this skirt for about a year.  Who has seen my bum?

Now comes the vacation part of it.  I'm going to church with my sister while there and I wanted something new to wear that actually covered me.  I just bought this fun orange shirt in the picture below and I needed something to go with it.  Once upon a time I had a maxi skirt that I adored.  Over the years it has decomposed leaving a threadbare version of itself behind.  I figured what better idea than to make another one to match my new shirt?

I carefully searched patterns for one that would be simple enough that I wouldn't panic at the thought of making it.  I am not great at zippers and I simply cannot do a gathered stitch.  In the end I found something and I love how it turned out.

The biggest pain was cutting out the pattern.  My pins kept getting stuck in my carpet and I don't have a large enough hard floor surface to pin it on.  I found that the pattern had what's called a godet.  It's a triangle piece to add flow.  I was really nervous about this part, so much so that the cut skirt sat in my craft room for days before I got around to sewing it.  They weren't as difficult as I imagined and the whole thing went together fairly quickly.

*A note of caution when making your own clothes.  Be prepared for size shock!  I know I'm not as thin as I used to be (another post in and of itself) but I don't think I look that bad.  I'm typically between a 12 and 14.  Well for this skirt I'm a 22!?!  I nearly cried.

Here I am wearing the skirt.  You can see the bottom of my orange shirt at the top of the picture.  I think it goes nicely!  I just ADORE how long it is!  I am six feet tall and to have something that long on me is just shy of a miracle.  It's not the most form fitting thing but I love how comfy and flowy it is.

This is what it looks like on the hanger.

I went to my local quilt store in search of a fun match.  I love Kate Spain's Good Fortune line and I was so happy when I found this one to match my new shirt!  The ladies working there agreed that it would be fabulous.  I was a bit worried that such a large print would be overwhelming but once on it calms down a lot.

Here's the pattern I worked from.  It's Simplicity #2184.  You can even find these on the web and print them out on your computer, who knew?