Asymmetrical Hemlined Skirt

Hello everyone, I have been missing from blogland for a long time because I found that blogging takes a big chunk out of your time. I was also trying to pull away from it a little because I was busy with classes and wanted to be more "present" for my kids. However, I am still reading my favourite blogs and spend too much time on Pinterest!

Asymmetrical hemlines are all the rage now, I saw skirts like that at H&M but what caught my attention was a skirt I saw on Gary Pepper Vintage's blog. The blogger is one of my very favourites because she is so exotic looking and beautiful to begin with. She wears clothes which are all very unique, mainly Australian designers paired with vintage things that she finds.

The Bindi skirt from Sara Phillips seemed to be only available through stores in goodness knows where and the website did not have the skirt available. However, the price of the skirt was listed as AUD$350 at the time of print and as beautiful as it is, that skirt would never make its way into my closet due to budget constraints.

So, I decided to make myself one! The challenge I gave myself was that I did not buy any new fabric, I would use what I had at home. The only thing I ended up buying was interfacing, although I considered buying some black brocade fabric as there is a slightly Asian feel to the print. But I wanted to see how it would turn out before I committed to buying more fabric!

Here is the process in pictures:

The first time I made the skirt, it was fine. I got a bit "flare-greedy" because I wanted the flare of the A line skirt to be more pronounced so in my second draft of the pattern, I widened the flare a few inches more. However, I did not transfer my second pattern to muslin, which was a mistake. I realized only after I had sewn it that it was too flared out.  I used interfacing on the printed fabric because I wanted it to be thicker - it was taken out of my quilting stash and it was too soft, but because of the stiffness of the fabric now, the flare became more pronounced to me.

I have not really dared to wear it out because it is - dare I say it, too short in front! I looked at how the blogger, Nicole wore it, it seemed pretty short but the skirt was less flared, and the back not as long as mine. Still it was a very good lesson for me, to try to draft a pattern from scratch by looking at a picture and felt a sense of having accomplished something.

Here I am, modelling it for the blog! Haha, I had to cross my legs just like Nicole's because I did not feel comfortable in this skirt -  I might have been feeling cold as too much wind was blowing down there!

 Eeks, so short!

 See how it flares out at the back? I have tried to adjust it several times but the thought of unpicking puts me off. I would rather sew a new skirt than unpick the zipper, lining and all!

What I learned from this project:
1. The fabric print of the Bindi skirt is really amazing. I felt mine was a little too busy. I have tried looking online for something similar but nothing yet. The pattern was an exact symmetry of each side, how clever!

2. Always do your sewing on a muslin, get it 100% right before using your good stuff. Even though my quilt fabric was from my own collection, it was something I paid at full price, like $25 per yard. (I bought it from Singapore and cottons are really expensive there)

3. The black panel needs to be wider and less seen of the printed fabric.

Thank you for reading!