Friday, February 25, 2011

Wool Pencil Skirt Refashion: Simple yet Eminently Wearable (S.E.W.)


(I keep forgetting to take "before" photos!) So this started out as a thrifted back vent pencil skirt that was 6" too long and 6" too wide. But I loved the mini chevron pattern and the classic black and white palette. It was a nice heavy wool and had a fun little detailing in the back:


As with so many refashions, this involved a bit of improvisation. At first I just chopped off the skirt right above the back vent, so as to preserve the back detailing (the other option was to recut the skirt from the bottom to preserve the hem), and then took in the sides, but that made a skirt so short that I would be embarrassed to wear it to work. Granted, I've seen plenty of women walking around in skirts that short, but it's just not me. So I chopped a couple inches off the remaining bottom portion and turned it around so that the vent overlapped to one side, then used narrow bias binding to cover the raw edge (and as decorative trim). Tada! As often happens with refashions, Version 2.0 is infinitely better than what I originally had in mind!


Usually when I refashion pencil skirts into smaller pencil skirts, I recut the skirt and lining separately ... but this time I thought I'd try treating them as one piece of fabric (to save myself time, hehehe). You can see that I used narrow bias binding to finish the raw edges, and then hem tape to cover the raw edge where the two skirt portions overlapped. I love being able to pick out a complementary color for interior detailing if I so choose. Ah handmade, you are so good!


It's a simple looking refashion, but it actually took me awhile to complete! I like that the result is one-of-a-kind, but "simple" enough that it could be worn weekly and you wouldn't reeeeeeally notice. Simple, yet Eminently Wearable. I'll be applying the S.E.W. criteria to future refashions to see how they stack up!

9 comments:

Lyndel said...

it is lovely, I agree that is a wonderful looking chevron pattern. good work!

Minnado said...

The skirt looks elegant and lovely Jessica. The inside looks good too!

Unknown said...

I love the finish you've achieved on the inside as much as the outside. I'm pushing myself recently to try and improve the finish on my refashions, so this is really fab for me to see. Thank you!
Pxxx

poet said...

Looks great! I'm impressed by how much attention you pay to the inside of the garment, too... mine are usually a bit of a mess on the inside because I'm too impatient...

Unknown said...

Very impressive, very professional. My refashions are a bit of a mess on the inside too as like Poet - I'm too impatient!

Anonymous said...

I'm slightly ashamed of some of my insides too, like Erica and Poet. :) This makes me want to do better with them. This skirt is lovely, and I love the location of the slit! :)

glam.spoon said...

i'm super impressed with your inside finishing... i'm a bit more lazy than that. ;)

jessica said...

Thank you everyone!

I think it's so funny how many people have been commenting about the inside finishing. I spent most my time awed that you all have such a great productivity rate -- now I know why! All that time I drive myself nuts meticulously finishing off the insides ... you smart ones are off to the next refashion ;-).

American Nanny said...

Love, love, love how you moved the vent to the front side. That little move definitely bumps it up a notch.