Friday, March 04, 2011

Indonesian sarong to 50s skirt (really!)

This co-op is really inspiring me and I find myself thinking about sewing and refashioning all the time these days!

On the drive home from work tonight, I suddenly remembered two beautiful pieces of fabric I have had stuffed in the closet at home for ages. My cousin's partner is half-Indonesian and over the years, my cousin has brought back lovely things for me after a visit to her in-laws. Including this garment... 



It is - well, it was before tonight! - a sort of sarong, basically a loose, long and wide tube of fabric (with selvage on each end and one long top to bottom seam up the back) that you slide on and then knot however you like at the bust or waist. It was very large, but so is my bosom, and I never felt very secure in it, even just lounging at home. So in the car tonight, I thought, why not make it a skirt? 

You can read the full post on how I did it here, but overall it was really very easy and only took about half an hour. (For you more experienced refashionistas, I'm sure it would have taken even less.) The final result is not bad, very 50s and retro looking, especially with ballerines and a cardigan. 


I really fiddled with the gathers along the elastic before I took this picture, but I think I actually want to do a little sneaky stitching at the waistband in the front to keep the gathers where I want them, almost like pleats. Or I could unpick it all and start over. Hmmm. 

Either way, I don't want to have to wait until it's truly spring to wear this, so I'm thinking I might try pairing it with my black knee-high boots, opaque black tights and a black turtleneck sweater. What do you think?

6 comments:

Valerie S. said...

Super cute - love the pattern.

Minnado said...

It looks lovely. I think you should definitely try it with the boots and turtleneck.

Unknown said...

Oooh, I love this!!! Well done!
Px

Zoe said...

I really like this, I do not feel comfortable in sarongs but you have inspired me to do something with mine!x

Refashion said...

Really gorgeous fabric, I love it

Bryony
EOD

Refashion said...

Gorgeous! Beautifully styled as such, but would work well with boots and a turtleneck too. Looks like a really versatile skirt =), nice save from the never-worn sarong!

Whenever I'm tempted to re-do a refashion, I always ask myself: could I still wear it the way it is now, and is there something else I'd rather be refashioning instead? Every item we redo is a different item we delay ;-). Personally, I think that tacking down the gathers is a good halfway solution, unless you reeeeaally don't like the gathers.

Jessica
EOD