Happy sewing in 2018!

I was pretty slack and barely posted in 2017, so I'm hoping to do much better this year. 

This is not a radical refashion by any means, but this skirt is now back in rotation (it actually looks better on me than Gabbi the mannequin in the photo).

I made this 8-gore skirt a loooong time ago, and I wore it a lot.  But I made some odd decisions at the time and then it shrank in the wash (I swear, that's the reason it became too small). 

Then, the zip broke (under some stress).  I have a love / hate relationship with invisible zippers, they look (or maybe don't look?) really good as they disappear into a seam, but they are so fragile I am always replacing them.  I have learned the hard way not to put them in trousers, mid-working day wardrobe malfunctions are the pits. 

So I replaced the zip, but then those bits at the top of the zip kept digging in my back when sitting in chairs - hence the tab with velcro. 

Then, and this is odd decision number one, I put inseam pockets in this skirt originally.  Even though it has a fitted waist and hip line.  Pockets are great of course, except when the shirt started to 'shrink' they popped out even more than usual and looked awful. 

And odd decision number two was to make the lining much smaller than the shell.  I mean, it made sense to make a straight skirt style lining instead of an 8-gore one, but when I released the side seams on the lining the skirt suddenly fit again.  It was always the lining. Unfortunately that was after I'd cut the pockets out or I might have been able to save them.  I've added knit panels to the lining to make it bigger, which is not my genius idea but from here: judith turner - alteration genius  Not only does the skirt now fit, it's sooo much more comfortable especially as I like to stride about and usually wear trousers.  I might start doing that all the time.

Happy refashioning in 2018!