Cheater Skirt

 Have I ruminated on the blog about how the sewing of simple garments from random (or, at least, somewhat random) fabrics is acting as a replacement for finding randomly appealing garments at the thrift store?

Granted, it's a significantly higher-effort replacement for finding random clothes at thrift stores, but it's still serving to provide the randomness that I genuinely enjoy adding to my clothing options. (And the higher effort is a willing trade off for not only less spending--or, often, the using of things long since paid for--but also less interactions with people who don't, shall we say, share my opinions on mask wearing and social distancing.)

To that end, here's the latest float in the parade of homemade randomness

The pattern is once again New Look 6843, size 16, view E, slightly modified, because the fabric I had wasn't quite wide enough for the full A-line flare.

And the fabric! Not only is it a screamingly vintage cheater quilt print, but it arrived here in the form of an uncompleted sheath dress that had probably been abandoned in the early 1970s at the latest. (Thanks again to the friend who brought the inherited relative's sewing stash a few years ago!)  The dress's construction, as much as had been completed, wasn't great, so I felt no qualms taking it apart to use for something else.

I also called in a bit of another vintage calico, generous gift from another friend, to be the waist band, because I would have had to piece the cheater print to get a piece long enough to make the waist band, and I just didn't wanna.

Then I decided this skirt needed pockets, but not side seam pockets, and cut some scoop pockets awkwardly (I should make a proper pocket alteration, possibly moving the dart reduction into that pocket seam, sometime in the future.)  I then decided it would be fun to use that calico (can we really call it contrast?) to make piping to outline the pocket openings.  I didn't have enough to cut a true 45° bias, but there was enough to cut a workable bias.  Th e pockets are very small, but they're definitely pockets.

Serged the raw edge and pressed it up 1½" and did my "I still haven't figured out why the sewing machine is so hard to get out of fancy stitch mode so I'm going to take advantage of this machine's weird ability to control zigzagging manually" version of a blind stitch

Then pressed the lining up 1" and then 1" again.  Yep, I did once more line this skirt, even though the pattern doesn't call for it!  This fabric isn't properly bottom weight, so I felt like a lining would allow it to hang better than otherwise.

Things worked out so that I could let this properly hang overnight before making the hems, and the lining did grow just a bit around the side seams, so I was able to trim that before pressing everything.

And I even made the effort to switch to a matching thread for the lining.

I did a lapped installation for the zipper,and I'm still not anywhere near adept at that--I have to follow the directions (and I can't find my 'slightly better' lapped zipper instructions), but I do feel like I'm starting to get used to how the process works.

But then I add the lining in the usual refuse-to-hand-stitch way and it gets ugly again.  That might get better in the future, too.

I will note that I'm still sewing the center back seam, installing the zipper, then assembling and attaching the back lining just around the zipper, then sewing the front to back at the shell side seams and then the lining side seams.  It just seams seems easier to me.  Really.

The fabric I used for the waistband was still about a half inch short, so I sewed no waistband extension and used a trouser hook and eye instead of a button for the closure.

Since I was working with limited yardage, I was unable to align the print at the side seams in any way, and also was forced to acknowledge that there is a direction to this print, and the original maker did not observe it, but it's so loud that it's not going to be obvious to a casual observer.

And I was easily able to align the print at the center back seam (mostly. don't look too close.) along one axis, so the mismatch that is there doesn't look too jarring.

Hooray for random!