So. When I placed that Fabric Mart order, I chose two fabrics with the intention of making them into sewn tights. The striped fabric was a little more whimsical; I sewed those first and they turned out just right, even with the piecing I had to do to get enough width in the second pair.
The other fabric-for-tights was a lightweight sweater knit in solid black. I was really looking forward to having a pair of (relatively) heavy black tights! The fabric, however, had other plans, and just did not have the right amount of stretch in the right directions.
I had confidently cut two pairs of tights from the fabric, and figured out a better way to add the crotch extension needed to make up for the lack of width in the second pair cut--which was the first pair sewn from the black. I tried them on, and...no.
Now, when I made the tights from the gray wool? blend sweater knit, I managed to add more height, with necessarily weird piecing, to get them to fit (and I really like how they turned out, fabulous winter tights.) I figured that would be easier to do with the second, not-yet-sewn pair of black tights, so I decided to cut off the feet of the first pair and finish the ankles to make a pair of cropped leggings. I tried them on, and...no. The fabric just wasn't right, at least not for the pattern I use.
So I put everything aside and moved on to the foiled silver leggings, which went much better.
I turned over the possibilities of what else I could do with the black knit fabric, already mostly cut into tights shapes. Yes, it would be a perfect weight for doll clothes, but I did not want to relegate all 1½ yards x 60" of it to doll clothes. I also did not want to make any sort of shirt, because I try to keep polyester away from my underarms, thanks.
I eventually thought of maybe...a gored skirt with godets? I have Simplicity 4365 from 2005, my copy of which only goes up to size 14, but I was willing to gamble that the knit stretch would compensate.
It's not like I got the cloth with a skirt in mind, so however it turned out would be however it turned out, y'know? I chose view F and managed to get everything easily cut from the upper parts of the erstwhile tights.
Then I hit PMS, which completely eradicated any inclination to sew, which also gave me time to realize that I might have been able to open up those four pieces cut to make two pairs of tights, and possibly could have gotten the two front and two back pieces needed to make a proper pair of leggings, like I did with the silver foil fabric. Too late to try!
Eventually I got to the point where I felt like sitting down and dragging myself through the sewing process. I even changed the serger thread.
It wasn't challenging, although I did ignore the instructions to sew the gores all together above the tops of the godets first, then sew the godets in with one continuous, pivoted seam. Instead, I sewed each godet along one side to a gore under the notch marking the godet tops, serged that seam, then sewed the other side of the godet and the gore all as one to the next gore. I do understand that things probably would have laid down better if I had done it as directed, but...yeah.
I chose to finish the lower edge with lace, partly to give some textural interest, but, mostly, because I did not want to deal with hemming this slinky thin(ish) knit on its own. Sewing the lace to the lower edge, serging, then turning the seam allowance to the inside and top stitching gave probably the fastest neat and tidy hem I could do.
I also finished the waistline completely differently from what the pattern wanted, because the pattern expected this to be made from something woven, with a side zipper.
I pinned the last seam to check that it would stretch enough to get over my hips, then sewed that seam closed (I will note here that I sewed all seams at 3/8", because there was a note about 3/8" seams on the pattern and I couldn't tell if that was meant to apply to all seams, or just the waist facing, but I figured it wouldn't hurt either way) and did the elastic waist the same way I do with the tights: sew the elastic in a circle, mark the elastic and waist opening in quarters and line things up, stretch everything while zigzagging the elastic to the edge of the fabric, serging to clean thing sup, then folding to the inside and stretching and zigzagging the edge again. I think this makes a pleasingly clean elastic application, but everything has to be just right, because there're no adjustments possible once it's sewn. I added a bit of folded ribbon inside at the center back, so I can easily tell which side is the back, instead of having to squint to figure out where the backtacking is.
Will I ever actually wear this skirt? On its own, I can't imagine doing so--not only is it a bit sheer, but it also clings to every curve and bulge. But! It may have potential as, yes, a layering piece...
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