The Skirt

I cannot describe the excessive amount of time I spent on this skirt- There seemed to be no end of pulling apart and tweeking and draping and trimming... I love it now though- even though the train isn't quite as round and full as I'd like. It ended up a little pointy :(





 The skirt laid out flat in half with the horrific gathering already applied- Later to be picked off due to twisting (who's bright idea was it to use stretchy fabrics!?!!)

The inside of the gathered center front- interfaced on the back and still being a massive pain.

This is from the top looking down the center front. After detatching the gathered bits from the skirt I reapplied it going around the skirt instead of straight up the center front. I sandwiched some heavy pink fringe trim between the chiffon and skirt fabric which seems to help give everything a bit more shape. Note in this picture that it all wraps to center back.That'll change...

  

As seen from the right side after hours of fussing.

I spent a lot of time draping and fussing. I couldn't seem to achieve the lines I wanted. I did however know what I wanted to do for my trim so I cut some 2" wide strips and set to work pleating- this is one of the few parts that went smoothly- mostly thanks to the stripes.

 

 The fabric is some sort of poly blend so instead of turning the edges I melted them. The lighter portions melted slightly more that the dark green did so it gave it an uneven up and down edge. I suppose I could have pinked it-probably would have looked even better.

I applied a single layer of pleats to the bottom edge and felt that it wasn't enough so I took my remaining length, sewed a second row of stitches down the middle and split it in two, giving me a second layer of trim half the width of the first.





It still looked a little unfinished to me and I wanted to add a row of green velvet ribbon- but this little town I live in had nothing of the sort so I cut a 1/2" wide strip and made my own and then applied it using a vine pattern on my sewing machine.

After shortening the gathering to end at the side seam I added a green velvet draped panel at each side back. They're basically just rectangles with one edge sewn up the side seam and the top point trimmed down to match the curve of the waist seam. This left a point hanging down towards the hem and allows it to fold and drape nicely.

The center back peice has the same pleating as the balayeuse. I pinched the skirt together about half way down and stitched it closed. This left me with a convenient place to loop through a green velvet "tail" to add a little extra decoration.

The wasit fastens closed with a single hook and eye that brings together the top pleat at center back.