Inspiration:

This past year I have been unusually motivated to make clothes for everyday wear. While in the past, I only cared for costumes, now I really like making modest, yet fashionable apparel and have been overflowing with design ideas. Like most of my projects, this skirt was inspired by retro fashions. I really love the look of the 1930s. It was so glamorous and ladylike. So, after mulling over lots of ideas I finally decided to make a 30s inspired flare skirt.

Two lovely examples of the "fit and flare" skirts of the thirties - taken from Christine's Costume Page. While neither of these images directly inspired my skirt I like to look at the similarities.

Materials:

Simplicity 5914, linen-look fabric with a funky asian design, interfacing, zipper.

Construction:

I first started this skirt in the summer of 05. I made a mock-up out of muslin first because I wanted to make sure that the skirt wasn't going to be too tight up at the top. The muslin was a nightmare, I couldn't get the right slimmnes without it being tight, and so I shelved the project (which is a very unusual thing for me to do).

One day in January I had time to sew and nothing to make, so I just pulled the mock-up out and tried it again. After a little tweaking, I was pretty sure that I had what I wanted. So I put the skirt together in one day (another unusual thing for me :) .

I added a few inches to the length to make it a little longer and it worked fine. I made the skirt by my waist and hip measurements (size 10 - when I make dresses or shirts I make an 8) but it came out too wide on my waist! I will never trust the measurements again, as it always seems with my sisters and I that we have to make our skirts a size smaller than our measurements direct, or they don't fit our waist. I took the skirt in a bit, but it still sits lower on my hips than I'd like.

I do really love this skirt. I love how it flares when I walk and it swirls so prettily whenever I swing dance. The linen-look fabric is really nice too, although it seems rather delicate. Overall, I'd like to make another skirt from this pattern sometime soon.

The Finished Skirt:

I apologize that there are no beautifully set up pictures of me wearing this skirt. I called Lydia to take a couple pictures last minute while we were really busy. No, our floor is not uneven - Lydia just did a hasty snapshot job :) . And I am not normally that red-faced - the camera is a bit on the vibrant side. The last picture is an "action shot" of me playing fiddle music with some of our friends.

I love this skirt to death!!! :)