Wardrobe Redo: First Redo Finished

Wow, how hard is it to convert a flare skirt into a pencil skirt?  Easy right?  Well, I found out it was not so easy.  Maybe I am slow, a little too slap happy with the scissors, a little too impetuous and not enough planning.  But, this simple, easy, let's go into it slow wardrobe redo was a bit time consuming that I thought it would be. Hence, I did not get this posted yesterday.  That and the fact that my children have only been in school 1 1/2 days in the last week and only 7 in the last three weeks, which makes finding the time to get my sewing done a bit more challenging.  Plus, I know there are much colder places in this country right now, but having to turn over the horses' water tanks, jump on them to bust out the ice every morning, and hauling buckets of water down to the field for the horses is getting a bit old.  It takes twice as long to do chores when the water in the barn is frozen solid.  Okay, enough whining about the weather, okay one more whine, we didn't even get enough snow to sled on!

Enough excuses, here it goes:  Before and After.  I am pleased with how the skirt turned out, a nice update.

I took a bit of fabric off of both sides, then felt it wasn't quite slim enough and impetuously cut a bit up the back without thinking.  It took me two days of thinking and sewing and ripping seams to get the back right.

The Barcelona Skirt by Amy Butler (see previous post) can be divided into three layers then the layers are stitched one on top of the other.  I finally had to take the two bottom layers apart and readjust them to get the back of the skirt to hang correctly.  Because of course, the back of the skirt is cut on the fold and is therefore straight.  Duh, I forgot this fact in my zeal to get a straighter look so I cut up the back which created a LOT of headaches.  This is a lesson I won't forget.  

I am happy with the final result, so this skirt will be coming out of my closet more this spring and summer.  (Hopefully, as my son and I get better at fashion photography the photos will get a bit better, too.  It is too grey and cold to get out for more interesting location shooting).

In the meantime I found a FABULOUS book:  Basic Pattern Skills for Fashion Design by Bernard Zamkoff and Jeanne Price.  I found this book when perusing the sewing section of the library.  I was so taken by it, that I ordered it from Alibris.  If you are not familiar with this site, it is a great site for finding out of print books and used books from booksellers around the country.  In any case, this book shows a basic design and how to modify it to get all kinds of other styles.  So in the skirt section they show a basic straight skirt, then how to modify the pattern to get a pegged skirt, dirndl skirt, flared skirt, trumpet skirt, ...  They also cover collars, bodices, and sleeves.  The book is very clear and straightforward.  I had bought another pattern alteration book which has useful information, but the pages are so cluttered that I found it almost unusable.  

What's next?  The next few weeks will be following my changes to a trench coat.  I have had this trench coat for decades.  Depressing to admit that it is that old, but it is.  However, it is in good shape.  I love the fabric, it is 100 percent wool, and has held up well to abuse.  However, it has NO style.  

I will be looking to update this coat to take with us on our spring vacation.  So, I will post more about it next Friday....