So, over the next several weeks I messed around with my design a bit - drafting a pattern and even cutting some of the material. But that was about as far as it went.
Then I saw that one of my favorite crafty blogs was having a "skirt week"and I decided to enter this skirt! Which meant I had about 3 days to make it into reality. Or throw the whole thing away. Here's the finished product (modeled by a sweet friend).
I wanted something slim, with a high waist, having seen a photo from the '40s that I loved. I also wanted to add a touch of softness and "flow" to what can otherwise be a rather severe line, so I decided to add a gathered chiffon pleat inside of the slit.
Here it is the first concept stage
and with the chiffon pleat added
Then I put on a few flowers and such. (I'll be adding a tutorial soon on how to make the gathered chiffon flowers
pinning the embellishments in place
After that it was just a matter of sewing everything down, attaching the lining at the waist (that took a whole day to figure out, with the chiffon insert and no waistband!) and putting in the zipper and hem. They are actually just basted in, since I am guessing at the size.
I think it came out fairly faithful to the original idea. I had to give up on the peach color I had in mind, since I couldn't find a fabric I liked in the right shade. But I'm really in love with the gray.
Drafting a non-maternity pattern just now was definitely a bit of a challenge. I usually can try my "draft" on to see how it fits as a I go. That was impossible right now, since I am nowhere close to the proportions I will be this time next year! Cordelia's not really either, since she's still the size I was before child #1. Thanks to the help of another sweet and very patient friend, I got it figured out!
And I love it. We'll see if I love it as much when I can actually wear it.
But for now, I will just enjoy the satisfaction of designing.
So beautiful and creative!!
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