From an old dress...

I found this blue flowery fabric in my stash when I had a sort through in August. It's viscose and I bought it to make a dress for a friend's wedding about eight years ago.

I'm not sure what happened to the dress, I've a feeling it might have gone to a charity shop when I was going through a strange not liking home made clothes faze! Seeing the remants in my stash bought back lovely memories. The dress was lovely, fitted really well and hung beautifully. (Viscose does have it's merits.)

To cut a long story short, there just wasn't enough to do lots with, so I've been hunting around since to find a plain navy viscose to team with it to make a skirt. I finally found this plain navy on Online Fabrics (I reckon the best online fabric store in the UK).

A skirt on a basque is really flattering, so I used the basque I used for my bright pink flowery skirt made here. The flowery fabric is actually cut sideways, so the selvedge is at the top/bottom, to give a fuller skirt. I've pleated the skirt again, I prefer pleats on me, although with the lack of fullness, the pleats have ended up very much in the centre of the back/front. The basque has also got interfacing to give it a bit more shape. I've also doubled up the long hem at the bottom of the skirt. for some reason I doubled the fabric hem and machine stitched it to the skirt at the beginning. The side seams I stitched afterwards. In hindsight, this may not have been the best thing to do.

I should have used French seams, but was feeling lazy, so with the lack of overlocker, I've zig-zagged the edges. They're not as tidy as I'd like and I've feeling there'll be some shedding of fabric from the seams before long!

Oops! Not the tidiest!

I also bought the wrong zip! I was intending to put in a concealed zip, but having bought the wrong one, I decided to put in a centred zip. Possibly a bit strange for a side seam zip, but I know I can put these in easily, almost without having to think. I'm pleased how the zip has gone in. And I don't need to put a hook and eye at the top.

So where's the finished article? Well here it is. Not worn yet, most likely this week at some point, it's something new for Self-Stitched September! I'm hoping it'll get quite a bit of wear. With tights I can wear this in the winter, although I may have to break a habit of a lifetime and make a slip or perhaps I may line it. I'll see how we go.