new skirt for the new school year!

a new school year demands the production of a new skirt! i had been dying to try a pattern from wenlan chia's pattern book "twinkle sews," as her patterns are whimsical, youthful, and unstuffy, unlike most sewing patterns these days. (fyi: she's wenlan from the clothing line "twinkle by wenlan.") the pattern i selected, called "little black skirt" was rated as easy. it has 2 pockets in the front, along with pleats attached to the bottom hem:

i happen to have 2 little black skirts already, so i decided to use this paisley from "knitt'n kitt'n" of portland, oregon and this navy silk for the trim:

the pattern was an absolute nuisance to put together. it was printed onto 40 pieces of printer paper, which i 1st had to tape together...

cut, then pin to the fabric.

bunks got bored.

real bored. he took to nesting on the fabric, deciding that i wasn't paying him enough attention!

the pattern called for the pockets to be sewn on parallel to the waistband, but i purposely tilted each for a more fun look. the pockets themselves were cut from the fabric so that it exactly matched the pattern of the paisley underneath! i know, i'm crazy. the effect was pretty

awesome though! you can HARDLY see that there's a pocket, except for the flaps:

the pocket flaps were made from doubled layers of the navy silk. sewing silk is less than fun, particularly for the super skinny trim along the bottom of the waistband!

i happened to have a massive bundle of vintage chinese "cheong-sam" material from my days of running the "project runway" club at the school at which i taught in dc. i personally cannot stand this material! (it has chinese characters woven into the fabric- gag!)

so, i used some to make the smooth lining of the skirt! look at the pop of brightness inside! (note: the pleats hadn't been attached yet at this point. no worries, i know to make the lining much shorter than the skirt itself!)

the 1st two days of school were rather rainy, so i waited until friday to wear the skirt to school! i love it! it's currently my favorite item that i've ever made!!