Tone & Texture: Microsuede Circle Skirt

Happy Wednesday Everyone! I had no intentions of blogging about this skirt. The skirt is a basic circle skirt, a project I have completed on numerous occasions. However, the stars were not in alignment for me with this latest skirt, and everything that could go wrong did! Nevertheless, I pushed through and managed to make something out of a heap of mistakes.

I made this skirt for a semi-formal event I had to attend a few days ago. I went with this microsuede fabric from JoAnn because I figured a skirt of this texture and color could be dressed up or down. You all know how I am about wearing my makes as much as possible, and my required attendance for formal events has decreased significantly over the past few years. So I would rather make something that could be worn on a casual day as well.

I used the byhandlondon circle skirt calculator to determine my cutting measurements. Apparently, this is when I made my first mistake. After I cut out the skirt and begin to pin the waistband to the skirt, I discovered the skirt waist radius was about 3 inches too short, because I put the wrong waist measurements in the calculator! I had very few options at this point and I had no intention of wasting this fabric. So I cut a three-inch panel from a large scrap piece, attached it to the side seam, and kept it moving.

Well, my next issue derived from the invisible zipper. I couldn't get it to be invisible at the bottom of the center back seam no matter how hard I tried. I ended up doing a short ladder stitch over the bottom portion of the invisible zipper to close it up.

At this point the skirt is pretty much finished, it just needed to be hemmed right? Nope! I tried on the skirt only to discover the skirt had too much room in the waist causing the top of the waistband to sit right below my belly button, which is not where I wanted it to rest. To remedy this situation, I ripped the seams of a small section of the waistband (over the panel attached panel seam), cut into the waistband and took it in 5/8 of an inch on the waistband and the skirt. Finally, after that last change, I had a garment that was suitable for the night. Albeit it looked nothing like the other circle skirts that currently hang in my closet.

I will admit it was worth the effort. The fabric was not terrible to deal with, has a fluid drape, and looks beautiful with the right top. I paired it with a red off-shoulder top that was purchased on Amazon several years ago (similar style here) and my Steve Madden Dolly heels. Now that I have finished this project, I will get back to my selfless sewing list. I have two more garments to complete on that list, and that project will be finished. Until next time, happy sewing.