Simplicity 2655, the "Yabba Dabba Do " Skirt

Simplicity 2655 in Dagmar by Alexander Henry

On Tuesday I was slummy again for my day off, but I didn't look slummy in my recently finished "muslin" of Simplicity 2655 (view E).  I say muslin, because I was really just testing the pattern for size/etc, but wanted to be able to wear it.  Since I wanted a skirt to ride on my hip, rather than much higher on my waist- I decided to make this pattern up in size 22, but since I sewed most of it on the serger, I could have sized down to 20, because this skirt certainly does have a low rise now.  It's impossible to call the yoke a waistband yoke, since it falls a good inch below my belly button, and my natural waist is about 4 inches above my belly button!  It's a hip-yoke, I guess.

Skyline Circle Skirt

I've been thinking about circle skirts a lot lately.  I have several plaid suiting/wool skirts planned for Fall/Winter wardrobe building, and although I am an impatient girl, and you have to let your circle skirt hang before hemming,  I do feel like there is no substitute for how you feel when you rock a circle skirt.   Casey is having a sew a-long, where she's showing how to draft a circle skirt- and Patty recently posted a fantastic Circle Skirt Calculator showing how to alter and or draft full circle, 3/4 circle, and half circle skirts! 

Here's my favorite skirt of the summer, my half-circle skirt made from fabric with a printed panel just made to create a border!  On a circle skirt, since the entire hem is curved, you can't use regular border fabrics to decorate your hemline with a mid-century style illustrated skyline, so when I was at Walmart 5 or 6 years ago, I couldn't resist adding this panel to my stash. 

Simplicity 4236 still available!

It must have been a cross-promotion with Simplicity, since the printed panel is represented right on the Simplicity pattern envelope, but it was ever so easy to make the skirt without any pattern, since the panel did most of the work for me!  All I had to do was measure the length I wanted my skirt to be from the hemline to find my waistline, and mark that width accordingly!  I used packaged piping to face the hem, to accent the skyline illustration, and to add some body to the skirt much like horsehair braid would.  It worked really well!

A circle skirt just makes a girl FEEL angelic. 

I used 1 1/2" black elastic to make the waistband.  I sewed it on like a facing, and I can wear it up with the black showing, or turn it all the way in like a facing.  I've been wearing tucked in shirts with this all summer, so I've really loved the belt-like effect of the solid contrast waistband.  The quality of the black elastic I used, is sadly lacking, however.  It's already showing threads, and I will have to replace it soon.  It was packaged elastic also bought at Walmart, but it's Dritz, and I am confused as to why the Dritz elastic by the yard would be twice as sturdy.  I am sad, because this elastic is very soft and comfortable.  It will be easy to replace, but boo for having to do so.

Other than elastic quality issues, there's nothing I don't really like about this skirt.  I have a black tulle skirt to layer under it as soon as I can stand to wear something lined in nylon poly again, and I think the lines of this skirt are immensely flattering to me.  I feel so girly and angelic too!  I guess technically, since this is a half-circle skirt, I feel like half an angel.. But stash busting totally made me feel like I brushed that l'il devil who constantly encourages me to buy new fabric right off my shoulder!  For one project anyway...

I'm really excited to be sewing along with Casey too!  In the combined interest of stash-busting and wardrobe building, I'm hoping to add one full circle skirt (in an awesome red and blue classic wool plaid), a 3/4 circle skirt (yet to be determined), and to finish a half-circle skirt I cut out last Fall that is completely Anthro-inspired with a contrast hem facing..

Bickle Bait

"The days go on and on... they don't end. All my life needed was a sense of someplace to go. I don't believe that one should devote his life to morbid self-attention, I believe that one should become a person like other people." 

           

Any number of forces have gotten me thinking about Taxi Driver lately. Boardwalk Empire inspired a Martin Scorcese binge that started with Casino (which I really only like for the clothes) and also sparked a conversation about favorite Scorcese movies in which my younger counterparts conveniently forgot any Scorcese movie exists prior to Goodfellas. Well, Taxi Driver has all the gritty, sweet, intense, violent, creepy ultra-reality that I associate with Scorcese, and will always be the first movie I think of when his name is mentioned.

Another thing that's brought Taxi Driver to mind was Marc Jacobs Spring collection in which every look seemed to be inspired by Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) or Iris (Jodie Foster) respectively. I can't help but think of the seventies as our sexiest decade and the vibe in this collection epitomizes that look of detached sexuality. These girls have either seen it all, can handle it all, or are above it all. Even on the runway there is something about these looks that just imply these ladies are walking through the garbage of wet alleyways. It's a weird kind of glamour, but it is still somehow glamorous.

I'm in the process of going through my fabric stash, (a subject of which is a future post in itself) and immediately saw some resemblance in this purple mod print knit fabric I already had and the following dress from Jacobs's Spring show. Sadly I only have about 1 yard, but I feel that I can easily create the top portion of this dress with a wide knit band, making it super easy to wear with skirts or pants. I may also accentuate the seventies further by making the long sleeves out of the same contrast material as the band, or maybe making elbow-length puffy sleeves with a knit cuff.  

The fabric is a really silky nylon jersey or tricot, not stretchy enough to be swimwear fabric, but has some of that luster. Knowing already that this kind of fabric wreaks havoc on my machine's tension I am going to make sure to make this top have the least amount of seams I can manage, and will make sure I have a brand new needle. The nice thing is this silky knit is lovely to wear, like the lingerie it was made to be used for.

Here we have Simplicity 5250, a pattern I was completely inspired to buy because of the Cupcake Goddess's current project. Her muslin mockup looked so modern to me, with Taxi Driver on my mind, that I compulsively google-searched for it and somehow immediately found it in a size I wouldn't have to grade up too much. The hat on the pattern sleeve is totally Iris too! I'm thinking corduroy since I have no interest in working with satin, especially for a jacket with lapels.