I bought this polyester and rayon blend knit skirt with a small black and white houndstooth pattern for $5 at Goodwill. It was large and long with a long slit up the back so I had plenty of material to work with. I wasn’t sure how to start: should I cut to make a new hem or a new waistband?
I decided to keep it simple so I kept the existing elastic waistband and cut up from the bottom to make a new hemline. I put it against my “wild” skirt to mark new seams.
Then I put it on and decided I wanted to add pockets. I looked in a few books and online for some help in doing this. I cut the pockets out of lining polyester I already had and included the skirt material as facings. I had some trouble making my pockets lie flat. They add some bulk to the hips- not a good thing!
I sewed rayon seam binding on the hem and then finished it by hand stitching. I think I could have saved some time and just machine stitched the hem because my hem is not invisible due to puckering.
And my final result:
My verdict: I don’t think the shape or style is very flattering on me. I feel dowdy and stuffy in it. Maybe making it shorter would have helped. Not really my cup of tea. Also I don’t like that the color looks so gray and blah from a distance. Nothing I tried on looked good with it. I just can’t envision myself wearing this. I always wear pants in the winter because I don’t like to wear pantyhose and I don’t want to have bare legs on a winter morning, and this skirt won’t be the one to break me of that habit.