Almost.... But not quite

So a couple of weeks ago I tried to make mys of a Delphine skirt (from Tilly's book 'Love at First Stitch'). I had the perfect fabric... And as the skirt is A-line I figured it's sure to fit me fine... And then I ran into some problems. But first let me give you an idea about my vision...

In exhibit a. we see the lovely exaggerated A-line skirt... And the awesome Korean cotton with cute little cogs on it. I think you get the idea.

I ran into trouble at the trying on stage. The pattern itself is lovely, the instructions a piece of p. to follow. But I didn't make a muslin (fail #1), and I didn't take into account that my hips are a good size and then some bigger than my waist (fail #2) meaning I should have been tracing a smaller size and grading out for the hips. I didn't take a photo of the fitting failure (I maybe should do that... Just to remind me and help me learn), but the skirt itself was fine... Then the waistband stuck out like a bleedin' funnel!!

So I went back to the sewing machine... Removed the waistband and just folded over the top of the skirt to make it start at the hip (fail #3) instead of creating a new waistband.

The finished skirt is ok... But in my opinion it really looks home-made and feels unfinished.

As the exaggerated a-line was also a bit lost in my hips I tried to take the skirt out a bit below hip level by narrowing the seam allowance, which helped but makes the side seam a bit lumpy. But then I ran into trouble with the lining... Which I managed to cut too narrow... Meaning it didn't quite reach the zip at the back (fail #4). I got inventive at this point because I just wanted it finished, so I used some strips of bias binding leftover from my wedding outfit jacket...

Oh yeah and the lining's white because I didn't have enough navy left in my stash (fail #...what are we up to now?). Ok I'm a little smug about this fix though, it works really well.

So in a nutshell... I managed to make myself a perfectly wearable skirt... Which I don't feel satisfied with because it's not what I had pictured in my mind... I wanted a Delphine, I got a basic a-line.

But I've learned from this... 1. TAKE PROPER MEASUREMENTS!! And pay attention to them, don't just go with 'well my hips are big so I'll just trace that size'.

2. Spend time making a muslin. This means when I solve the fitting problems they are solved for every time I want to make this skirt in the future.

3. Appreciate that this is still a very nice skirt, even though it's not quite what I wanted. I have worn it out and about and really feel that it needs a proper waistband, so I might be going back to add one, but I did enjoy wearing it.