Black Pencil Skirt for the Christmas Choir - Vogue 8518

 I took my mom's advice and tried a pencil skirt.  Of course, I couldn't just do an easy straight skirt that I could whip up in under 2 hours.  I had to pick Vogue 8518, which Vogue labelled as "easy".  Ha!  I would only wish this pattern upon a beginner if I wanted them to suffer.  I am intermediate/advanced, and I even struggled with a few things.  From start to finish, this skirt took me 9 hours.  It was a labour of love.  Once I saw that it fit really well and was starting to look quite nice, I decided to spend some time making it as nice as I could. 

Vogue 8518

My pattern came in 6-12, and I needed a 16. I checked at Fabricland while the Vogue sale was still on, but apparently this pattern is now out of print. So, I decided to add 4" to the width on just the side seams and approximate the 16. It worked! I'm very impressed with the fit of this skirt.  I made a muslin of the hip yoke, and it was perfect!  The waist is a little tight, but I left it as is and decided to omit the interfacing (you're supposed to interface the entire hip yoke. ugh.).  I wanted it to have a bit of give.  My denim skirt has no give at the waist, and it's a bit uncomfortable.  I guess that's why they make RTW clothing with stretch nowadays.  It's just more comfy.

I learned my lesson from my last skirt and I made sure to try on my skirt at every possible stage.  At this point, I have the skirt and lining sewn to the hip yoke.  Seams aren't pressed or trimmed, and hip yoke lining isn't in yet.  So far, so good!

I didn't have a lot of black lining, and I wanted the hip yoke to have some give, so I decided to have some fun with it and I used a lime green leopard print satin that was very drapey and slinky.  I think it looks sexy and cute.  

And I remembered to attach my label at the right stage.  It's so easy to forget, cuz it's not in the instructions!  I did a really good job here and hand sewed the lining to the zipper, and all the way around the bottom edge of the hip yoke.  I'm really happy with how it looks on the inside.  Almost makes me want to wear it inside out!

Here is how it fit when the skirt was completely finished, except for the hem.  I hadn't opened up the pleat in the front yet either.

Here you can see my crazy swayback.  I had a couple little wrinkles, and it was a bit tight at the waist at the center back, but I didn't bother making any adjustments.  It's pretty darn good for a first try.  If I make this skirt again, I might tweak a few things on the muslin and see what happens.

I like how it sits nice and high at the back.  I love the design of this skirt!

Here it is after the hem has been sewn. 

And a close up of my label.

And, finally, completely finished full-length shot!  I love how this skirt is knee length, but it doesn't look like a granny skirt because of the style and the fit.  This skirt will live happily in my wardrobe for the rest of my life.  I love it!

And we mustn't forget why I had to hurry and make this in the first place. I needed a black skirt and a white shirt for the Christmas Choir. Black skirt, check. White shirt, meh. I don't like this one (it's RTW from when I had to wear business casual for work), but it didn't bother me too much. Next year, I'll make a funky white shirt.

Did I mention I finished it on Saturday night around 9:45?  Hee hee.  Oh well.  I had fun with this one.  I wasn't expecting it to take me 9 hours, but I'm glad I did such a good job on it.  My mom took pictures at church on Sunday, and she had me model it for her.

Can you tell I'm getting excited?  It's almost showtime!

And finally, my big debut as a choral singer.  It was the most fantastic experience!  I'm going to go through withdrawal until Choir practice starts up in January.  And this picture doesn't quite capture how many people are in the choir.  There are 2 full rows behind me, and I believe there are over 30 of us total.  So much fun!!!