Pencil Skirt

This week I finished a lined pencil skirt, based on Butterwick B5466 but with a lining and self stiffening waist band as suggested by May Martin in her Sewing Bible. It's so much better than I thought it would be - meaning that I could actually wear it! The fabric is 'green tea' peppered cotton and the lining is 'heather' poly cotton. The lining was really easy to work with, but I did find neatening the seams with my over locker foot on the peppered cotton a bit tricky. The cotton kept gathering up under the foot, so it does look a bit untidy in places. Of course, the true beauty of the lining is that you'll never see those bits! In terms of construction, the only real issue I had was when and how to 'drop' the lining in. May makes it sound so simple in her book. Basically, (and I'm paraphrasing of course) she suggests that you stick it inside the main skirt and attach the waist band to both layers. This has worked pretty well, but the lining is not attached around the zip at all. Having watched Thursday's Great British Sewing Bee, I think what I should have done is, drop in the lining before the zip, and then attach that through both layers, just like the waist band. To be honest, it's no biggie. I've got a wearable and comfy garment with a working and fairly well concealed zip. The lining might not be put in right, but it does make it feel that bit more special. In terms of fit... Well, you can see for yourselves here:

Firstly, I need a better understanding of how body measurements relate to finished garment size. I was 100% sure this skirt was going to be too small. It's not. If anything it's too big. Certainly not slinky enough! In this case, that was a pleasant surprise but imagine how frustrating it could be... I started working with a Simplicity pattern last night and noticed that they actually state garment sizes as well as body sizes - so you can allow for more or less ease depending on the type of garment and material. Seems sensible. Hopefully I'll be able to strike the right balance. So, although it physically fits, the bit I'm most disappointed with is the baggy side seams. I know why this has happened- my hips are a size smaller than my waist. Which means I also know what I need to do to fix it- eat less cake! Unfortunately, I've tried that before and it doesn't work. So plan B is to learn how to adjust my patterns. 

Feeling buoyed by my overall success with the skirt, I got started on *those* pj bottoms last night. As you know from my last post, I really love the pattern on the fabric I'm using so I want to at least try and do it justice. As a result, I am attempting a bit of pattern matching. Honestly, I'm not feeling super confident about it... It took three houses to commit to cutting out the two front leg pieces last night!!!