Ikat Skirt- Self Traced/ Drafted pattern

In the way back I made patterns.  I totally hated it.  I much preferred draping to drafting.  I had no patience and didn't want to fuss around with the paper.  For some reason I'm into it now.  And, I think the results are going to be better this time around. 

For this skirt I copied my printed cotton canvas J. Crew skirt that fits well.  I wear it all the time so I thought it would make a good pattern.  I actually wear this more around my hips but it looks nicer on the form sitting at the waist.

First I laid out the skirt flat on top of a piece of pattern paper and then with my tracing wheel I traced around it along the seam lines as well as the waistband.  I really need to get a wheel with the long pins, but I haven't seen one in a while, I think my mom used to have one but maybe they don't exist anymore.

Anyway, then I traced the lines and trued the pattern so the pieces on the front and back walked and then added seam allowance.  I had to make the darts by slashing and pivoting and when I did this I still couldn't find my old pattern book so I'm not convinced that I did it exactly right but the outcome was great.  This sounds like it was fast but I went back and forth between my pattern and the skirt measuring, remeasuring and fixing things and then changing it.  At one point I changed something on the front only to realize I had just measured the back and had to do it over.  BUT, now I have this great skirt pattern.  So I guess it was worth it.

I made a muslin and it seemed too big, the orig skirt is a little big so I took out 1/4" of front and back. Bad idea- because that equals an 1" all around and it was too much.  The orig skirt sits at the hips and is short but with the low waist it is a reasonable length.  The new skirt fits like a glove but is now just a little too short.  And frankly, I have great legs, but I'm not 25 and I'm not Lindsey Lohan, so I have some sense of what is ok for my age group. Although, others might disagree.

I cut the  garment so that the stripe pattern was the same on the front and back.  I realized that I didn't have enough fabric to have the same pattern on the front and back waistband but since they are different, it helps me to remember which way to put it on.  I used narrow seam allowances to counter my pattern adjustment faux paux and I finished the seam allowances with bias tape since the fabric is loosely woven and frayed A LOT when I washed it.  To counter the shortness of the skirt I hemmed it by binding the bottom edge with bias tape and then just barely turned to the inside and hand stitched.

It has an invisible zipper that I did a shameful job of lining up, but it doesn't really effect the over all look of the skirt so I'm OK with it.   I wore this wine tasting last weekend when it was 85 degrees and it was really comfortable.  I think one of my friends has a picture of me in it, I'll see if I can get it. I swear I'm not camera shy but I don't really love pictures of myself and I don't have a tripod either.  I had some photos taken of me in some of the last few garments but that's when I noticed that you can really tell I've gained 5 pounds- blah.  I gotta get back to running more.......... OK, that's it for now. I'm off to Pump IT UP for my nephews birthday.  I'm scared.  Wish me luck.


Next up, planned projects. Fabric is in the dryer as I type this.