1930s inspired grey pencil skirt

I got something done! Yay me!

I decided to pull myself out of the "omg I have too much fabric and patterns and don't know where to start panic" by going for  whatever would be the answer to: What do I need most right now? Well, a simple but great skirt to wear at the office! So, pulled out the grey vintage mystery fabric from the pile and begun! (I remember buying the fabric in a thrift store waaayyy back, and it feels like a wool/cotton mix of some sorts... maybe. Hence - mystery fabric.)

Of course I was about 2-3 inches short of fabric for using any of the skirt patterns I've been longing to use - surprise! So, decided to draft a super simple, fairly long straight skirt /pencil skirt design based loosely on these inspirations:

1930s fashion plates. Source: NYPL.

More 1930s skirts, source: http://wearinghistoryblog.com/2013/11/1930s-inspiration-season-your-wardrobe-for-the-season/ 

Unfortunately, since I took the pictures right when I got home from work, in the hallway... they are not so fancy: weird light, skirt looks a bit wonky (my face looks more than just a bit wonky) and my shirt is all creased from two hours on public transportation... But I am now in my sweatpants and don't want to change back, so you'll have to live with it, heh! ;)

Next time (when I have more fabric, perhaps!) I'll give it a bit of flare at the bottom, since the 1930s skirts often did... I just didn't have enough fabric for that this time! Anyway, my favorite part about the skirt is the detail I added with the vintage trim sewn into the waistband.

I really wanted to do a good job this time so I french seamed as much as possible. Takes a bit of time but seriously why don't I always do that, it looks so neat!?

I also folded in the waistband - along with that awesome white vintage trim - (sorry for gushing, I love it) to make the zipper as invisible as I could. The seams look all crooked on the inside... as usual. But it gets better with more sewing, and as long as the outside looks great, who cares?








...and although I sewed the zipper on the machine I hand stitched to make the fabric lay flat on top of it. (It still doesn't - especially not in this picture -  but I tried.)

Also I hemmed the skirt by hand. Not my favorite thing to do, so mark my surprise when that was a quick and easy procedure! And no it's not super uneven, it just looks like it in this picture... perspective...