IDIM: Skirt Re-fashioning.

    I know. My third "I did it myself" in a row. I'm obviously bored. LOL.  But I wanted to share my most recent project because I'm pleasantly surprised as to how it turned out. My inspiration was a photo I found online.  I loved this outfit on Zoe Saldana the moment I saw it:

     I can't pull off a skirt that length, but heck, I was going to try and come close to finding a skirt just like that. Wouldn't you know it, I came across a wool skirt in one of my second-hand store jaunts:

     LOL. Yes, I really did think I could somehow fix this. What can I say? I'm ambitious. It was huge around the butt and hips, but the waist came pretty close. It was obviously altered to fit someone who was extremely curvy (the tag said size 12). I wasn't sure if I could make it work, but the wool was of excellent quality, and as long as the waist almost fit, I thought I would give it a try. 

     A few days ago, I thought I would see what I could do with it. This skirt also has lining, which made the alterations more complex. I got about half way done and I became really frustrated with it and tossed it back in the bin. It was just too big, and I was getting puckers around the hips that I didn't think I could get rid of. But I tried again today, figuring that even if I can't get it to be perfect at least it was a learning experience. So I went ahead and finished it and it turned out pretty good! I always accidentally cut off too much off the bottom of skirts but skirt ended up just at the bottom of my knees, which I think is fine given my height:

     

     I managed to eliminate the puckers along the side where I started to narrow the skirt upon realizing I could take advantage of the fact that I have very straight hips. I straightened out any curves starting from the waistband that I had initially put in. Also, the skirt in its original form had a side slit, but I essentially had to make my own given how big it was to start with. Lastly, I had to slim and hem the lining to keep everything smooth. Overall, the skirt was quite a bit of work. It probably would have been easier if I had just started from scratch, but given how much I learned trying to fix this thing up, it was all worth it.

   Next post isn't a DIM, I promise.