"Willow" Skirt

Not one to waste time, since fixing my custom made skirt block so it actually fits me, I was eager to try it out and make a new skirt.

I don't know how long I've had this piece of fabric for, I can't even remember where I bought it, but I do know that it was a remnant and it cost me the grand sum of $5. It had rather a lot of small stickers on it marking flaws in the fabric. It has natural slubby bits anyway, so the slubs that the stickers were marking weren't out of character with the rest of the fabric anyway, so I ignored most of them.

Example of slubbiness

I had another design in mind for this piece of fabric, but recently had a look in one of my design diaries that I had been keeping when I was studying fashion design. On the first page is a line drawing that I did of a skirt I had seen in David Jones, made by Australian Designer Willow. Dated August 2005, this skirt obviously caught my eye, either for it's unique design, colour, style, or price! I most likely drew this design after I got home, so it may not have been 100% true to the original skirt. I had a half hearted search for images of the original skirt by Willow, but it was made so long ago now that I couldn't find anything.

My original sketch of the skirt

I also drew on the next page of my sketch book, this version of the skirt, so I must have been thinking that if I made one, I would simplify it with these changes. The loss of the diagonal strips makes it less exciting though, so I rejected making this version.

Alternate version of skirt

When making my version of the skirt, I contemplated adding pockets, but didn't want the design lines interrupted on the front, and thought in seam pockets might add too much bulk in this design. I considered adding the pockets to the back, but they would have ended up ridiculously small in the area that I left myself between the waistband and the diagonal strip, so I have ended up with no pockets at all!

The version that I actually made

I was trying to balance out the size of the godets with the length of the skirt, but when finished, they did seem a little on the small side compared to the vision I had in my head. I still love this skirt, but if I had it to do over again, I think I would do the button band longer, move the diagonal strips lower on both front and back, add pockets to the front and back, just because, not that I would probably use them, and make the side and back godets longer, and maybe wider too. (So, basically, redo the entire pattern!)

Trying to smile while squinting
into the sun and trying to keep
the hair off my face

And the fit? Let's just say that spending half a day making my block fit perfectly was half a day well spent. It was wonderful being able to make the pattern, and then sew up the skirt, without having to worry about doing fittings along the way. It fits perfectly!