Pencil Skirt Obsession

Starburst Skirt Burda 05/2012

I'm not going to lie to you. Ever since I got this particular Burda in the mail I have been lusting after it heartily.     I even want it in this tangerine color. I probably won't, but STILL.  <3 I love high-waist anything now (full convert) and pencil skirts are my signature item at work.  I only have one very good one, and one passable green one.  Both are the same pattern, Vogue 8672 View E  but the green one was out of a ponte knit and I didn't take into account the amount of stretch needed or how much it shows tucked in clothing.

Which leads me back to the above skirt.  Its for stable knits and has no zipper drafted into the pattern. A thing I did not notice until my friend Ilanka said "Wow, that's a tight skirt!".  Uh... she was right. Ooooooh.  Its for knits.  Which led me to the conclusion that they must of photo-shopped out a lot of lumps and bumps cause that blouse is going to show through, I don't care how skinny you are.  Drat.  So it went on the back burner.

So, during long tedious nights at work I've defended myself but going to my happy place, sewing. I've been thinking about how to construct this skirt to make it as sculpted as it looks here but still retain its allure with tucked-in blouses, and not go OMG PANTY LINE! The only answer I've come up with is underlining.

Aaaah yes. Underlining. You are my new best friend. Its almost impossible for me to make a garment out of woven now without underlining it.  Or at least thinking about underlining it. But this would be the first time delving into the realm of underlining a knit of any type, though ponte knit would be the most sensible one to try first, me thinks. In this case it would need to be a fabric that has as much stretch as the ponte itself, and I would probably use make sure the waistline facing had ridgeline stays as well. I realized I could use a silk stretch charmeuse after hitting up the Dharma Trading Co. for my evening gown underlining. I didn't add the stretch charmeuse to my order. I may go back and get some more later in August, depending on how much I can get done on what I shall hence forth refer to as The Gown.

I still haven't done a full post on that yet. *sighs*  I shall. Very soon.

So what sewing challenges have you been puzzling over lately?

Another Ralph Lauren Obsession and NYC

Seriously. I covet this 'duster'. I want to make one but maybe out of a dusty purple cotton sateen, something with a bit more shine but still light weight. Don't get me wrong, I adore this just as it is and if I thought spending EIGHT GRAND on a jacket was a good investment of money...That and a purple version would fit with more of my wardrobe. Or I could just make a wardrobe to go with it. Maybe I'll get my brother-in-law to make me a pair of hot pants out of leather. He's punk-rock like that.

But just look at these details. The tailoring is beautiful. The embroidery is done by hand AFTER the garment is assembled somewhere. The seams are french seams. Its unlined apparently to keep the "floating feel". Honestly this is somewhere between wild west Victorian and Steampunk.

This makes me wonder if Mom would be willing to do the embroidery. It looks to be a fairly simple repeat pattern in candlewicking. I'm thinking I can modify this free pattern on burdastyle (though I believe this is the origin of the pattern, burdastyle has the print at home PDF).

It might take me a year, but I will have something like this in my wardrobe. Maybe I can find suitable fabric in NYC next month. OH YEAH! I'm going to NYC to see the Alexander McQueen Exhibit for my birthday. Anyone wanna meet up for coffee and go with me? I only have a day or two and I'm staying with a friend up the Hudson Line, so I have to take the train in town.

And another exciting tidbit, I ordered an adjustable dress form. My duct-tape form bit the dust after my one and only foray into corsetry permanently modified the form. Which would be fine if I had planned on continued with my steampunk costuming obsession.