Pencil me in.

I have a pencil skirt!  At last!!

Like a lot of you, RTW pencil skirts have never fit me, so it's been a goal for a long time to make one myself.  This one started life as a BHL Charlotte, but I made so many changes, I really hesitate to call it that any more.

I took a lot of photos, both of my pattern changes and of my construction.  Today I just want to show off my new skirt; I'll tell you all about the rest in another post (or maybe two more).  Just let me get my shoes on first:

This skirt is made from a fabulous stretch black denim printed in gold foil with snakeskin.  I got this at JoAnn's last month specifically for this project, which may be my last for this session of Jungle January.  I LOVE this fabric!  After I finished the skirt, I said to Hubby:  "I love this fabric.  I want to make everything from this fabric!!"  And he replied, "You should.  Then when one thing gets old, you can just shed your skin and put on a new one."  That boy cracks me up.  That's why I love him so much!

I discovered AFTER I made the skirt that I was supposed to hand wash and line dry this fabric rather than machine wash cold and tumble dry like I did.  No matter though - some of the gold is flaking off, which I think makes it even more snake-like.

Not bad for an old broad, eh?  I think this skirt is so flattering, and yet, it's super comfortable and easy to wear.  As I drifted off to sleep last night, I was thinking about all the versions I could make using fabrics in my stash.  You will be seeing more of these!

I took care to match my patterns throughout, centering the print front and back.  Still, I made this from a mere one yard of 56" wide fabric, and I've got enough left over for a fabulous clutch.  You know that's going to happen!

I cut this skirt to a 24" length, which for me is just at the bottom of the knee.  Even though I didn't add a back vent on this one, I still have room to walk normally.  In the future I'd like to make at least one midi length version, and that will require a vent.

I guess you can tell that I really love this skirt.  It hugs my curves perfectly, but not in a way that makes me feel exposed, like my first pencil skirt did.  I think that partly has to do with using a stretch fabric this time.  But it's mostly due to the fitting changes I made, because the muslin I made for this one was done from a non-stretch and it fits just as well.

I'm pleased to say I think I've finally cracked the pencil-skirt-fitting nut, for my figure at least.  And because it makes me feel sexy and fabulous, I leave you with this: