Sewing Diary: Re-making a Skirt to My Taste

A few months ago, I began to lust for novelty border print skirts, due mostly to seeing them everywhere on blogs and Instagram. In that period of lust, I bought this skirt by Sourpuss Clothing. And it wasn't cheap, either!

The original skirt that I purchased.

As soon as I received it, though, I was disappointed. The waistband was pleated, but in a really sloppy way that made it bulky, wrinkled and twisted. The zipper was put in wrong, with the top of it exposed on the inside, instead of hidden in the waistband. The printing seemed like it would fade really quickly after a few washes, and the skirt was pretty short, as well. I almost returned it, but I really wanted a novelty print border skirt, and I did like the print on this one. So I decided to remake it a bit.

The skirt with the waistband removed, the loose trim and the fabric about to be cut.

I removed and threw away the waistband and the zipper. I bought one yard of good quality black Kona cotton fabric, and used that to make a new flat, correctly installed waistband. I also put in a new zipper, in the correct way. Then I added a ruffle to the bottom of the skirt so it had more swish, and was a comfortable length for me.

How I would style this skirt

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The final change was to add some emerald green vintage fringe that I had on hand, to really add to the playfulness of this skirt. I was going to add it to the hem, but then I realized that since the black ruffle I added was dyed black, and the black on the original skirt was printed black, they would fade differently with every wash. So I added the green fringe between the two blacks to distract from how they will fade.

I am very happy with the result and love how no one else with have this skirt exactly like I do.