Vogue 1132 - Plaid Skirt

Thanks for the comments regarding shortening this skirt! The pattern instructions are to length or shorten at the hemline, rather than folding out like I did. Either method accomplishes the same thing, but one will change the width and the other one will not. I suppose then, the real question would be: do I want a shorter skirt with the same hem width or a shorter skirt with a narrower hem width? It ends of being a matter of personal preference. I like fuller skirts - I just made a black circle skirt - so it makes sense that I'd rather have more width.

I made the change mostly because I'm petite, but I if I were truly going to make the whole skirt in petite proportions, I would not only remove length, but skirt width, too. I *could* do that, but I like the extra volume, and at this point, the skirt has been cut out and assembled, so I'm not going to fix it.

Today I was able to get the side seams done and the zipper inserted. The zipper took a little longer, because of course, the plaids had to match. It took basting the lower section three times to get it right, but it looks good now!


After a quick try on, I determined that all I needed was a couple of darts to make it fit better in the back only. I sort of knew this would be the case, as I've got a narrow waist and a sway back going on. No surprise, and the darts were easy to add. They will be hidden under that large peplum anyway when I wearing the suit.

Now I can cut and assemble the lining (not originally included in the pattern), add the waistband and hem it. My goal is to have the skirt done on Saturday. I think that can happen.

Q/A: From JustGail: I also was wondering about the shortening (or in my case, lengthening. It seems to me that the fold-and-true method would be OK for a small amount of change, but for a large amount, while you are keeping the original hem size, isn't the shape of the skirt becoming more flared than the original pattern?? Yes, the skirt will end up being more flared, that's an excellent observation! I actually like it with more flare, so it doesn't bother me.

Unless there's a hem detail, such as a flare/godet/pleat, why is it now considered "wrong" now to just extend the lines on a garment with straight seams? I'm talking about leg and arm length only, not when doing proportional lenthening/shortening for the body areas. Hmm . . . I didn't know it was "wrong" to do that if the piece is straight, like you've pointed out. As long as the piece does not have shaping for different sections such as upper and lower arms where you would need to know exactly where the extra length is needed, I'm not sure there is problem with adding a little extra length at the hems. Can any one else comment on this?

Parting Shot: Making Progress. We've got the police station assembled and some of the vehicles. That used a lot of pieces, now for the rest of the set and then the other sets we own. Thanks mamafitz for the link! I know we can buy replacement pieces from Lego, so we're keeping track; we're only 3 short on the police station right now.