New Look 6163 Skirt

In my ongoing self-education attempts, I took a class at G Street Fabrics on making a pants sloper. In this class I learned the following interesting facts:

• I need two small front waist darts to get over my pooch
  
• I should not use back wait darts, which helps accommodate a slight sway back
  
• my center line is farther back that most patterns. This is caused by my swy back and proportionally fuller abdomen
  

I haven't yet tried pants with this new sloper, but I was able to take this new knowledge and apply it to New Look 6163.

Here is the technical drawing of the skirt:


I noticed that by switching the front and back pieces, I got my standard adjustments with essentially no effort. I cut a size 14 out of the front (original back) and I size 10 out of the back (original front) in hopes of adjusting the center line.

I made a muslin and was pretty pleased with the results:

muslin front


muslin side taking pictures in a closet by oneself is hard... this explains the strange posture. I also disregarded the lapped zipper instructions that came with the pattern in favor of those on the zipper package ad I was very pleased with the results.
Notice how the side seam lines up better with my center line at the waist.


muslin back


I was so pleased with my initial adjustments that I went straight on to the fashion fabric. I got this fabric for free(!) from Gus Woolen in Baltimore. I had purchased a bunch of other wool and this piece was only 3/4 yard. I was determined to use it; however, because it is 100% cashmere. In order to fit the pattern on, I had to change the fold. Now the very subtle herringbone goes horizontally instead of vertically, but it still looks and feels FABULOUS!

I decided to use the left over fabric from this high concept, but only partially successful project. I only had one yard left, which was not enough to truly showcase the lovely print. The colors coordinated nicely, which makes me happy, even if I am the only one who will ever see it. The silk was not as wide as the wool and due to a layout blunder on my part, the lining is significantly shorter than the skirt. After an initial wearing on Christmas Eve, this turns out not to be much of a problem. The lining is still long enough to keep from riding up.


I went a little nutty with the finishing, but it was worth it in the end. The cashmere was so wonderful to handle that I didn't mind working through some Ugly Betty episodes while catch stitching all of this.


The cashmere was thicker that the muslin, so I could have used about 1/8" extra for the lap, but it still came out OK.


These aren't the best finished photos I have ever taken, but they'll have to do. The hem smoothed out considerably after hanging and I second ironing.