Circus Skirt

Pattern – combination of McCall’s 6554 and Butterick 4443
Fabric – Cotton poplin from Mood in NYC

Tank – INC
Shades – Bulgari
Sandals – Tahari
Necklace – gift

This skirt was the result of a sewing disaster.

It started out originally as a dress, hence the reason for McCall’s 6554.  I thought it would be a sweet summer sundress out of this crazy stripe fabric I found at Mood earlier this summer.  I even thought through how to place the stripes – horizontal for the bodice, vertical for the skirt.  Oh, how fab it was going to look.

After stitching the skirt to the bodice and trying it on, I realized that this wasn’t going to work out at all – the fit of the pattern was much larger than I anticipated (even after making a muslin for the bodice) and frankly, with all of the crazy colored stripe action going on and a big A-line skirt, two words came to mind when I looked at this dress on me in the mirror: circus tent.

That’s when my mom stepped in and suggested I try to convert the dress into a skirt instead.  See, I made this when I was home visiting the folks in July, and my mom had a pattern on hand that she’s made into dresses and skirts for me in the past: Butterick 4443.  I used the skirt portion of the pattern and lined it up onto the skirt I already had from the McCall’s pattern (minus the pleat, I took that out and stitched the two center fronts together).  Following the swoop of the side seam, I traced the pattern onto my skirt, re-cut it and voila – crisis adverted!  I finished it up with an invisible zipper and tried a new technique of using twill tape in place of a waistband facing.

Instead of tears and a tent of a dress, I have a pretty new skirt that’s great for casual summer days.    When sewing gives you a lousy pattern, make an awesome garment!

What kind of sewing crises have you avoided?