Tale of Two Skirts

For my summer wardrobe I wanted three skirts. I prefer skirts to shorts because they are cooler in the hot weather and are more flattering on me. The skirts I have made in the past have been at or just below the knee. This summer I wanted to explore some other lengths. First up is a Boden inspired skirt:

 I started with some fabulous black and white floral fabric that I bought from Gorgeous Fabrics last year and Simplicity 5914, view F. 

Knowing that I wanted a 4" border at the bottom, I cut the skirt 4 inches shorter to begin with. (I have no idea how wide the border is in the inspiration skirt, but this seemed right to me.) I then stitched the skirt together as directed, installing an invisible zipper, trimming and overcasting the seams.

invisible zipper (sorry for the blurry picture)

zipper on inside after handstitching the lining

 The Boden skirt has a solid stripe running between the print and solid border. I chose to simulate this look with a satin ribbon. I applied the 7/8" ribbon right sides together along the bottom edge of the skirt, overlapping the ends at the side seam.

To make the border I used a white cotton poly fabric. I considered making a black border, but I thought the white would be less severe. I wanted the border to be in just two pieces, front and back, rather than in the six gores of the skirt. I made a pattern piece by overlapping the skirt panels to remove the seam allowance and traced out the portion of the skirt that I had removed. I then cut out four border pieces (two are used as lining). I stitched the side seams together and then stitched the border to the facing along the bottom edge. I turned and pressed the border and basted the upper edges together. This border was then applied over the ribbon edge of the skirt. The seam allowance was pressed up and all thicknesses were overcast together. I then top-stitched along the skirt catching the border seam allowance.

border seam on inside

Before adding the ribbon and border, I used the skirt pieces to cut out a lining for the skirt out of the same cotton poly as the border.

I stitched the side seams, trimmed and overcast the seams and then stitched to the waist edge. I understitched the lining, put in a 5/8" hem and handstitched the lining to the zipper. I also tacked the lining to the side seams.

inside skirt with lining

 And here is the finished result:

I'm really pleased with this skirt. The husband likes it, too. I found some fabulous shoes to go with it at Payless, but the photographer does not consider shoes as part of the outfit. He'll learn.