The Asymmetrical Curtain Skirt

As I may have mentioned a time or two, my sewing time in the month leading up to my trip tp El Salvador was consumed by sewing skirts for myself. Prior to this I had never really considered how many design possibilities skirts had. I mean I'd seen and sewn a few cute or fun skirts, but once I started looking for cool skirt ideas I was amazed! There were so many skirts I wanted to sew! In reality though, I only needed a few skirts, not dozens, so I needed to narrow down my list (and expectations of the amount of sewing time I actually had) a bit.
Like for any sewing project, Pinterest was a great source of inspiration. One of my favorite skirts I came across was a really neat asymmetrical design. As you may have noticed, I kind of love the asymmetrical look. This one had to be reproduced, preferably in green linen.

Well, finding that green linen proved to be the first challenge. Joann's didn't have the exact color I had in mind. Then I stumbled upon this set of valences at a thrift store.

A linen/cotton blend and the exact color I'd had in mind these curtains were! I loved the embroidered edge and figured that between the two of them I'd have just enough fabric for my skirt.

I cut apart the curtains and sewed them back together in a rectangle. I positioned the embroidery around the bottom of the skirt and decorated the unembroidered end with ivory lace. I folded the rectangle in half and cut where the waistband would be. Then I ran out of fabric before I  got to the waistband. Thus, the waistband is cut from a slightly darker green fabric from my stash. I sewed up the one side seam, added a pocket and inserted a zipper.

Ok, confession time - I actually wear this skirt backward of how I meant to wear it. The trouble started with the zipper. It was my first time attempting to sew a lapped zipper and I accidentally made the fabric 'lap' the wrong way, back to front instead of front to back. Thus the zipper couldn't be seen from the back of the skirt, but it was completely visible from the front, and I was too lazy to fix it. Then there is the side without the side seam. I put a small pleat there to help the fabric lay right. Well, I should have just cut that side with a slight A-line, and added a pocket, rather than just folding the fabric in half. The pleat looked distinctly better from the back than the front. I decided to just wear the skirt backward, after all both sides look the same, the only difference is a slight curve to the waistband. The pleat and zipper now look good. This does make the pocket hang sort of strange though. . . hmm, maybe eventually I'll just fix the skirt, but meanwhile. . .

I actually really love wearing this skirt! It's comfortable and just kinda fun. I wore it a couple times before the trip, then on the trip, and a few times since. Of the skirts I made for the trip this one may have gotten the most wear so far, even with its issues.

It's interesting to me how much I wear something after a sew it. Surprisingly, the amount I wear a garment has almost no correlation to how much I loved or hated the garment upon completion. Some garments I loved as soon as I finished them haven't received much wear, while others I felt so-so about have been worn constantly and I've grown to love them. I'm not sure why this is. Maybe because I don't want to risk messing up the clothes I really love? Or maybe because I want to give the clothes I don't love as much a chance? I'm not sure, but I'm always happy when I actually wear the clothes I make, and this skirt has become a wardrobe staple!