The Skirt Born of Curiosity

Please tell me I'm not the only one who orders a piece of fabric just because the description piques my interest, even though the picture of the fabric doesn't necessarily appeal to me. Please? Anyone?

I bought this fabric not because I needed it, not even because I wanted it, but purely because I was curious.

It was called "cotton faille", appeared to resemble corduroy, was described as "canvas-style", and I just had to feel this fabric and figure out what is was actually like. So, as I was ordering from Fashion Fabrics Club anyway, and needed to add something else to my cart in order to qualify for free shipping, I bought the fabric. A few days later it arrived on my front porch so I could actually handle it and figure out what it was.

It was. . . interesting. Heavy-ish wight, decent drape, very soft. A very prominent ribbed texture on both sides thanks to the faille weave (thick threads running one direction, thin the other). Not a fabric I would have bought had I seen it in a store, but that's not really why I bought it. I bought it to satisfy my curiosity. Now the curiosity was satisfied and it was time to figure out what to make from it.

My "I have the fabric, now what?" look

Immediately I had two ideas - either a skirt or a jacket. After a bit of thought, and some input from people on instagram, I decided on a skirt. A skirt like this one I saw on Pinterest:

It looks like the Brijee Patterns' "Casey Skirt" without the large patch pockets and with a hacked high-low hem. As I wear the two Casey Skirts I made over summer quite regularly, this was perfect - just what my fabric needed to become!

I started with the basic pattern, and folded up the 3" seam allowance at the bottom of both the front and the back piece. 

For the back piece, I started at the side seam, cutting from where the pattern piece ended and angling down so the skirt would be longer at the center back.

For the front, I did the same, only in reverse. I started cutting at the side seam, then angled up, so the center front would be shorter than the sides and back.

Due to the angle of the hem, I opted to finish it with a hem facing, rather than a standard turned-up hem.

I bound the raw edge of the facing in lace tape, then hand sewed it in place.

Since I opted to leave the large, eye-catching, patch pockets off this version of the Casey skirt, I added inseam pockets instead. Just as useful, only less obvious. 

To complete the outfit, once the skirt was done, I decided to make a plain black Outer Banks Boat Neck Tee (pattern by Winter Wear Designs) to go with it. 

Ok, so maybe it's not exactly "plain." It had the same scalloped v-neckline as my Christmas shirt.

I actually completed the skirt over a month ago, and I made this shirt at the same time as my Christmas shirt. (I've just been too busy with "Christmas Carol" related things to blog the outfit until now.) While I did the plain, straight, 3/4 length sleeve on the Christmas Shirt, for this once I decided to try out another sleeve option included in the pattern - short bishop sleeves.

I love these sleeves, and I'll have to use them on another shirt in the future! 

I'm a huge fan of how each of these pieces came together and both have been worn regularly, both together and separately, since completion. The cotton faille skirt is easy to wear and it's warm! And how can a plain black shirt not be useful to have? This is my third rendition of each pattern, and certainly not my last! I love how versatile, and hackable, both are!

And, just in case you're considering buying a fabric just because it piques your curiosity, well. . .

I'm not going to be an enabler and say absolutely do it, I'm just gonna say you may find yourself with a new wardrobe staple if you satisfy your curiosity. . . Sometime impromptu fabric purchases turn out well!