Every time I think about this skirt, I think about the song My Party Dress from the musical Henry and Mudge (which I’ve never seen but I think I’d love, because of the song). I think this is the first version I ever heard, and I still love it, no matter how many versions I hear. I think I like the song because I always feel a bit out of place in fancy clothing.
I’ve grown to like wearing skirts and dresses (secret pajamas anyone?), but most of mine are solid (1,2,3,4), made of cheap jersey (1,2) , or are rather simple in design/execution (1,2). The majority are twirly, but rarely are they fancy. I don’t do flashy, you might say.
So when I was trying to get out of my sewing funk in the latter half of my winter break, I surprised myself and reached for this polyester brocade. I bought this from Joann’s two years ago in order to make my Belle cape, but at the time I was not well versed in making circle skirts, or the like, so I ordered too much fabric.
Because it wasn’t particularly wide, it made a small capelet rather than anything like a full cape, but that left plenty of room for this skirt!
It started as a rectangular tube, and then I pleated it to fit a simple black waistband. There’s also two gigantic pockets and a center back zipper. I did have to use a lot of heat to get the pleats to span the width of the skirt, and I was very worried that I was going to burn the fabric, which would have ruined the whole effect!
I knew from experience that this stuff frays like crazy, so I had my FrayCheck at the ready, and used it every time I cut. But I also figured that a lining would be to my advantage to cut down on additional fraying. I had this brown cotton lawn, I think it is, and I’ve never figured out what to use it for. But it makes a great lining. A little staticy, but it’ll be okay. With the weight of the brocade, it won’t ever stick for long!
The zipper did puzzle me for a bit, and I had to put it in and take it out a few times. I guess my original seam wasn’t deep enough, so I had to take it in a smidge.
But the skirt had its first outing before that! I wore it the same day that I originally made it, when I went to a social ballroom dance, and it passed the twirling test at least! There was the issue when I was leading a friend in a swing dance, and her hand got caught in one of the pockets as we were passing each other, but that was a fluke.
Then I let it fester in the alterations pile until now. I’ve since fixed the zipper, and if I ever need a fancy flashy skirt, I have it!
So… do you like my party dress? Or rather, skirt?