I've had this gorgeous leather since my LA trip in May. I've known all along that I've wanted to make a leather skirt. After seeing my friend wear a leather and ponte knit blocked skirt, I knew for sure that I wanted to knock it off. Mustering the guts to work out a pattern and actually cut the leather has taken some time, however.
Not having the most confidence in the world, I opted to draft a dart-less pattern from my wiggle skirt block. I borrowed Franciane's skirt to make sure that the proportions of leather and knit were just right then went to town.
And I was too lazy to make a muslin. Scary. I should've done a faux leather for the muslin, because I learned quite a few things along the way. And I messed up in a few spots. Do you see the puckering in the back zip? Yikes.
The knit I had on hand was not quite right. It completely justified a trip to JoAnn to see if they'd have anything remotely close to what I had in mind. Surprise, surprise, they had this lovely (super stretchy with great recovery) ponte-ish knit.
I didn't need much give since I was planning on a zipper for the waist, but I wanted it to have enough stretch that it would compensate for any fit issues on my part (as I'm no expert pattern drafter). Turns out it was a really great idea on my part. I should've cut the skirt a little bit bigger especially in the thighs, but it's not the end of the world.
The tightness creates of a va-va-voom effect. It's a little more restricting than my other pencil skirts, but that's not a problem. This is a dry clean only piece, so I won't want to wear it while chasing my kids anyway. I will, however be applying nikwax to protect the leather from damage.
I don't have big hips or thighs, so it really accentuates any hourglass that I may have. I'd say this kind of piece would be great on any body type.
Outfit Details:
I'm trying something new. Above is a list of similar leather skirts to the one I made. All are under $89. There's even one for $10 - a great way to see if leather skirts are your style.