Dirndl Skirt

I've been doing tons of sewing lately, but my blog updates have been haphazard at best because of my crazy work schedule. Not that it takes a long time to write these posts, but I need light for the pictures and I live in a basement apartment so I pretty much have to take my photos between two and three o'clock in the afternoon to get the best light. 

This skirt is one that I made a while ago, but I only recently got around to taking pictures and thus writing a post about it. If asked I would adamantly deny that I like the color pink. I would also claim that I don't like synthetic fabrics. And yet when I was in JoAnn's this hot pink, fake "linen" which is actually a poly/rayon blend was just screaming for me to take it home. Much to my own surprise, I got four yards and made a dirndl (gathered) style skirt. I really like this skirt. I think it's comfortable and flattering. It also has the advantage of not needing a pattern because it's just three rectangles.

I decided to jazz it up a bit by adding pockets with a fun teal printed fabric. I should have placed the pockets about an inch higher because I have to reach down just a bit to slip my hands in, but I still love having pockets on a skirt and they are big enough for my entire hand (because I basically just traced a mitten shape around my hand to get the size).

Becuase I try to learn something new with every project, and there was nothing else very challenging with this skirt I challenged myself to do an inset lapped zipper, rather than my usual center lapped zipper. I think it's an attractive zipper, although when I use it in the future I will make sure to 1) leave more than 5/8 seam allowance so I have plenty of fabric for the lap and 2) make sure that I leave a space free of gathers because they made a challenging amount of bulk to deal with and it doesn't look as good as it should have. 

All in all I love this skirt. It's fun, it makes me feel cute and flirty, and it's easy to dress up or down. I think I'm pretty much going to live in it this summer.