The "Goes with Everything" Skirt - Completed!

This is my first completed project of 2012, and my second item for my SWAP. I'm super excited!

Fabric: 1 1/2 yards dark denim from JoAnn and a bit of quilting cotton from my grandma's stash
Pattern: Burda Jenny pencil skirt
Year: Modern

Notions: navy zipper, fusible interfacing, hem tape from grandma's stash

Time to complete: 16 hours. What? I said I'm slow!

First worn: to work on January 13

Wear again? Yes! I'd wear this skirt every day if I could!
Make again? Absolutely! This pattern was a breeze to work with. The time it took was just me being the tortoise. :)

Total price: $14

The Sew Weekly theme this week was to use an accessory as your inspiration for a garment. The minute I saw the theme, I knew what I would be using as my inspiration. I bought this scarf from Urban Outfitters (a store that I paradoxically love but in which I've never been able to find an item I didn't hate). It was the first thing I've ever found there that I loved, and I loved it so much I had to have it immediately. It goes with everything I own, with its navy, off-white, dark red, pink, light blue, yellow, orange...I could wear anything with this scarf and it would match.

In the spirit of multi-use garments, I made a skirt that I could wear with anything in my closet (including that lovely scarf). In fact, I can wear this skirt with the blouse I bought months ago and then never wore because it doesn't go with anything else I have. I can wear it with the colored tights my mom bought me for Christmas (I'm wearing the maroon today).

I cut a size 36 (US 4) in the waist and graded to a size 42 (US 10) in the hip, then shaved off some of the width in the high hip because my width is lower. I also took a page out of Tilly's book and removed a lot of the width of the waistband, because I'm pretty short too. My finished waistband is 2" wide. I made a swayback adjustment and then did a similar adjustment to the front of the skirt. I think the ripples in the fabric that make that necessary might be created by my low, wide hips, but who knows? All I know is that adjustment works. :) I added 1 1/2" to the length of the skirt, so it would hit just above the knee. Finally, I used Sunni's tutorial over at A Fashionable Stitch to add a back vent to the skirt, and I put in a lapped zipper instead of a centered zipper.

Oh, and I looked at Lauren's post on hem tape over at Lladybird to get a visual on how to put this stuff in. It looks so pretty, doesn't it?

I love this super-dark denim and the perfect fit, but the thing that's really special about this skirt for me is the fact that I was able to use things that used to belong to my grandma. Every time I pull this skirt on, I'll see this pretty blue-flowered cotton that my grandma bought once and used for something small (there was a tiny bit of it cut out). That was also some of her lace hem tape (and it was already cut to exactly the length I needed...weird!).

*Oh! And the first three photos were taken by my awesome and supportive coworker Monique.