The skinny on sewing leather #2

The pencil skirt is an extremely flattering garment, which is why I gave this leather skirt a go last year (that, and the fact that it only cost $2!). Unfortunately, the leather at the back was very thin and it ripped only the second time I wore it, and although I thought about how to fix it, I never got around to it. Then, on impulse last week, I did this…

Yes, the old “make it into a mini skirt” trick, which was slightly more complicated than it usually would be for a leather skirt because of the overlapping panels at the front. The back was easy to shorten in that I just cut across it, but I had to unpick the panels at the front and then did a very shoddy job of finishing off the hemline, part of which involved turning excess leather under and making massively messy stitches (those messy vertical stitches on the left are from my initial makeover when I took the seams in).  

No one can see the mess when I’m wearing it though, right? (They can see my amusing hair style though… hey, it was a windy day!)

I think I’ll actually get more wear out of the skirt at this length. It’s quite versatile – it works with flats or heels, can be dressed up or down and works bare-legged for summer or worn in winter weather with tights and boots.

A lot of my projects work best when I make spontaneous decisions (quite often after months of dithering about how best to solve various design challenges)and I think this is one of them!

Now to make a spontaneous decision about what to do with the leftover leather from the skirt hem…

 

(By the way, if you’re interested in the DIY ruffle top I’m wearing, there are more details about it here. I made my white T-shirt too! And found the Tila March platform heels for $5 at the Rotary opshop in Camberwell where I am doing a bit of behind the scenes work… if you drop in, tell them I sent you!)