Inspired by Vivienne Westwood: Burda 08-2010-107

I love this skirt and want to wear it all the time.  It's everything that I love about sewing: instant gratification due to quick construction and good fit.  This skirt takes 2.5 hours to complete, from laying out the pattern to finishing the hem.  It has an elastic waistband, and I left the pockets out.  The decision to leave the pockets off wasn't so much a design decision as it was a wearing decision.  I've found that side seam pockets on skirts tend to gape open and I've been sewing them shut on other skirts.  I figured I would save the time of having to do that in the future.

The skirt is tapered and has a large overlap in the front.  When I saw the design in the magazine I was a bit unsure that this would be wearable because of the huge overlap -- I was sure it would turn into a shapeless mess.  My muslin proved me wrong and I went ahead with my Shetland wool from Fabricmart.

I shortened the skirt by 1" and think the length is still office suitable without being dowdy.  I want to wear this skirt every day!

Almost matched plaids.

Better matched plaids.

I cut the back on the bias, to try to match plaids and to avoid the coffin look.

Here is the inspiration in bright red tartan, the Vivienne West Cosmopolitana skirt.  As you can see, the back has deep pleats, but I didn't try to replicate them.

And there are pockets, as you can see in the photo on the left.  Below is the line drawing, which you can see is a pretty close approximation.

Burda 08-2010-107 line drawing