Skirt Refashion

This project has been dismantled waiting to be refashioned for well over two years now, but it is finally done.

Don't you just hate it when you find a skirt you love in a charity shop, but it is several sizes too small, why are all the cute things in a size 8 or 10 (UK sizes that is)?  I love the print on this skirt, I actually bought it new in a different colour way from H&M many years ago, but there was no way a size 8 was ever going to fit me.

I think I must have originally bought this skirt with the idea of making a bag, but all that happened was I ripped the skirt apart and put it in the deep dark recesses of my fabric stash, until it finally saw the light of day last week.  As I also found some pale blue linen in my stash, I decided to make a panelled skirt.  Of course I modified New Look 6106, which has been my go to pattern this summer (this is now the fifth iteration and I still haven't made the skirt up as it is meant to be).  I worked out the largest panel I could get from the skirt as was and worked out how big I need to make the side panels.  I then redrafted the pocket opening to fit with the side panel width, the original pocket opening is quite wide and shallow, I made it narrower and deeper to fit.

The only other change I needed to make was the addition of a button and buttonhole.  The pattern calls for the zip to go to the top of the waistband, but as I wanted to utilise the existing zip in the skirt (really why make extra work for yourself) I extended the waistband at the back and added a button.

So from a skirt that was never going to fit me, to a skirt that fits very well, is a one off and will go with lots of t-shirts I already own.  But again I ask, just why did it take me so very long?