Well, I did manage to get the skirt muslin sewn together and the initial alterations done. The pattern was no where near my current size (although it was the smallest iteration I still had of this pattern. It must have been from the end of 2005, not the beginning as the skirts that only needed an inch or two taken out of them are from early 2005.
I ended up taking 2 inches out at each side seam, or 8 inches total from the girth of the skirt, all the way down from waist to hem. That certainly makes me feel better about my efforts now, although somewhat appalled about my history as well.
Here's a quick photo of me in the substantially narrowed skirt. The hem will be a little shorter than is marked here (olive line), just at the bottom of the knee, which will be a much more flattering length.
I haven't finished fitting the skirt at the waist yet. It looks like the skirt pattern extends up about 2 to 3 inches above my natural waist. I probably just chopped it off as I made each skirt, although several of my older skirts are too high at the waist.
I am putting it aside for now because I had a gluten encounter over the weekend. I am still a bit bloated from the GI symptoms and also from taking prednisone which I need to control the rampant hives which are also brought on by the smallest bit of gluten.
This is my favorite belt this spring. I usually wear it on the third (middle) buckle with my jeans, at about 1" below my waist. I last wore this belt on Friday and can't buckle it at all now, the closest I can get is to about an inch from the largest hole, which is what, 3 inches over normal? I am wearing an old belt that I hadn't given away yet, a belt that I stopped wearing because it was too large. This amount of bloating will make a difference in the final fit of the skirt. It behooves me to wait.
Since I have the basic dimensions of the skirt, I could probably start cutting the lining at least. But things should be back to normal by the weekend. Once I pass the belt test, it is full steam ahead.




