Finished! One-Seam Skirt, or How to Complictate Even the Simplest Project

When I bought this fabric (on the left), it was with thoughts of a one-seam skirt. Afterall, what could be more simple and fun for this wonky knit? And, quite frankly, a horizontally striped skirt is exactly the kind of fashion risk that gets me giddy these days. And did I mention how I love Halloween and Tim Burton?

Anyway, since I really like the fabric, I decided not to wing it. I was a bit worried that a one seam skirt with no shaping might not really work on my body. Anything that needs to fit over my hips is generally going to be huge at the waist, so a simple column won't cut it for me. That's when I came across this article on CraftStylish.  A one-seam skirt with darts! Hooray!

So, armed with a plan, I flitted off to the Craft Lounge. Somewhere along the way I decided that if I was going to the effort of adding darts, I may as well add a zipper, too. I've been meaning to try an exposed zipper on something, and this seemed like a fun opportunity. (My ulterior motive was also to avoid trying to match up this wonky striped fabric at the one seam. Ha!)

At that point, it occurred to me that I really will find a way to complicate just about any sewing project. Sigh. It seems that simple is just not in my repertoire. Anyway, here's how it went...

My cut fabric, still attached to the pattern

Basically you draft a flat pattern that is a rectangle where the width is your hip width and the length is your desired skirt length, plus allowance for finishing the hem and waist.  Then you add darts equal to the difference between your hip and waist. There is a slight negative ease to this pattern, but you could always add seam allowance in if you wanted.

The darts that are cut out are where there would be side seams in a regular skirt pattern. And there are 4 more darts (not sure you can see them) which become front and back darts. The only fitting change I made from pattern to sewn skirt is that I tapered to the hem just a little bit so the skirt would have a slightly more pencil skirt fit than a straight skirt.

As I mentioned, I decided to add an exposed zipper instead of sewing the single seam down the back. This is a RiRi zipper that unzips from both top and bottom. I love the bold color contrast. I also like that I can unzip it from the top to get into the skirt and also from the bottom a few inches if I want a slit for walking. I'm really tickled with this feature. And it was easy - I basted the back seam (wrong sides together), basted on the zipper, trimmed the seam allowance so it wouldn't stick out from behind the zipper and then topstitched near the edge of the zipper tape, removing all the basting stitches.   

It only took about an hour to sew up (including trying on and pressing darts) once I had the the pattern drafted and the fabric cut. And I think it is super cute and fun. I omitted adding elastic at the waist, since I put in the zipper, but I think I'll go back and add it in so the waist is a little more snug after wearing. 

Anyway, what do you think? Have I made horizontal stripes work?

Since I had so much fun tackling - and complicting! - this one seam skirt, I've decided to go back for more. This weekend's project will be the skirt part of V1259 by Donna Karan. It's also a single seam skirt, essentially, although with it's own set of complications.

Update: OMG! Phin just pointed out that the zipper for this project ($15 at Pacific Trimmings) actually cost more than the fabric ($12/yd at Mood)! How crazy is that!?!?!?