NL 6899: a new "vintage" circle skirt

Circle skirt, finished!

Here's the backstory.  Last week I found myself infatuated with this series of photos via Pinterest:

That dress is TDF!  Yellow, lace, circle skirt?  Bicycle??  It apparently was a photoshoot for Vogue, but don't quote me on that. 

Knockoff wheels started turning.  I had just pulled an icy blue satin from stash (10 years old minimum), thinking I'd use it matte side out because the color was richer (plus, more practical).  And last fall I placed a huge order for assorted colors of nylon tricot and laces from Sew Sassy for some lingerie (um, that's all still on THE LIST).  After I saw the above photos, it took me about 35 seconds to put the two together!

I started with this New Look pattern (not vintage but vintage-esque!) 6899:

I love this pattern because it has both a full circle and a half circle version, in two lengths.  I used the long version, full circle skirt.  I had to fudge just a teeny bit on length due to my yardage on hand but I knew I was adding the lace so that made up most of the difference. 

I cut a straight waistband, planning to do a side lapped zip.  I hate shaped waistbands.  They never sit correctly on my waist.   (And it's easy to cut a straight waistband substitute!  No pattern piece needed!)  That brought the skirt up a little in length, since my waistband was narrower than the shaped on in the pattern.  I love the finished length though.  I think it's perfect (even if that's a fluke):

I'm hoping it's more "slip-like" and less "she's wearing a slip with no skirt!"  Ha. 

My big cheat...I didn't have a zip (story of my life) and rather than sit on this project for several days I just did an elastic waist!

I used the waistband piece I had already cut and sewed it together in a circle, the pressed it in half lengthwise wrong sides together.  I cut a piece of 1" elastic to fit and sewed it together in a circle too.  Then I just tucked the circle of elastic into the waistband and pinned close to the bottome edge of the elastic. Stitch close to the edge with a zipper foot.  You do have to stop about 3/4 of the way around and redistribute the fullness of the waistband because it is longer than the circle of elastic.  I just redistribute, pin again and sew. 

Last step is just pinning the waistband to the skirt and stitching in place.  I serged the raw seams:

Note that I have a double row of stitching.  When I stitched to the skirt, I could see the first line of stitching in a couple of places, so I had to go back over it again. 

Pinning that lace into place was a job!  I pinned about 1/2 of the skirt and stitched, then pinned the rest in place and stitched  I used a zigzag and followed along the lace header.  Which...was CURVED. I didn't realize that until I went to pin, but the color was so perfect I sucked it up. 

After stitching, I trimmed away the excess fabric from behind, close to the zigzag stitching.  I would have gotten closer, but I'm not convinced this satin won't fray like the devil when it's washed.  This will probably be a handwash item!  Here's the interior where you can see the fabric trimmed away (and the shiny side of the satin is on the inside!)

That's about it!  Pretty new skirt for not a lot of work.  Now let's see if I can get that plaid dress finished today!  I'm already eyeballing a new project.