Let’s talk about one of the new Donna Karan patterns from Vogue this fall, which I used for items 2 and 3 for my fall sewing plan.

A couple of people have made this up and reviewed it on PR – both the skirt and the top – but although there’s a couple of mentions of my issues, I couldn’t find any great pictures or discussions about them.  So this is my take on the skirt.  You’ve already read my musings about the fit of this skirt, and after wearing it for a day, I’d like to share some ideas to make your versions a little more successful than mine.

First, I love… love the seaming detail on this skirt.  It’s just brilliant, even if it does make fitting it a pain in the **s.  All the seams are edge and topstitched, including the darts.  Now, you can’t see it very well in this photo, but edge/topstitching the darts made them almost impossible to shape as perfectly as I would have liked.

The fit through the back is really flattering.  I’m liking the silhouette.

And now we come to the front.  I made this skirt out of a mid-weight wool that slightly felted during the pre-shrinking process.  It’s heavier than a wool crepe, but I’m still wishing I did two things:

1.  underline it. I presumed on the weight (in comparison to the green wool) of the fabric, and I should not have.  Underlining this with silk organza would have made a big difference in how this wears and I think would have prevented the angled side seams from puckering as I move around in it.

Second, I wish I’d boned the front of the waistband.  It’s high – about 2 inches deep – and I’m short waisted, so giving it that extra bit of reinforcement would prevent it from folding over while I wear it. 

Third, don’t topstitch the front darts as per the instructions.  I took out the edge/topstitching after wearing it because I couldn’t stand how it exaggerated the poochiness happening below the waist.  And finally, be smart like Kay the Sewing Lawyer and do a muslin of the skirt first.  The back pieces wrap around to the front across the top of the hips, and that little extra triangular shaping makes for a bit of fitting nightmare.  I usually grade down one size for my waist, but I didn’t think through how to do that for this, so just took up the extra at the CB.  There was a little extra to ease in to the waistband at the side fronts – unevenly, I might add – and I did my best to shrink it out, but it didn’t quite work.  If I had the patience, I’d unpick the entire thing and re-make it doing everything I’ve suggested you do to get your perfect version!

That all said, I like the skirt, although I’m mad at myself for not following my sewing instincts and taking all of my own advice.  It’s interesting and if you took the time to fit it properly through the hips – or perhaps made it in an RPL or double knit – you may have better luck through the waist.  Gotta love Donna Karan for making interesting clothes that are fun to sew.

Up next:  the blouse.