Ombre Wedding Skirt, Style 2327

I've started my skirt for the wedding. It is made with a chiffon which is not acting like a poly but I think is one. The fabric is shaded in an ombre fashion from off white to a soft green on the length of the yardage. I am using as my start the 4 panel skirt you see in the orange. I wanted more fullness for the sheer. There was also an issue with the panel not fitting onto the 45 inch width despite the pattern layout. Add to that the fact that I wanted the ombre stripes to fall in a certain fashion. I decided to split the panel to end up with a seven panel skirt, 4 in the back to give me a CB for my zip installation and 3 in the front giving me no CF seam. I also enlarged the width of the panels to give me more fullness. I remember when I did custom window treatments. We always cut sheers quadruple width for a beautiful window. You just need more fabric with sheers, at least that has been my training. Knowing I wanted the additional width is why I chose this style. There would be less up near the hip/waist and lots at the hem. Hopefully this design will work.

Before seaming the sheer, I did all sorts of sample seams. I wanted the sheer free falling from the waist but needed a zip at CB. I seriously toyed with doing the sheer and lining together in an invisible zip but decided it really would affect the floaty effect. With the layout I was able to have the CB seam of the sheer on the selvedge. With sampling I decided to do the two layers separately. The finish I decided upon was a triple zigzag with a 1.o width and a .7 length. Once sewn the seams are then trimmed back to the stitching. Why this finish? My preference would have been a fine french seam but I am dealing here with on grain to on grain, bias to on grain, and bias to bias seams. I just know that the french seam would give a pulled finish in this sheer fabric once the hem hung out, so that was out. Next I tried a straight stitch which I planned to do double and trim back but this did not hang out as well as the zigzag. The triple zigzag gave me strength as well as stretch for the seam as it hung out. This was trimmed back with a rotary cutter to the stitching line. A note here about the thread - I had some decisions to make. I needed a lightweight thread for the chiffon. I did samples with matching thread but made the eventual decision to sew the stitch with a size 80 embroidery thread( very lightweight) in a color that was not a perfect match. This is because lightweight threads come in a limited color range. The lightweight thread gave a better stitch than the regular thread I tried. I also used a size 8 needle. So it was not a perfect color match but a great stitchout with the lightweight thread. Now for the ACKKKK....
I got the skirt put together so now it was on to the lining. I had some nice poly rayon shirtweight for this. I needed something a little heftier to prevent show thru. I didn't want to wear another slip under this. I got the CB seam sewn as per El's intructions in her fabulous tute on invisible zips. Then I moved to the serger to finish the seams. I stitched away, hit the ironing board, and when I went to iron the seams from the right side it was nasty time. I caught the smallest doggone pleat under the knife and ended up with a nasty hole. Ok, so at first I decided to repair this thing. Fugetabotit! I put the sheer over it and you can clearly see the repair. I went digging in the stash and found a silk taffeta that would work beautifully but really don't want to use that. So tomorrow it is off to shop for a lining that is dense enough for modesty but light enough for a floaty skirt. Cross those fingers..............Bunny