The Walk in the Woods skirt

The Walk in the Woods skirt is done and I love it. It is very comfy, cool and I like the look. Here's the deets:

Pattern:

There is none. I worked up the design myself which utilized the fact that I had two digitally printed panels to work with. One panel made the front and the second panel was split in half to make a back that would accommodate a zipper. Luckily the print is nebulous enough to not require precise matching.  I wanted a curved bottom edge and slits up the side. The waistband is elastic. 

Fabric:

This is a rayon knit. It is thick enough to be decent and is digitally printed with the design of a forest with blurred out details, rather pointillistic.  The colors are warm. Actually "warm and fuzzy" would be a good description. It is yummy to wear. I THINK it came from Emma One Sock but it is not on their site now. They do have some exceptional digital prints on their site. I can see this fabric working in the winter with boots and a sweater yet it is very comfy to wear today which is brutally hot and humid. Love skirts in the hot weather!

Construction:

This was a no brainer for the most part. I put an invisible zip up the back using Kenneth King's method which is one of those things that once you try there is no  going back. It is so simple and the results are great. For the waistband I used an 1 1/4 wide waistband elastic. I needed it to be fairly wide to cover my tumtum with short tops like the one I'm wearing. The panels were not shaped in any way but the fabric was thin enough to gather up on the elastic really nicely and fairly bulk free. After putting in the zip I had several inches of fabric to turn over the waistband elastic as you would a facing on the zip but I stitched the elastic into that seam as well. It snugs up really nicely on the waist. The elastic is secured at the zip, as mentioned, and ditch stitched into the side seams as well. No twisting! 

I wanted the curved hem and that was easy enough to draw out with a French Curve. As I did each of the four sides I matched the same numbers on the ruler to the fabric edges. The small hem was then interfaced with tricot and turned once. No ravelling with this knit so I wasn't about to add the bulk of a double turn, just no need to. Then I did my favorite knit hem technique, sewing on the very edge and then sewing a bit away, in this case about 3/8 of an inch. At the curve the interfaced hem was clipped and that handled the curve just fine. I used a 3.0 stitch length but the nature of this knit just sucked in the stitches and they look smaller. 

You can see how smoothly the back hangs with the zip. My hip to waist ratio is such that it really works better to add a zip rather than have a full pull on type of elastic waistband. The length was really determined by the most flattering layout of the digital print. I brought the darker stripe up to the waist area instead of the hips which  a longer version would have done.

In Conclusion:

This is simple, basic skirt construction, wide enough to not fret over fit other than length and the waistband elastic. I have actually ordered another digital print panel design that was so much an impulse buy and can't wait to make that up in a fuller, more classic version with a flat waistband. It was an impulse buy but I think it will be one of those things I will wear for years. I won't be using a pattern for that one either. Hey, maybe there's a future in becoming an Indie designer of rectangle pieces of fabric.............just kidding...........Bunny
ETA 08/01/18: Just want to say this has turned out to be a big thumbs up garment. It is so comfortable in this heat and so easy to wear. I've garnered compliments every time I put it on and look forward to wearing it in the winter with maybe a black turtleneck or sweater. I would make another pictorial digital print in a rayon knit in a heartbeat. ...Bunny