Gabriola Skirt: It’s lovely but…

Every spring I get on a maxi skirt kick.  I’m not sure why, but every spring I find myself hunting for the perfect long skirt pattern to make up.  This spring was no exception.

Gabriola Skirt

I actually started on this skirt pattern late last fall and the fit wasn’t quite right.  I set it aside while I worked on some other garments and let it languish.  But the spring itch for a long skirt kicked in and I figured, I might as well finish my gabriola skirt that I had started.

Gabriola Skirt

I bought this fabric from my local fabric store and its to die for.  It’s wool & silk blend, with a twill-ish style weave.  It results in the most supple but drapey fabric.  The color is just another bonus; I’m pretty sure I would have bought this fabric no matter what color it happened to be.  In real life its a purple/blue kind of fabric – it changes color based on the light.  In short – its the bees knees of fabric.

Gabriola Skirt

When I tried on my skirt this spring, it was too large.  To get it to fit, I had to majorly reduce the side seams at the waistband, which resulted in a funky angle at that side seam – instead of a nice smooth waistband.  Lucky for me, non-sewers rarely notice seam lines and no one has been the wiser.

Gabriola Skirt

The other thing I noticed was that I found I had removed too much length from the hem.  I could only serge the seam and turn it up once (1/4″ hem) and you can still see the serged stitching from the inside of the skirt. Ack!  Not sure how I managed to do that given my short stature.  I can only wear flats with this skirt now, which isn’t a huge deal…

Gabriola Skirt

I had to majorly lighten these two detail images so you can see the yoke style lines.

Front View:

Gabriola Front Yoke

Back View:

Gabriola Back Yoke

As you can see, I added in my own lapped zipper, as I really loathe invisible zips and avoid them at all costs.

Lets get to the crux of my blog title for this one: “The Gabriola skirt: It’s lovely but…”

It’s exactly that with a big “BUT” at the end of the sentence.  I love the fabric, I love the swish factor, but…. it really doesn’t feel like ME.  I’m not sure what I envisioned with this one, but the style really feels off.  I feel like I’m wearing someone else’s clothes when I put it on.

I know I have been sewing up some more modern garments as of late – but this feels like I’ve crossed the line between ME and too modern/stylish.  It’s a hard feeling to have, given I love this fabric so much.  I put a decent amount of work into this skirt in order to get it to fit right.  So this conclusion is difficult to come to at the very end of a make.  As nice as it is, it’s just not ME.

Gabriola Skirt

I wore this skirt to work once and got some nice compliments on it.  I’ll probably wear it again on my “didn’t feel like shaving” days when the weather gets cooler again.  But I have to say, I’ve only worn it the one time and its not something I gravitate towards given the option of something else in my closet.

It’s really just too bad… but it’s my own fault in the end.  I feel like I should have known better – and I’ll be counting this in the ‘learning experience’ category of my sewing projects.  Lovely fabric doesn’t make up for a design that doesn’t reflect who you are.

Has this happened to anyone else???

In: Sewing

Blogger for 6 years and counting, I am a passionate creator who loves to tinker.

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