Faux Fur Obsession

I've been obsessed with faux fur these past few months. I've coveted SewTawdry's amazing creations (even the Chewbacca vest!) and Miss Muslin's leopard coat. I've read the stories of flying fur bits and been forewarned of the need for care in cutting and sewing. I'm not deterred. I'm ready for my first faux!

I decided to treat myself to a pre-Christmas purchase of a beautiful short gray faux. I fell in love with it when I saw it at EOS.



I can't wait to turn this beauty into a little coat!

Curved Seam Skirt - Finally Finished

Given that all I had to do a couple of weeks ago was to tack down the lining along the zipper, the Curved Seam Skirt has taken way too long to complete! That said, I am very happy with the result and I think it was worth the extra time.



This is one stylin' skirt! The curved seams (which weren't as challenging to sew as I originally feared) "wrap" around the region from waist to low hip to really provide a wonderful fit. The skirt is slightly pegged at the hem so the narrow silhouette is accentuated.



I love the off-set zipper and slit in the back --- interesting details that take this beyond a standard pencil skirt.



Fabric and Notions
I used a cotton polka dot fabric with two "good" sides for the main skirt and Bemberg rayon lining. It really is a fun yet refined fabric. I used a fusible interfacing along the waist edge and back slit/vent for extra stabilization. I ended up just pinking the seams to keep them flat. This worked well for the curved seams, because I wanted to make sure I didn't add any extra bulk in that area. I hand-sewed the hem.

Pattern Alterations
As with most Burda patterns, this one was well drafted. The only alterations I needed were to the length. I ended up cutting off 1.5 inches at the hem (basically eliminated the hem allowance). I still needed to shorten it a bit more. Thanks to some of your wonderful suggestions, I ended up doing a "quick and dirty" length measurement of the curved area of the Burda dress pattern that was included in the same issue. This dress pattern is drafted for a petite frame and is essentially the skirt pattern with a bodice attached. I noted that the curved pieces were about 1 inch shorter for the dress than for the skirt.

Image from here.

Based on this observation, I cut off 1 inch from the top curved piece and adjusted the side seam to ensure a proper fit at the waist. If you notice in the photograph below, the top curved piece is narrower than the others. In hindsight, the better approach would be to decrease the length from all three curved pieces, but the fit is fine as it is.



Overall, I love this skirt pattern. I still need to tweak the length of the curved pieces, but I definitely want to make another version!