Finally done with my one UFO in the stash

I'm not the kind of person that gets a lot of UFO:s (unfinsihed objects). I am more of a single project at a time person, so I work on a project and make sure to finish it before starting on a new one. There is one exception though, and it's not a costume piece, but I'm just so happy that I've finally finished with it. The reason why I set down to finish it today is that the HSF challenge for May 1t is "UFOs and PHDs", I can't add this to the challenge, since it not an historical piece, but it still gave me a kick in the back to finish it.

Yes, it is a simple kneelength shirt for everyday wear. Why has it taken so long, and how long did it take. I'm going to tell the story about this garment, because it's also the story of me as a seamstress.

The fabric for this skirt was bought in 2005, I think I started to cut out the pieces in the winter 2006. The pattern was a skirt with two big pleats in front and two in the back, and a very wide yoke from the waist. I think I might have come so far as to sew the skirt together and cutting out the yoke. I know I fiddled a lot with getting the pleats correct, according to the pattern, and I was quite proud that I had added two pockets to it as well. I wasn't so bad when it came to constructing garments, the boring part about drawing the pattern and cutting them out though. It must have been evident when I cut out the yoke that it didn't match the skirt itself.

A couple of years later I dug out the pieces, from what I rememberd it wasn't much left to do, just add a zipper and then I would have a skirt. So I had to attache one layer of the yoke as well, but since it didn't fit I tried to gather all the extra material of it around the side seam. The problem was though that at that time I had gained a lot of weight and the skirt simply didn't fit anymore.

Today I took out the skirt again. It was actually too big now, but I was so annoyed with the ugle wrinkles and strange gathers at the side seams of the yoke. I ripped the the yoke off thinking I had to redo it. Then I realised that I would never be comfortable with the big yoke, and if I had ripped it off I could change it a lot anyway. Also the skirt was too big at the waist, so I ripped up the two back pleats and made four new ones. The first time I had thought it was really fiddly to get a nice pleat, now I can make an inverted boxpleat just using my eyes and hands. I cut a stripe of the yoke and turned it into a narrow waistband instead, added a zipper, and now I have a skirt.

One thing that has changed since I started to make this skirt is my sense of what's flattering for my body. Today I wouldn't do this kind of skirt, it feels a bit too bulky over the stomack and hips, I prefer a more narrows silhouette. Still I'm really happy that it's done and I'm planning on using it for everyday wear, which isn't exactly common when it comes to my creations.

Me and my sister have had a whole sewing day today, so even if this was  my main project I have also sewn the sleeves for my gaulle, by hand, and read up a lot on how to make my hat, so I'm itching to get started on that one properly. My sister has finally, after 7 or so years, started to make her TV110 corset.