HSM 2025: March - black and white

March: Black and White (2014, 10th most popular): Draw on the opposite ends of the shade spectrum to create something in black, white, or both.

If there ever was a decade I didn't think I would wear it would probably be the 1930s. All I am thinking about with the 1930s are glamourous silk and slinky gowns, and a tall columnar shape, something I definitely don't have. Then I made the Ngaio blouse from Scroop patterns, and decided that I wanted to make a 1930s skirt.

I bought the 1930s day or evening skirt from Wearing History. It seemed simple enough, and I also liked that the period instructions called for a zipper. The pattern is from the later 1930s, when the skirts had started to get wider and less column like. Now the Wearing History patterns are cleaned up version of the originals and you need to know how to sew to use them. I wasn't too happy about this pattern, but I don't know if it's me or the pattern. First off I didn't measure my waist, but used my jeans size, and when I held up cut out paper pattern there were quite a lot of cm lacking for me to get it round my waist. I lengthened that pattern piece, and I also added to the skirt pieces, since I had also cut out them according to my jeans size. In the end the skirt pieces ended up too large, I had to gather them a bit to get them into the waistband. That is probably the reason why the skirt isn't quite as figure hugging over the hips as I would have liked it to be. 

Another thing with the pattern is the length of the skirt. I have short legs so I am used to having to shorten skirts, but for this I had to shorten it a lot. I cut out 12 cm from the paper pattern, before even laying it out on the fabric, and then i cut another 8 cm from the skirt before hemming it as well. All in all I cut out almost 20 cm to get the length I liked. It is a bit on the shorter side for the 1930s, but it is well below the knees. I maybe should have been a bit more conservative when cutting off the fabric before the hemming.

A belt and beret from a second hand store and my new 1930's shoes and I could pretend that I was out at a seaside resort.

What the item is: A late 1930s skirt
How it fits the challenge: Made in black, but with a white zipper
Material: 2,5 m of poly/viscose blend
Pattern: Wearing history 1930s day or evening skirt
Year: 1938
Notions: zipper, hook and eye, thread, interfacing for the waistband
How historically accurate is it? 75% the materials (fabric and interfacing) take it down
Hours to complete: 2 evenings
First worn: For a photo shoot Aprild 26th
Total cost: $40

And as a bonus - here is my original entry for the 2014 black and white challenge