Houndstooth Skirt

This simple skirt has been in the works for two weeks but finally finished this afternoon.
I used my TNT pattern for a straight skirt, from Vogue and cut it just straight from the pattern.  And pattern matched it.  And painstakingly hand tacked it all, and, got it completely made, bar the waistband, cos, you know, its a TNT right?  And tried it on ..................
I looked like a houndstooth sausage.... it was too tight.  I'd grown or the pattern had shrunk.  The tape measure assures me it was the former and not the latter, so I had to let the side seams out and take out the darts in the front.  So now the seams don't match up nicely any more because I'd planned and cut the match based on the skirt fitting properly. 

Actually, it doesn't look too bad.  Its certainly passable, and I do like it, but it doesn't meet my exacting standards, and I'm annoyed that I spent two weeks hand tacking and matching things only to have to pull it out.  And of course the fabric is super loose woven and a bit spongy, so the stitches disappeared, making it rather hair raising to alter. 

The zipper is a centred application and the waistband is the narrowest I thought I could get away with, supported by cotton interlining (Iron on) rather than waistband interfacing, so that its a bit softer to wear. 

Luckily, I did my usual trick of thinking I needed more fabric than I actually do, so there's enough for another go at this, when this one wears out. 

I'll be wearing this tomorrow for work with a cream polo neck top and the red Elphaba top I knitted recently.  Hopefully having a new outfit to wear will cheer me up on my return to work after a week on holiday.   

And hopefully I will also be able to keep up the exercise routine that I've started back on today and persuade my very well meaning colleague that her kind provision of vast quantities of stress relieving chocolate in the workplace is not in the best interests of my figure or wardrobe.