Sherlock Holmes Skirt

Spousal Unit's work holiday party this year was Sherlock Holmes themed. I love Sherlock Holmes. I'm a huge fan of the BBC series, and I've read all the books, so naturally I got pretty excited. Of course I had to make something for it!

I spent some time putting the text from "A Scandal in Bohemia" into an image. This is one of my favourite Sherlock Holmes stories. It took a lot of tweaking, but eventually I got something I was happy enough to order from Spoonflower.


This preview is from the Spoonflower website:

 

It's a nice grey, with narrow columns. I actually wish I had put a little pinstripe in between each column, but oh well; c'est la vie. I ordered this print in cotton sateen (definitely not wrinkle-resistant), and the image is 2 yards long, and 56" wide. The story is on there several times, to improve the chances I actually got the entire thing on the skirt at least once.

I can't remember which pattern to use, and I'm currently writing from Vancouver, so I can't check! It was a fairly simple skirt pattern with western-style front-hip pockets. My goal was to make something Victorianesque, but not so much a period piece that I would never wear it again.

It's common to make a muslin of a pattern, which is basically like a test run, or a prototype. Generally one would use actual inexpensive muslin, but modern cottons aren't particularly costly any more, and I have random cuts around, I decided to test drive this pattern with some pretty cotton.

The pockets are great, and the fit was perfect!

I really wanted to focus on the print of the fabric, though, so instead of doing the pattern again exactly the same, I removed the pockets, and made full versions of the front and back of the skirt, so I could move the back lapped zipper to the side.

Having a full size pattern piece and cutting flat also means you have much more control over what part of the design shows up on your skirt. This is great to do if you're working with stripes!

Being full-length, there was a lot of fabric to hem at the bottom. Using my rolled hem foot made this much faster, with a very clean result.

The suspenders and tiny hat were my last-ditch attempt at "Victorian, but without all the bustle."

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As you might guess, I'm currently visiting family for the holidays! This will be the last post of the year, but I have a full schedule planned starting January 2015!*

Happy sewing!

*holy crap 2015!