My version of Butterick 5566 - Part II

The black pleather & wool skirt is finished...

Some stats:

Fabric:
black worsted wool crepe from Fabric Mart
black pleather from Fabric Mart
silk charmeuse for lining

Notions:
9" invisible black zipper
black silk organza for underlining
black rayon seam tape

Construction:
The most complicated part of this skirt was making the pattern pieces.  After that it was a straightforward construction and all of it was detailed in the first post.  I didn't put a waistband on the skirt so that its exactly like the original pattern.  In the actual wearing, the skirt slides down onto my hip bones.  I can live with this.  I went back and forth over whether or not I should tape the waistline seam to prevent stretching and finally decided that it was overkill.  The pleather won't grow and the wool crepe is underlined with silk organza so that should keep the back waistline stable.

There are three differences between the original Butterick pattern and mine:

1.  It's in my size - approximately a size 24.

2.  It's underlined. Even though I haven't actually seen the Butterick instructions, I'm pretty sure that's not included in the directions.

3.  It's lined.  I know this is not in the pattern instructions because two other reviewers have said that the skirt is unlined.

Now a caveat...even with a shorter top, I bet no one notices the pleather pieces on the top of the skirt because you really would have to wear something tucked in to see them.   Since I don't do tucked in, I will always have to use a top with a shorter hemline so that you can see some of the pleather pieces. I believe this is probably the reason that Butterick did not grade it past a size 20.  However, I still believe it was short-sighted of them to do so, as evidenced by my skirt.

A back view of the skirt:

and a pic of me wearing the San Francisco Skirt made from the same TNT pattern without the pattern alterations:

I've saved the pattern pieces and may make another version out of one of my pinstripe wools.  It would be kewl to cut the pattern pieces on the bias and create a little interest that way.  It was a fun and interesting experiment.  I'm glad it worked and glad that I have another black skirt with a twist to add to my wardrobe.

I've started working on the Pinstripe Follies pantsuit.  I have two full days and no need to rush especially since this is going to require alot to make it work.  I'm a little apprehensive and excited since I'm using a pattern fresh out of the envelope and this will be my first jacket for the JAM sew-along.

...as always, more later!