Historical Sew Monthly February

Recently my coworker gave me a beautiful wool skirt she made years ago. I thought it would be a great candidate for re-making! I lost most of February to bronchitis, so I needed a pretty quick and easy project if I wanted to meet the deadline.

I plan to join in a suffragette group at this year's Costume College, and this skirt looked like it could translate well to 1916-ish.

Before: the waist is a little tight, but would work if I were lightly corseted. The skirt is a good 19th century length but a bit long for late 19-teens.

Before: a lovely hem and a very well-stitched zipper. Of course, to make this more period accurate, the zipper had to go. I hated to pick out such nice stitching!

I thought about shortening from the waist so I wouldn't lose the hem, but I loved the nifty pockets!

Finished. I just threw on a random (modern) white blouse from the closet for the photo.

The new hem is machine blind-stitched. 

I replaced the zipper with a placket, cut from waste fabric leftover from shortening. Hooks and eyes close the placket.

I might add buttons later to highlight the pockets.

The Challenge: February: Re-Make, Re-Use, Re-Fashion – Sew something that pays homage to the historical idea of re-using, re-making and re-fashioning. Turn one thing into another. Re-fit or re-fashion an old gown into something you would wear again. Re-trim a hat for a new outfit, or re-shape a modern hat to be a historical hat. Re-purpose the fabric from an old garment (your own or a commercial one) into a new garment.

 Material: Wool

 Pattern: None

 Year: 1916-18

 Notions: Thread and Hooks & Eyes

 How historically accurate is it? I give it about 80%. The hem is machine stitched, and I am not sure about the inverted pleat detail, but otherwise the material and silhouette work.

 Hours to complete: 3

 First worn: Not yet.

 Total cost: Totally free.