I started with the skirt, since I can’t get to work on the jacket until I know what I’ll be wearing it over.
Like I said, I’m using this fabric, and purchased three yards of it to ensure I had plenty to work with:
I did a little measuring and determined that I could cut three panels of the fabric (44″ wide from selvedge to selvedge) for a total skirt width of 132″– nice and full so it’ll have plenty of volume. Before doing that I cut off a piece about 1/2 yard wide to make my waistband and pockets (pockets are great!) out of. For the record, I’m 5’6″ and this made for a nice skirt length with a 2 1/2″ hem.
After inserting my pockets into the side seams (well, really the side front seams, since it’s three panels of fabric) and sewing up the back with an extra-wide seam allowance so I wouldn’t need to insert a separate placket, I pinned the top edge of the skirt to the waistband. The original Dior skirt is set in permanent knife pleats, but I didn’t have the resources to do that (besides which, it would obscure the print) so I confined the pleats to the waistline. There’s a box pleat at center front and regular pleats in either direction along the sides.
The skirt fastens with two skirt bars at the waist– you can see that I made a slight error in measuring my waistband, so there’s a larger overlap than you usually see for skirts, and also I accidentally put it in upside-down. It doesn’t really matter, though, since that part of the skirt will be hidden by the jacket. For the same reason, I didn’t bother putting snaps or any other closures in the placket.
Finally, I ironed and pinned the hem and blind-hemmed it on my machine. With the busy print, the hemming stitches don’t show at all.
Worn over a crinoline, this skirt poofs out nicely. And come on, pockets make everything better!
It's All Frosting... 