Simplicity 4718 (1943) Utility skirt: Part I

Listening: Hazel Dickens, Hard-Hitting Songs for Hard-Hit People (1980/1998).  Not seeing Hazel Dickens perform before she passed away is something I will always regret.

We haven't done Christmas yet; we'll do it at New Year's when my brother and sister-in-law come back from her hometown.  I'm so impatient this year!

Since we weren't doing Christmas stuff over Christmas, though, I got some sewing done.  I thought of these as cheat projects since they were quickies made from a pattern that I'd already altered and made, but . . . I guess they're not really.  I need them for everyday clothing.

I used Simplicity 4718 (1943), which I fixed made last year in blue and white striped chambray.  

 It's one of my favorites even though it totally looks like a uniform:

I needed to lower the bust darts before I made it again but that took about two minutes.

I'm using the lower half for a utility skirt.   Nothing fancy, just something to wear around.  I'm sick of my old skirts and they're not versatile enough---too many colors and patterns.

The fabric was some brown brushed twill I bought years and years ago for another project but never used.  It was a terrible sandy-rusty color:

So I overdyed it with regular brown.  It's still not super brown but it's better.  More rusty and less sandy.

The hem facing is bias cut from the fabric I'm using for the other project.  This is a three-inch strip, which is too wide.  I'll go narrower next time so it bends better:

Still, calico hem facings are adorable, aren't they?

That's also the first non-terrible hem corner I've ever done.  I didn't fold it into a triangle because the twill is pretty stiff, but it still looks nice.

I got the hem and inset belt done yesterday.  I have to iron in, topstitch the belt, apply the patch pockets, and do the buttons and buttonholes.  Sounds like a lot but it's really not so bad, and it needed to hang for a day anyway: