Actually, this wasn't so much an inspiration as me flat-out copying this garment (which was also a knock-off from a RTW pattern). But I felt it was ok to be a copy-cat as she actually provides a tutorial to put this skirt together :)
I'd never sewn with leather, so I was quite excited to get started, I had already visited Lonsdale Leather, a gold mine for leather, and I was itching to have an excuse to come out of there with something. So this was a great opportunity.
I purchased a full lamb hide of light weight black leather, about 9 square feet.
For the pattern, I used skirt 115 from BWOF 09-2012. The base is the same as this skirt, (without the pleat) for which I'd already figured out the fit, so it seemed like a good option.
I didn't actually follow the tutorial - by the time I got around to making the skirt, I actually forgot it was even there, so I just made up my own pattern piece for the wrap portion. I didn't want a real wrap skirt, so I added the asymetrical panel on top of the rest of the normal skirt. In hindsight that might not have been the best thing, because it adds quite a bit of bulk to the side seam and I couldn't get a nice smooth side seam.
Anyways, I made a muslin to figure out the dimensions and orientation of the asymetrical panel, then I cut my leather and fabric. Working with leather wasn't so bad. I used paper clips to keep the leather pieces together (instead of pins). I also used leather tape, after seeing this tutorial, to finish the hem, and it worked perfectly!
I'm a little on the fence about the result. I love the idea of this skirt, and I've been wearing it a lot, but I only wish the side seams laid a little flatter and smoother. No matter how much pressing I did, it doesn't look quite right. Oh well, I'm still happy with it and the opportunity to work with leather, and now I'm dreaming of a little pouch to use my left-over leather.
