I gasped and immediately fell in love with this vintage letters fabric when I saw SPG pin it to her inspiration board. It had a soft and romantic feel that really appealed to my girly side. I seriously considered buying the fabric to keep around until I could figure out what I can decorate the home with, lol. S mentioned that it'd actually work for structured clothing items (her post on fabric selection is a must-read, imo), so I excitedly asked her if she would be so kind to make a skirt for me. She was so patient answering all my questions, advising me on options, and putting up with my indecisiveness. Yes, I was quite the high-maintenance customer.

I initially wanted a pencil skirt because of its classic silhouette without any folds to detract from the pretty print. Then I re-considered due to the material and imagined all sorts of creasing after a work day. I already don't iron enough as it is, so I figured I better go as low-maintenance as possible. I came across two ASOS pleated skirts, one with a paper bag waist and one with a traditional waist. Both skirts had pleats that were fairly wide, which I felt would still work with the busy pattern.

S told me what's feasible and what wasn't, gave advice on waist placement and length, and basically held my hand through this whole process. In our first go-around, I felt the skirt was sitting too high on me [bottom left photo]. What a time to discover that my torso's on the shorter side. So I folded down some of the fabric around my waist and voila, the skirt looks much more proportioned on me [bottom right photo]. S agreed and asked me to send the skirt back so she can make modifications.

She ended up raising the ribbon and taking out the pleat reinforcements, so the skirt poufs out less. In her words, I never should have reinforced it so low since it made the whole top of the skirt narrower and resulted in it sitting so high. The skirt now has some room to give (depending on my stomach space), so I'll have to play around with waist placement to find the optimal spot.

I couldn't be happier, with both the experience and the final result. Thank you, S for putting up with me the last two months!

It's as if the weather Gods were smiling down at me because I was soon able to take my new skirt out for a spin. I went with a ladylike look and dressed up the skirt with scalloped Mary Jane pumps. I can also see myself pairing the skirt with cute flats for casual days.