Ina Maxi goodness!

My latest finish:

This is the Ina Maxi Skirt, a PatternReview.com exclusive pattern.

I purchased this happy coral stripe cotton knit from Gorgeous Fabrics with this pattern in mind. Based on my measurements, I cut a size Large, which worked for some parts and was big in others. In the photos above and below, I've tucked in my shirt to try and give an idea of how un-fitted the waist is on me).

While I like how it fits and skims my body from my hips downward, I definitely need to go down a size (or more) for the waist. I tried to mitigate by doing some shaping-- I cut 7/8" from the top of the waist side seams tapering down to the original waistband seam at the bottom. That helped some, but it is still pretty loose where I want it to be close-fitting (because I want it to feel like its gonna stay on/up!). The fabric is 100% cotton and seems to have good recovery-- but maybe something with lycra would help with fit as well?

The only other alteration I made was to trim off 1/2" from the hem. It is still on the long-ish side, though its totally wearable so long as I wear a bit of a heel. Next time, I'll probably shorten it by 1 to 1-1/2" above the tulip part. I also made sure to insert a ribbon to mark the back, which is only subtly different from the front (you can see it poking out in the right pic of the above collage).

On the bright side, I have worn the skirt twice now without incident-- the skirt totally stayed in place and there was no unnecessary flashing. And it is so cute! I love the look of this skirt. I can see myself having another one in my closet at some point-- with a wider, multi-colored stripe print, or even with a pretty solid.

And I feel so fancy when I wear it!