Another Skirt, Another Top

Yesterday was a banner sewing day for me, with almost 2 pieces completely finished from conception to end. The only thing I didn't finish was hemming the top, and darn it, my family was hungry and I didn't want to be left behind when they headed out to our favorite Thai restaurant.

Some details:
Top: organic cotton jersey, fabric.com, Butterick 4789
Skirt: cotton sateen (?) probably from fabric.com last year, mostly self drafted with assistance from Sherry of pattern ~ scissors ~ cloth. The link goes to her Miranda skirt pattern.
Resin necklace: Earlybird Creations
Leather bangle bracelets: Amy Fine Design

I like the top, but there is a tendency for the front to have a gap at the wrap area. Looks ok in the picture, so, whew! Also, the fabric is a wee bit flimsy. I like my tees to have fabric with a bit more heft. Oh, and the front wrap part also likes to have kind of a weird poof just under the bust in the middle. I'm thinking it must look worse looking down at it. I didn't put in the back darts. This picture explains why.

Yeah. I actually like it better tucked in, but to Psycho Sue... yep, my right hip is higher. Pretty obvious in this picture. I've been dealing with it since puberty, but any hem planning is purely by chance. Anyway, I think tucked in with the belt would be the best look. At least with this top.

As for the skirt, I wanted to sew the pleats down, and actually I did, but something went horribly wrong with my math, and it was not a good look. The waistband is a bit stiff for my taste, and possibly a bit too wide, but I'll fix that with the next skirt.  Also, the stiffness of the waistband kind of makes it stand up awkwardly. More zipper woes here, and I'm totally blaming Sherry* and her RTW ideas of using a 3/8" seam allowance, which is what I used. I just needed the extra width of a 5/8" allowance to properly do the lapped zipper I was planning. Alas, it was not meant to be, but the busy print pretty much hides the zipper and its top stitching.

Oh, and yes, before you say anything, I like the length with this style. Plus, just wait til you see the top I really have planned to wear with it. Um, it's still in the planning stages though.

*Sherry, if you happen to read this, you are amazing, and have the best tutorials!! Double checking the math on your pleat placement is priceless advice that I failed to heed, and cursing ensued. For that I blame the U.S. insistence on inches, etc., and the sewing world's insistence on eighths.