The eyelets have it

I don't wear short skirts often but I did have one made of faux leather with a pattern of little cut-outs. This skirt served its purpose admirably but recently the layers of vinyl came apart and started tearing and basically the thing is a complete mess now.

R.I.P.

I went through the shops hoping to find a replacement ‘little black skirt’ but couldn't find anything I liked. So I traced a pattern from my old skirt and got all the black fabric out of the stash and hoped inspiration would strike.

It didn't.

I had a few ideas about using the knit covered in small ruffles but decided that, really, my hips don't need that kind of help. I put it all away again and resigned myself to probably months of fruitless store visits.

Then I had an idea. I came up with a design featuring large eyelets in the hem and in the yoke. The eyelets would complement a strip of snaps that would be the skirt closure. For fabric I used the leftovers from my Asgardian outfit. I had only just enough – I had to add a centre back seem to my pattern and piece one of the yoke linings.

I went to spotlight to get eyelets and discovered that the number I needed would cost about $50! I wouldn't pay that much for the whole skirt. So I went to Bunnings instead. There I got eyelets and tool for $15. The only drawback was that these only came in gold when I had planned for the skirt to have silver trim but more gold is definitely a thing I can live with.

The skirt, yoke and yoke lining were sewn together before I added the eyelets. Then the yoke lining was folded down and stitched onto the skirt/yoke seam, forming a backing behind the eyelets. I had widened the yoke from the original skirt and not tested it particularly well so it was a relief that it fitted ok.

It is possible that 'hardware' as opposed to 'fashion' eyelets may not quite get on with fabric the same way but for an inexpensive, casual skirt I don't care. I got the cheap Bunnings eyelets, Craftright brand. I had to buy two packs, one that had a few eyelets and a tool and a refill pack of 50 eyelets. Turns out the refill pack eyelets were slightly different: the washer was more flat and the back of the eyelet split as it turned down (probably on purpose, but the finish is not as neat).

Still, the skirt came out looking pretty nice. I bought 2m of chain for threading through the yoke eyelets – it's removable; threading pattern may vary. The snaps are functional to about halfway down after which the remainder are decorative. The distance between the eyelets was more guided by 'does this look nice' than mathematical divisions but it managed to come out looking reasonably balanced and even.

Having a decorative yoke means I have to wear a tucked in shirt, which I don't do, so that may take some getting used to.