Skirt #22 // Refashion #18: Striped Beignet

I’m looking pretty relaxed and confident for somebody who, only now, finished up a skirt that has been sitting in the WIP pile for over a year now. Yikes.


This is the ever-popular Beignet skirt from Colette Patterns. I sincerely, sincerely hope that when this pattern came out, there was only one idiot on this planet who took a look at the pattern and thought, “Hey, that’d make a GREAT mens button down shirt refashion!” Because … please … there is an excellent reason that this languished for over one year.

However, if you, too, would like to take on a project with Headache Potential of Epic Proportions, please do not say that I did not warn you about the following:

1) The tinier you are (yes, in all 3 dimensions), the better this works
2) The larger shirt you find, the better your odds of success


I should mention straight off that I chopped 1 5/8” off the top of this pattern so that it would hit at the narrowest part of the pattern. Not only am I short but I am also short-waisted, which means that high-waisted styles don’t work very well on me – both visually and anatomically (they tend to squeeze in on my ribcage, which is never a winner in my book).

The shirt I thrifted was a XXL Kenneth Cole striped number with a nice heavy texture, and best of all its some sort of non-wrinkle 100% cotton because we can see from the way that the finished product needs to be ironed that I. do. not. like. ironing. Maybe has something to do with the fact that my ironing “board” currently consists of a towel that I lay on the floor [or in my lap], and it’s summer so who wants to bend over all that hot steam anyways? It’s bad enough as it is that we have no AC and I’m reduced to sewing in my underwear late at night, when the windows and blinds may or may not be wide open.


I probably tinkered with this pattern a little bit too much, which caused all of my headaches in putting this together. Like somewhere along the line, I managed to add in an extra 2” of ease in the front where this skirt buttons up, I think, because the finished product has a lot more ease than it’s supposed to.

And, hehehe, here are some outtake photos. Faux coy: You mean somebody is not standing within the viewfinder? Who … moi?


And my “Girl, you did NOT just SAY that” look.


I do love the blue stripes. Seems to lend it a classic air. But I have to be honest, I’m not sure this is going to make the cut the next time I have to move. It’s a shame, but the excess ease is bugging me. I’d make this pattern up again just not as a refashion, because I still think it’s beautiful and versatile and would work well as a solid fabric with fun buttons, in a print, or as a classy wardrobe staple with nice detailing.