Ultimate work skirt - McCalls 3830 v2!

There we go, my second version of McCalls 3830. I've called it the ultimate work skirt, as I have tried to address all the issues that came out of the last version/wearable toile, and I am really happy with how it's turned out. I finished it last weekend, and have already worn it to a meeting on Tuesday! 

The most obvious change that I made was adding a 2.5cm waistband, by following the really helpful tutorial on Coletterie here. After studying one of my RTW skirts with a waistband, I went slowly and topstitched the waistband right on the previous stitching line, so the second stitching line is almost invisible.   

I also added a aubergine satin lining, so that the skirt doesn't ride up or stick to my tights. I was surprised by how much difference this made - the skirt feels so much more expensive! I'm going to add a tutorial on how I did this (basically by studying that RTW skirt and copying it) later on in case this was helpful to anyone. 

I did a blind catchstitch for the hem, and the stitch is actually completely invisible from both sides! 

I did a slipstitch to attach the lining to the zipper, so that's also invisible :)

For the centre zipper, I basted it first on the wrong side, and then stitched on the right side to get the stitching nice and balanced. 

The grey fabric I used was from John Lewis's remnant bin - it was a polyester and viscose blend, and the piece was only 70cm wide, which was actually more than enough for View D (at size 4). This small piece of fabric cost me a mere £4.18 precisely, cheap as chips. The satin was also from John Lewis, and I'm pretty sure that was at a reasonable £3 a metre in the sale, too. Overall it turned out to be a cheap and cheerful skirt, but one that I think will make a great work wardrobe staple.