The last time I went fabric-shopping, I scored a meter of Lecien Matryoshka doll fabric. I love a skirt with cute and fun prints and I decided the fabric’s fate even before I paid for it. I was aware that it called for lining but I didn’t care. How hard could it be to line a gartered skirt, right?

Not hard but the end result was pitiful.

The plan was to sew a skirt that screams fun and cute and trendy. Hence, the huge bow. But the skirt did not fit right. To make myself feel better, I spent the remainder of the night taking silly photos with the ribbon.

There was only one thing left to do and it involved zipper. Shorter and form-fitting were also inserted into the plan. But the ‘zipper with lining’ part had me worried. No help via good ol’ Google. So I took out a few ready-made skirts from the closet to study how they were made. A real head-scratcher, this zipped and lined skirt creation.

I needed a good night’s sleep to tackle it properly.

Thankfully, with the guidance of the Matryoshka dolls, I had a few moments of pure geniosity. I did not even curse! (Okay, I did. ONCE.)

I know it looks simple. But seriously, I feel like I deserve a badge.

And to congratulate myself, I will buy new shoes. I kid, I kid.