Hunter Green Suspender Skirt

I'm still plugging away at the Cambie, but in the meantime, I thought I'd stitch up a good skirt for fall. I was dubious about how these suspenders would look on me, but I'm really digging them! I paired it with my black and white striped Coco so I'd feel extra French.

Although the suspenders turned out to be a win, this project was actually a PDF fail. Ages ago I purchased the PDF version of Madeleine from Victory Patterns. By the time I finally got around to sewing it, I couldn't find where I downloaded the PDF on my computer, and I ran out of download times to access it online. 

Never daunted, I decided it would probably just be easier to use a circle skirt pattern I drafted a year or so ago, and wing it on the suspenders. That worked out pretty well, but I'd still be interested to see their finishing instructions, because I was less than impressed with what I came up with. 

Here's what I did for the suspenders: 

1. I folded in half a strip of fabric, sewed, and pressed it open. 
2. On one side, I stitched the triangle point, measuring to make sure they matched. I attempted to turn it with minimal trimming, but the fabric was too thick for that so I had to trim closer.
3. Once turned, I pressed again.
4. I top stitched. 
5. I used a zig zag stitch to finish the other end. The fabric was too thick to do any type of hem sort of deal. 
6. I did my button holes. 

After step 4, my triangle end popped open on both sides (I guess I clipped it too close the second try), and I tried to salvage it by hand stitching it closed and putting a bit of fray check on it. As a result, my ends look messy and a bit lopsided. I'll just call it a distressed suspender! Maybe I had too much against me, trying to make a thick fabric come into a point like that. Anyone have any tips? 

In terms of other finishes, I did a lapped zipper at the back, and then used horsehair braid in the hem. If you haven't used it before, it's an easy way to hem a circle skirt, which can often be tricky because of the curve. On the insides it looks pretty nice, too.

Suspenders, come to find out, are also excellent for helping you to improve your posture. If I sit up straight, they sit quite nicely on me. If I slouch, it's suspenders sticking out everywhere! So I will look extra ladylike in my suspender skirt this fall!