Waaay back in my 20s when I sewed a LOT and make my own patterns, I made this skirt:

For me it’s one of those garments that has survived time and fashion. I love it. Even when long, gored denim skirts aren’t trendy I wear it. I just don’t care if it’s cool or not. It’s not that it was one of the few garments I made at the time that worked, either. It’s so comfortable and, worn with or without tights, suited to all seasons of the year.

But its days are numbered. A few years ago when I had a bit of weight on I replaced the waistband so I could still wear it, and the fix wasn’t the most attractive. The fabric is getting really thin and lank and very faded. The 50-50 a-line skirt was made of the leftover denim, so you can see how much colour it has lost.

Knowing that it’s on its last legs, I’ve intended to make another. I still have the pattern. But when I spotted a gored denim skirt at Savers, well-made of a sturdier denim but too big for me, I hit upon an alternative plan: refashion it into a near-idential skirt. My intention was to remove the button closure at the front, open up the front seam, hem it and put metal buttons all down the front.

However, it resisted me on one front. When I’d unpicked the front seam I noted that the label wasn’t at what I thought was the back, but what I thought was the side. Which was supposed to be the back. Turns out the closure was supposed to be on the left side! Which would have been unflatteringly ugly – not that the bulky button fly looked good at the front, either.

So I decided to go along with this. I replaced the button fly with a zipper, which allowed me to cinch in the waist a little, tapering the side seam back to the original width. No more bulky side-fly. (That sounds so wrong.)

The denim is very stretchy, so the zip is a bit wavy, but not so wonky that I can be bothered sewing it again.

Overall, I’m really happy with the result. I won’t be throwing away my favourite old denim skirt until it truly dies, but this replacement is good enough to wear out of the house and destined to be a wardrobe staple.