Design suggestions invited...

[straightfairy]

Genuine hints and suggestions required here folks.

I recently bought a suit for a bargain price, sufficiently cheap to buy 2 additional pairs of trousers to convert into one skirt to match the jacket.
The suit is charcoal, pinstripe, single breasted, 42" chest, 32" waist. I am 5ft 11 inches tall.

The skirt needs to be long enough to keep balance with the length of the jacket. I'm thinking at least 27" as 24" as my 'kilt' measurement to my knees.
It needs to be just as smart as the trousers (allowing for my lack of hand sewing skill. I don't own a machine)
It needs to allow a decent amount of movement.

Bearing in my mind my lack of skill, how can I best make this?
Obviously the inner seam on the trousers will go.

I am unsure whether to join the outer seams and insert extra material between the inner seams.
This would effectively mean a triangle of material both front and back.
1 flat piece (but the pinstripe would not quite the direction to either side)
2 flat pieces (split down the middle so each side's stripes match the main material's stripe direction)
box pleat? (if I can, and this would possibly look better?)

The other idea is to join the inner seams and add the extra material between the outer seams at the side of my legs.
Again, I have the choice of 1 or 2 flat pieces of material.

Any other easy-ish ways I can do this? All suggestions welcome. I'll post up a pic of the suit when i can.

(mods, please keep this in the area as it's for ideas. I'll put the 'build' thread in the sewing area once I actually start.)

[couyalair]

I have remade trousers in two different ways to produce knee-length skirts.
The most successful, I think, used the spare leg material (from below the knees) as an inner skirt to fill the gaps, front and back where the trouser legs separate.
I've photo'd inside and out, but the design is probably not very clear. Looked at from above, the design is a big O, with ( and ) inside, front and back. the white parts are the original lining of the trousers
The trouser legs were un-seamed at the crotch, but not on the outer seam, cut off at the knee hemmed and pressed flat (the skirt does not look pressed, as I'd just taken it out of a suitcase, where I'd stored it for use next winter). The outer part retains the original pockets and fly front, eliminating the need for a lot of sewing.
The inner parts are just two rectangles attached to the lining of the original trousers level with the bottom of the fly (could be at waste level if you have enough cloth, using two pairs of trousers, except that you wouldn't be able to open the fly!).

skirt%201.jpg

inside front.jpg

inside raised.jpg

The other design made a wrap skirt. I unseamed the trousers on one side, and added a panel, using spare cloth from the lower legs, to make an inner apron. The fly front and pocket on one side are kept, though I don't need to use the fly. A belt keeps it allin place.

I hope this will be helpful.
Martin

[couyalair]

Wearing the green skirt:

skirt2.jpg

And the wrap skirt :

wrap 1.jpg

Raising the outer apron :

wrap 2.jpg

[straightfairy]

Suit pic in my 'pics and looks' thread.
Couyalair, Thanks, the green one is closer to what I'm thinking of at the moment..