Ta-Dah!

All righty, the skirt is done. Imogene the Dress Dummy is standing on the dining room table, all tarted up while the reed boning I ran through the bottom of the underskirt learns to behave properly. Here's the best pic I can take with our funky nighttime lighting and a flash.

I used bias tape to make the waistband. The bias tape is pale green. I mean, how cheesy is that -- it's like I didn't even try to make it match anything at all. Oh, wait -- I didn't. It's going to be hidden under the corset anyway, so it doesn't really matter, and this is the sort of decision-making ability I have at 11 pm after sewing all evening. Like, none. None decision-making ability.

I think I should head to bed. *yawn* G'night!

UPDATE!

I felt I should add a few notes on construction. I followed the method used on the original pretty closely, though I did flat-felled seams instead of using a serger, pressing the seams open, and then running stitching down either side to make two channels.  Because this left me with only one seam channel for my drawstrings to lift the skirt, I simply ran the cord up in the seam as far as I wanted, then brought it through the fabric, went back through the fabric into the seam channel again, and ran the cord back down -- pretty easy, and it works just fine.

I don't own any crinolines or a hoopskirt and I wasn't really in the mood to make one at this time.  That satin material frays like crazy, with fine hairy frizz that I wanted to keep under control, but I didn't want to lose a whole lot of width by turning even more seams.  I solved both these problems by covering the raw edges of my ruffle/skirt with a fold of bias tape before stitching them together.

(I also added a layer of burgundy taffeta to the ruffle to give it more body and a touch of fancy!)  The bias tape controlled the fraying and left a nice finish while also providing a channel, which I ran a few feet of reed into, basically making the underskirt into a hoopskirt. I'm not sure I'll stay with the reed -- it would make car travel an adventure -- and my second choice is aquarium tubing, which I have around here somewhere but can't find at the moment. The nice thing about aquarium tubing is that it will give the shape you want but has a little more flexibility so you can make it through narrow doors or get in a car.

I got my corset pattern pieces made and cut out, so I'll be working on my first practice run of that next. Hopefully it will turn out nice enough that I'll have two corsets: one brown twill for "everyday" wear and one to match this posh skirt. Stay tuned!