Check plaid

A few years ago, I spent three months in Edinburgh as an exchange student. I loved it there but unfortunately, I still haven't had a chance to go back and see more of Scotland.

Although Edinburgh is home to the most amazing vintage store I've ever visited (at the foot of Castle Hill, about three stories of an old building stuffed from top to bottom with anything from genuine antique garments to very affordable 'normal' second hand clothes) and tartan and kilts are sold everywhere (varying wildly in both heritage and quality), I did not buy this skirt there.

I found it last week at my usual vintage stall at The Hague's Monday market. It's 100% wool, from a Scottish wool mill and pleated the way these ladies' skirt usually are (real kilts, which are menswear, are much wider, up to 6 m, and the 'set' of the plaid is repeated in the pleating). It was also a size medium, and therefore a bit too big for me. But 'too big' can be fixed.

At home, on closer inspection, I found three small moth holes at the back of the skirt. I asked M for advice and ended up hiding two of the holes in the folds (stitching around them and then pressing the fold back to how it should be) and 'darning' the last one using water, steam and a needle. Sort of like needle-felting-light.

I also moved the inside closure and added an extra hole to the buckle strap. It's by far the laziest way to make it smaller, but I think it just works out.

I thought about making it shorter as well, but as you can see, I didn't. I kind of like this look, and I'm reading everywhere how longer skirts are about to make their big come-back so let's find out how this works in the real world. I can alway do more to it later.