My Kingdom for a Button

I am ashamed to admit that this skirt has sat in my UFO pile for over a year, and all it really needed was the button.  Well, that and the button hole.  I resolved not to go into the new year with a bunch of UFO's hanging (flying?) overhead, and while washing fabric for what I really wanted to sew, resolved to suck it up, grit my teeth, and jump in with whatever it took.

This was one of my first experiences with a Burda Style printed pattern, and it has everything you love and hate about the Burda pattern experience in a convenient, no tape necessary format--great style, interesting details, and vague/poorly worded directions.  It should have been a clue when the envelope called for a 6" zipper and a button.  Did you catch that?  A button.  What size?  I guess that was for Burda to know, and me to find out.

The Facts:

Pattern: Burda Style 7252
Fabric: lightweight ivory wool, ivory bemberg lining
Notions: 6" zipper, interfacing for waistband, 2" button, rayon seam binding for hem, 3 hooks*
Time to Complete: 1 year, 2 months, most of which were spent folded in time-out the UFO pile.

After searching and searching for an appropriate sized button to fill the band, I ended up at the last minute finding one at Kaplan's.  At 1 3/8", it was the perfect combo of size and color.  Of course, though, the largest buttonhole template I have is 1 1/8".  Sigh. So, I dug out the instruction manual on how to make a buttonhole for a larger sized button.

In case you're wondering, you do 1/2 the button hole, like a "U", readjust the placement, and then do the other "U".  It was tense.

And there's the problem, right there.  After spending all that time in the waiting room, it has grown snug.  Clearly, it's the skirt's fault for shrinking, and not mine for growing, but one of us is going to need to start running again if we plan to continue this relationship.  

Also, for pictures, I added 2 hooks and thread-chain eyes at the top and point of the overlap, but it clearly needs a little help there at the bottom of the overlap to help it lay flat.  Me minus 5 pounds would help, or I could scooch the button a smidge.  

We'll see which actually happens first.

All that aside, I'm not sure how comfortable I feel in this skirt.  I realize the directions have you invisibly stitch those two under pleats together to conceal the slot zipper opening, and I chose to forgo that, but I feel like this skirt draws attention to my rear.  Unnecessary attention?

Also, it is lined, but you can still clearly see my sweater through the material in the top photo.  Am I being too picky?  I would normally solve that by not tucking things in, but I feel like the whole point of this skirt is to show off the waist.  Add that to the uncomfortable list, too--the waist.  I'm always slightly neurotic that I look like Ed Grimley in things that sit at my natural waist, and I tend to overcompensate with un-tucking.

Looking at these pictures helps, but is there a cure for the Ed Grimley's? 

Or do I just let this one go?