Fixing my black skirt

A while back, I made a black skirt using some fabric from Walmart and a design from a book called 50 Little Green Dresses. I thought it came out okay...but when I had a chance to wear it, I realized it looked kind of bad. This is how it looked before--

The back was the worst part because the zipper made it all bumpy, so it wouldn't lie flat. I had to take out the zipper and redo it. This is how it looked inside out when I removed the back seam. The two things on the sides are pockets.

Okay, so I fixed it by not putting in a zipper. Instead I just put in one of these (I don't know what they're called). I also cut off the top and redid the pleats. 

 And now the skirt looks like this!