I found this pattern to be fairly straightforward, so I proceeded without making a mock-up first. I used brown gabardine fabric, which was a bit ravelly. It also appears to wrinkle easily, so I’m not sure how well this skirt will wear under actual use. I bought plain brown buttons to decorate the front panel and to disguise my poor sewing at the base of the kickpleat!
Fit: The waist was larger than the stated 25 inches. I’d read that information on someone else’s post, so I figured I’d use a 3/8 ” seam allowance to get it to fit me. As it turned out, this created a waist that’s larger than mine (30″). The hips are roomy on me (40″), but that just leaves room for the appropriate slip!
Alterations to fit me: As stated above, I used a 3/8 ” seam allowance to make sure the waist was large enough.
Changes I’d like in the pattern: More information about how to create closures. I left one flap of the front panel open and inserted snaps with a hook and eye closure at the top. I’m not good at these kinds of details – it would be nice to have suggestions.
Changes in instructions: The way in which the front panel is inserted took a bit of re-reading to figure it out. I wanted to do it just like the pattern instructions, even though I had my own idea about how to go about this step. I did end up doing it per the instructions and it worked fine, once I let go of my own original idea! It ended up not being hard at all. The only other slightly difficult part was trying to get the kick-pleat in the back of the skirt. I fudged it as best I could – not sure if it ended up exactly as the original pattern intended!
Description of techniques used: Just basic sewing skills. I chose not to do the decorative ribbon down the front of the skirt.
My sewing level: Self-taught – intermediate on a good day!
Sewing level for this pattern: Beginners who have basic skills can easily follow this pattern.
katscostumes 