Saturday, August 07, 2010

Simplicity 2416, continued...

It's finished, but I'm not thrilled with it. I had such high hopes for this fabric & pattern combo. Unfortunately it was better in my head than it was in reality. Sorry for the bad photo-- I don't actually have a top to go with this yet, and I am having a bad hair day. And well, I'm lazy about fiddling with the tripod and remote for my camera. So, Wilma will have to do as a model for now. ;)

The complete review is below. One thing I didn't mention in the review is the way this thing hangs toward the bottom. It hangs much better on me than it does on Wilma, but it does dip inward between my ankles, which really bugs me. The fabric is also just thin enough that I would need a slip, or you'd be able to see straight through it. This sort of defeats the purpose of a lightweight summer skirt in my book.

As you can see, Oliver is trying to play with the skirt. He has been infatuated with this piece of fabric since I first laid it out for cutting.



Pattern Description: Misses' flounced skirt

Pattern Sizing:10-18

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes... mostly.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Despite having quite a few pieces for a skirt pattern, the instructions were very easy to follow. It's a straightforward construction with an elastic waist.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
Unless you are more than 6 feet tall, this skirt will be way too long. I'm 5' 6" and would have been tripping over this if I had done it to the length as designed. The instructions say to determine finished length before sewing, but never give any direction on how to shorten it.

You can't really shorten this skirt from the bottom, due to the circular "swirling" tiers. Shortening from the top changes the line & fit of the garment. The very best way to get rid of some of the length is to increase the seam allowance of each layer. Not a difficult fix, but it is a modification that may not occur to a beginning sewist.

Fabric Used: crinkle cotton, which didn't really work out very well for View A. In the shorter view, it may have been okay. In the longer version that I made, the semi-circular tiers are cut in such a way that makes the grain not line up from one tier to the next. It works perfectly in the first 3 or 4 sections, but as I got toward the bottom, it got sort of wonky. (You can see this in the photo if you look closely.) This could have been corrected before cutting, but it didn't occur to me until it was too late. >:(

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I shortened the length and straightened the hemline. The bottom two tiers of View A go together in a way that makes the skirt somewhat lop-sided. I guess this is supposed to add to the "twirl", but it wasn't a look I liked, so I did mine straight across... or as straight as I could, anyway. *groan*

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I probably won't sew this again. I like the style, but would rather find another pattern that doesn't have the hemline issues.

I wouldn't recommend sewing View A. The shorter version looks like a nice pattern, though.

Conclusion:
I really wanted to love this skirt. The basic design idea is a good one, but the hemline issues really ruined it for me. The finished skirt is certainly wearable, but I think there must be a better version of this same idea out there somewhere.

2 comments:

Alethia said...

I actually like your skirt and pattern combo.If the fit on Wilma is any indication of how it will fit on you, I think you will be fine. I love the color.

Unknown said...

Its cute, the blue color is very pretty