Michelle reviewed this Pink Fig pattern for us. Her daughter loves the skirt, and Michelle gained some sewing confidence with the project.
Pattern
The Girly Stripwork Skirt Sewing Pattern from Pink Fig
Description
A versatile, fun and infinitely twirl-able skirt that can be made to suit any girly-girl’s taste.
Materials
Quilter’s cottons are perfect for this skirt, as there are a lot of seams and you need something that won’t get too bulky.
Fabric Recommendations
Have fun! This is a perfect time to go through your stash. The mixing and matching up of the fabrics is the best part. You could use just three different fabrics, one for the hem and waist band, and two for the body of the skirt, or you could go nuts and use up to 22. It’s entirely up to you how complimentary or how contrasting you want to go. The next one I make is going to be a Halloween skirt, using novelty holiday fabrics.
Overall Design
If your girl likes to twirl, you simply can’t go wrong with this dress.
Written Instructions
You need to be very careful and, in some cases, use common sense. For example, in one section the pattern is talking about the waistband, but the photo captions and some of the instructions say “hem band” instead. If you’re a literalist, this could get you confused. Also, in the same section, the pattern gives the measurements for folding over the waistband 1 1/2 inches, but later there is a typo that says 1/2″. A little confusing and perhaps careless, but it didn’t take me too long to figure it out. If you have any doubts, check the blog address for corrections.
Diagrams / Images
Many detailed pictures, but I would have liked to see them in color or with a bit better b/w contrast.
Pattern Pieces
There are none! Hooray! A fantastic way to get your feet wet if you haven’t sewed clothing before.
Overall Level of Difficulty
A beginner could do this, the only thing to remember is that there are a lot of pieces involved. If you’re familiar with machine piecing quilts, this will be a breeze for you. The basting/gathering of the top might be a bit challenging as well. But this pattern is extremely forgiving. With all the gathering, and the interest in the fabrics, a lot of little mistakes can be hidden.
Modifications & Tips
I chain pieced the main body of the skirt, ending up with one long strip of 20 pieces. The pattern doesn’t specify, but you should definitely finish all your seams and complete all the topstitching before you join the strip into a circle. You can vary the pattern in so many ways, using less strips for a skirt that isn’t as full, and shortening or widening the hem and waistbands.
It kind of bugged me that the seams for the hem band didn’t line up with any of the seams on the body of the skirt (not that it matters, it just bugged me for some inexplicable reason), but that could be fixed quite easily since the hem band is made of three pieced strips. If you lessened the number of strips for a slightly less flouncy skirt, you could just measure the finished circumference of your main skirt band, and adjust the hem and waist band pieces accordingly.
Conclusion
I was very pleased with the finished result, and more importantly, my daughter loves it and doesn’t want to take it off. This was my first foray into sewing clothing, and I’m thrilled that it’s completely wearable. A real confidence builder, I’d say.
