Winter Wear Designs - The Staple Skirt

I love pattern testing! I just have so much fun watching a pattern take shape and often grow beyond the original plan.

A few weeks ago, Suzanne Winter from Winter Wear Designs posted a testing call for a new women's skirt. I was excited because it looked so comfy, but I had reservations because it didn't have a maternity option. I threw caution to the wind and asked Suzanne and she agreed to let me have a play with the pattern to add my own maternity mod! What fun!!

I admit I relied heavily on Suzanne's input. After all, she's the professional. And I am happy to report that the very first version of the modification was a success!

Here's what we did:

First up, on the pattern piece itself, I lowered the front rise by 1". I drew a straight line from the side seam to the front rise, but next time I'll curve it because our bodies are not straight lines 😛 It worked out, but I think a curved line would have been better.

 

Next, I completed construction of the skirt according to the instructions. I did not add the zip as I planned to add a yoga waistband, and a working zip with a yoga waistband is just silly! :D I also did not add the included waistband due to... you guessed it, the yoga waistband! I also skipped the belt loops for the same reason.

Once the skirt was complete, I measured the top of the waist opening, and made a band 16" high x 90% of the waist opening. When folded, the yoga waistband was 8" high which is perfect for an over the belly waistband. I find these particularly comfortable. On my next skirt, I will insert elastic along the top of the waistband. After wearing this skirt nearly continuously for a week, I found that the top edge of the waistband got quite loose. Popping it in the wash fixed it, but the elastic will prevent the stretched out top in the first place.

 

 

Clearly, I should have re-ironed my skirt before taking modelled photos, but my Husband and I have been quite ill recently, so we were happy to get any shots at all 😛

 

Unfortunately, the couple of tops I have that currently fit me have a bottom band that is a bit too long and a bit too snug for the skirt, which resulted in odd folds in the skirt. The skirt actually sits very nicely, and I need to make more shirts to go with it 😉

 

 

I wore this outfit to my first antenatal appointment today, and the midwives all gushed over how lovely it looked, and the amount of detail in it! (We are planning on birthing in a small, rural hospital, and it was a slow day in the maternity wing today)

 

 

 

Ha! Please excuse my bare feet! Due to the heat (its summer here) my tootsies are quite swollen...my darling Husband wasn't supposed to get my feet in the photo!

 

So, a couple of pointers:

1. Use stretch denim for the maternity modification! There is a lot of beautiful detail in this skirt, and I would have been devastated if it hadn't fit over my rapidly expanding hips!

2. Invest in a denim needle. Thankfully, I already had one in my stash, but it really makes all the difference when sewing with heavier weight fabric.

 

3. I didn't use jean thread - but I would have if I could have found some locally. Instead I used a Rasant thread that was very close in colour to jeans thread. It worked, and still looks awesome, but I'm eager to use jean thread for my next skirt.

 

4. Make a muslin! We're all different body shapes. Its worth the time to make a super quick muslin to get it right. You don't want to use your very best fabric and then be disappointed if it doesn't fit you perfectly.

All in all, this skirt was a huge success!! Its comfy, looks professional AND I can tell everyone I made it! HA!

You can purchase your skirt from Winter Wear Designs here (aff link):
https://www.winterweardesigns.com/collections/womens-patterns/products/staple-skirt-for-women-size-00-24?aff=54