The Oliver + s Music Class Skirt is a pattern that I’ve used before.  I always liked this skirt on Stella, so splurged on the larger sized pdf pattern and have remade it, both for Stella and for Clare.

This is Clare’s skirt. I made size 10 for her, figuring that I wanted it to fit for a little while and that the elasticised waist would make it fit now and into the future. When I made this skirt for Stella last time it was on the small side. I suspect that this pattern might run a little smaller than usual. I made size 6 for Stella this time.

I sound like a broken record, but this really is a simple pattern to sew up. There are four pattern pieces – the waistband, front/back, side pleated insert, and side pocket. The instructions are excellent, and everything fits together beautifully. I really like the pockets – they are formed by folding the side piece a couple of times, and then this piece attaches to the pleated insert.

Despite paying attention to the direction of the print when cutting out Stella’s skirt, I have still managed to attach the waistband so that the birds are upside down on the outside of the skirt. Bummer. But I decided not to fix it. Avoiding perfectionism. (Or being lazy).

Stella wouldn’t model her skirt for me upon request, which is not unusual. But of course Clare did!

Don’t be surprised if you see this pattern again at some stage. One of the good things about pdf patterns – and there are many bad things, but this is a good thing – is that when sewing in multiple sizes, you just print off the size that you want each time – no tracing. And Oliver + s have the pdf pattern thing figured out perfectly – they tile each pattern piece individually, not all on one huge sheet. Hooray! I cannot tell you just how much I wish that others would learn from their example. So small pieces that fit on one A4 sheet can be printed off on one A4 sheet. Larger pattern pieces are tiled so that they can be printed on the least number of pages required. It is absolutely marvellous. Select the pages for the pattern pieces that you need, and only print those. In contrast to printing off 40+ pages that are really just an enormous piece of paper that needs to be tiled, with pattern pieces then printed across it almost seemingly willy nilly and no way to access just the ones that you want. Learn from Oliver + s, other pattern designers who offer pdf patterns! Okay, rant over.

And there is the hem. I just overlocked the edge, then turned it once and straight stitched it down. Hardly couture, I know. But very little bulk – which I wanted to reduce when working with corduroy and pleats.  I sometimes feel guilty for taking “short cuts” or choosing the simpler option rather than doing things the “proper” way.  And then I have to remind myself that there isn’t just one “right” way to do things when sewing – you need to know the full arsenal, but then choose what is most appropriate for your project. And there are many factors that play into that – durability, bulk reduction, available time, project cost, where and when it will be worn, aesthetics, and probably many more. Whether you are talking about how to finish a hem, or how to finish seams, what interfacings to use, or whether to line a garment or not. It’s great to learn and know all the options, but then you can choose – not everything needs to be couture to be right for your purposes!

And for those of you who might like to know where the fabric is from, I bought the bird corduroy at Spotlight last season. I’m not sure about the paisley twill – it may have been a Spotlight remnant, but I’m not certain.