I made a new skirt for my daughter - and then I re-made it.
What began as Simplicity 2286.....
...became NEWLOOK 6192
My daughter purchased this lovely ivory stretchy knit with a slight lacy 'stripe' from Hobby Lobby...
...along with Simplicity 2286 'Learn to Sew' because she wanted a cute skirt she could 'learn to sew' herself using an 'easy' pattern. We worked together cutting out the pattern and material, then due to a busy schedule, she was unable to complete the sewing. So I thought I'd complete it for her.
First of all let me say, I did not think there was anything particularly 'easy' about this 'learn to sew' pattern. In fact, I thought it was a little tricky for a beginner sewing pattern. They had you gather the middle of the skirt's front and back and the skirt was so very full and so very straight. I completed the skirt per the instructions, included a lining because her fabric was so sheer and, below, is what it looked like finished, but unhemmed. A very straight, lots-of-fabric-to-gather-around-the-elastic-waist and not very exciting. Does this not look almost 'juvenile' (child-ish) for an almost 21 year old young lady? Per the pattern photo the model looked about this age, so one would think it'd be age-appropriate styling. Another look at Simplicity 2286 below.
A closer look of the waist area. Can you see all the 'bunchiness'? It looked terrible on her. Her shirts did not lay well over the top of this skirt because of all the bunchiness.
So I pulled out some of the skirts I've made for myself recently for her to try on to see if maybe one of those patterns would work for her. And this is what she chose...
My NEWLOOK 6192, view B without the drawstring.
This skirt has a little flare, but more importantly the elasticized waist has very little 'bunchiness' which allows your shirt to lay flat over it. AND this waistband is so easy to attach to skirt as there are no gathers... just match the side seams and the 4 notches, sew and you're done. Yes!
So the entire skirt was cut apart and re-cut using NL6192 pattern and quickly sewn into this cute skirt.
Let's look at them side-by-side again to compare...
The exact same piece of elastic was used in each skirt.
Let's compare the waistbands now.... a dramatic difference.
Both the lining and skirt were finished with french seams and a simple turned up hem. Because I had limited lining fabric on hand, it worked well to have it so much shorter than the skirt. The lacy effect of the skirt could be seen at the bottom edge, yet still maintain modesty.
What kind of bothered me about the Simplicity 2286 was that it is marketed as 'learn to sew' and a beginner sewer might not only be overwhelmed with the tricky gathering, but be disappointed with her end result that she might never try sewing again.
Meanwhile, my daughter has a beautiful new skirt she is already enjoying wearing and hopefully some day she will have the time to learn to sew her own clothes too - and remember this particular skirt as a learning experience.
