Pink Pleats

Today I have the pleasure of being a part of the Betty Skirt tour! The Shaffer sisters have been good friends for a while now, and I'm delighted that they have designed such a cute, versatile pattern. This is the second Betty Skirt I've sewn... the first one is here. =)

  Now I'm going to be perfectly honest here... this isn't normally a pattern I would buy. Even with all of the options, it's simple enough to figure out with some basic math and a good idea of proportions. That said, it is really nice to have a range of sizes available in case you don't have someone handy to measure. This skirt goes from newborn to 16X, plus a doll-sized version.

  For this version, I sewed up a straight size 3T, which is on par with what Gaiw fits in ready-to-wear. I chose the large pleat version this time... I was hoping to make a small-pleat skirt too, but as usual didn't end up with enough time to finish it. =)

  I followed the instructions for the most part, but I made a mistake in marking the pleats the first time (I marked the right side of the front piece and wrong side of the back piece, instead of the right side of both) and had to iron all of the back pleats twice. Since I only have a tiny ironing board, that was definitely not the most fun I've ever had!

  I made two other changes. The first was to leave a couple inches un-sewn on each part of the hem near the side seam instead of sewing the whole hems before the side seam. That way the side seams were tucked inside the hem, which I prefer.

  The second change was edge-stitching the top of the yoke before inserting the elastic, so it would be less likely to roll.

  Gaiw loves this skirt. She saw the fabric while I was cutting out and started begging for a skirt. =) Since that was what I was making anyway, I was happy to tell her so. She hung out around me the entire time I was sewing the skirt up, eyes bright, and started dancing when it was finished. =)

  I love how twirly it is! I was expecting the pleats to be perfectly continuous all the way around, but there is a small bit of extra width at each of the side seams. That does make sense with basting the pleats down before sewing the side seams though.

  I like how the hem is pressed before the pleats, so the hemming doesn't mess them up. Next time I might mark the bottom edge of the skirt for the pleats, as well as the top, so my pleats are straighter.

  I have to admit I was expecting this skirt to be more difficult, judging by the disclaimers in the instructions. Even with re-pressing my pleats it was a quick sew.

  If you'd like to check out a few more stops on the tour, they are linked here as they are posted. If you'd like to buy the pattern it's available here, and it is 30% off during the tour with the code BETTYTOUR.

Thanks for stopping by!