Another day, another review! This is my first make for my little DIY Valentine’s Day series, where my goal is to make a variety of garments that are suitable for different settings – Galentine’s Day, casual dates, and some a little on the fancier side! However, I also wanted to make clothes that weren’t so overwhelmingly Valentine’s Day and could be a useful part of my wardrobe.

In the sewing world, sewing patterns come in two large categories – the kind you can pick up at Joann Fabrics like McCall’s, Simplicity, Butterick, Vogue, and then there’s the smaller “indie” pattern makers. I’m always so beyond impressed with indie pattern makers who build up the courage to release a pattern on their own – there’s immense amount of testing and marketing that must take place to see this completion.

Selkie Patterns recently completed a Kickstarter campaign, which I unfortunately missed out on more because I had no idea it was happening, but after seeing a few members of the Instagram sewing community talk about the company and post super cute photos of the garments they made from the pattern, I went over to their website and was super impressed. I love their message of sustainability and promptly fell in love with all of their UK inspired fabrics, so I immediately bought a PDF of their London pattern.

With the pattern, there are 3 options – a dress, blouse, or skirt. I went with the skirt because I don’t own any midi/tea-length skirts, and I’d also never worked with box pleats!

Pattern: London Skirt from Selkie Patterns

Fabric: Red gingham cotton from Joann Fabrics. This fabric is less stiff than typical quilting cotton, and actually has a pretty decent drape to it! It also irons well and was relatively easy to work with.

Difficulty: Confident beginner – techniques include zipper installation, box pleats and gathering, and a little trickiness with the waistband. The pattern instructions are exceptionally clear and the illustrations of the steps are beautiful! From the first stitch to the last was about 2 hours!

Changes: none at all! Followed the instructions exactly as written.

Final Thoughts: Honestly do yourself a favor and buy this pattern – I will 100% be making 2 or 3 more of these. It’s so easy to wear and style, and is the perfect ~trendy~ midi length. I can’t wait to try the dress version of this!

What are your thoughts on the “big 4” pattern companies versus indie pattern companies? Do you have a preference?

Cheers!

Danica