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Friday, November 7, 2014

The Betty Skirt

If you are looking for a great, versatile girl's skirt pattern, then look no further! The Betty Skirt Pattern by the Shaffer Sisters is it!


I absolutely love patterns that offer you options or more than one piece to sew. With the Betty Skirt Pattern, you get 4 skirts--gathered, large pleats, small pleats, and gathered with placket--all in one pattern! What a great value.

And the best part of all, these skirts are easy to sew and the fit is fantastic! I'm pretty sure the Betty Skirt Pattern is now my go-to pattern for school skirts for Ella.

Today I'm sharing with you the the gathered skirt with placket option that I sewed using Robert Kaufman's Essex Linen. This fabric was perfect for this style of skirt because it has wonderful drape, is durable, and wrinkles less than 100% linen. As seen below, Ella had been wearing the skirt all day long and the wrinkles aren't terrible!


Because of the drop waist yoke and then gathered bottom skirt, Ella is able to run, climb, and sit criss-cross apple sauce easily at school. All four of the skirt options include this yoke with a lower skirt that has more volume, so eventually I will make her one of each option to add to her school wardrobe.


The Shaffer Sisters provide both pattern pieces and a cutting chart for all the skirt options even though the pieces are squares or rectangles! I much prefer to follow a cutting chart than to waste paper, ink, tape, and my time putting it all together when there are no fancy curves involved, and I so appreciate them accommodating the people who love pattern pieces and those that don't. I can't imagine how much more work that meant for them in generating this pattern. Whew!

The pattern provides a sizing chart based on your child's hip measurement and a finished skirt length from your child's natural waist to knee. I used Ella's measurements and chose to sew a size 7 knowing it would be a little on the long side (but not by much). The fit is excellent and pairs well over a pair of leggings or knit shorts for modesty when she is playing or sitting on the floor.

As you can see here, she's wearing a pair of knit shorts under it. My friend, Kelle of Ann Kelle, gave me a few of her new knit prints to try out. This one is the Mustaches in Ebony. (Apparently, the skirt works well for polishing apples, too!)


The half yard cuts were ideal for sewing up some little knit shorts/bloomers for Ella to wear under skirts or to sleep in during the warmer months.


I love all of Kelle's prints and the knit fabric is a blend of 95% cotton and 5% spandex. The knits are so soft and have held up beautifully wash after wash.

To complete Ella's outfit, I tried out the Oliver + S Music Class Blouse. To see more pictures and details of it, please read my post HERE.


Follow along with the Betty Skirt Tour through November 14th to see all the variations this pattern offers. Plus, grab the pattern from the Shaffer Sisters Etsy Shop for 30% off with coupon code BETTYTOUR!




Thanks for stopping by today! Have FUN sewing!

1 comment:

  1. ohh, the skirt in linen looks great paired with the placket option. It does drape well.

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