Pattern Review: Rosie Skirt by Sew Over It

I loooooove skirts! I have a serious addiction to them since I was a little girl and during my teenage years I went through a phase where I wore nothing but skirts every single day! I like casual skirts, maxi, midi, mini, with tights, with bare legs, I simple adore them!

As I embarked to this journey of sewing a handmade wardrobe I can definitely say I am a bit overwhelmed by all the choices I have regarding skirts. Choosing which pattern to sew next is always difficult (now that I think of it, the same rule applies to any garment!) and now that we are heading into spring I can’t wait to try out many lovely versions of different skirt patterns!

The skirt I will be talking about today is the fifth I made in winter and it’s the Rosie Skirt by Sew over it. Technically it’s the Rosie Dress, which comes in 3 different versions. The 3rd one is this sweet box pleat skirt, which essentially is the skirt part of the Rosie dress with a waistband.

The fabric I had originally picked for this one was a red wool crepe, but sometimes when I try out a new pattern I’m a bit reluctant to cut to a slightly more expensive fabric for the first try. So I decided to make a wearable toile using a very cheap rayon I found on sale at my favorite fabric shop. I’m so glad I did that! Why??? Because my first try was a DISASTER!

Yes, it’s true my friends. I went for a size 12, which according to my measurements was the best size for me and the skirt turned out way too puffy for my taste! It literrally made my behind look twice as big 🙁 I was devastated and discouraged and I tossed it aside for many days. I only picked it up last week and decided to give it another go so I had to unpick the waistband and the zipper and I took out a huge amount of fabric from the side seams. Actually it was 10 cm from each side! I managed to reduce the gathers and make the skirt a bit more suitable for my body!

So now I wear it with pride! It’s such a lovely thing to have a twirly skirt that you can dress up or dress down! After some consideration I think I picked the wrong fabric for this pattern, because my rayon was too lightweight for a pleated skirt. I think it would look much much better in the crepe, but honestly I think I’ll keep it for another sweet project I have in mind!

Now to the pattern review:

Pattern Sizing: 8-20. I made a size 12.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes!

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, I had no problem with the instructions, very easy like all Sew Over It patterns 🙂

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? Fairly easy to make, nothing too complicated. I love the box pleat but I’m not sure about the gathers, although I’ll have to make the skirt with a different fabric with more weight to it to have a better opinion on this.

Fabric Used: Rayon with silk (available here)

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I ended up taking out 10 cm from each side seam.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I will definitely try this skirt in a different fabric and report back 🙂 Of course I will also make a Rosie dress, just waiting for the warmer days to come, haha!