Today is my first official pattern review. I chose Simplicity D0767–Because sometimes, you just want to feel like a princess, and this skirt does just that.
Since I’m not a professionally trained seamstress, my pattern reviews are going to be pretty straightforward and share my general experience with the pattern I’m reviewing. I got my pattern while perusing the aisles at JOANN. It spoke to me. It was like, “Hey girl, you want to feel awesome? Then you need me in your life!”
For my fabric, I chose some rust colored charmeuse fabric. You can get some similar fabric here (affiliate link)
Overall difficulty on Simplicity D0767
The hardest thing about this pattern was simply cutting the pieces because they are so large. You will need a lot of space to lay out the pieces in order to cut them as accurately as possible. I recommend using a rotary cutter as well as some weights (I use metal washers from Home Depot) to keep your cuts nice and smooth. I ended up using my carpeted floor as my work space, and I just carefully shifted my cutting board under the pieces as I moved along. If you have a ginormous desk or hardwood floor to work on, that will be especially helpful. Other than the cutting, the skirt is pretty straightforward and relatively easy to sew.
Helpful Skills for Sewing Simplicity D0767
Obviously the fabric you use for this pattern will have a huge role in how it needs to be constructed. For the purpose of my review, I’m going to assume you are using a satiny fabric like I did.
French Seams: Because charmeuse is a woven textile prone to fraying, I enclosed the raw edges by sewing my seams as French seams.
Narrow hem: I enclosed the raw edge of the fabric in the hem by turning it up twice. I believe this is called a double-turn hem, a rolled hem, or a narrow hem, and can be easily achieved by a narrow hem foot (Lifesavers. Seriously, I have 3 at home!). They take a bit of practice to figure out, so I recommend trying it on some scratch pieces before you do it on the actual skirt.
Tips for success with Simplicity D0767
-If you are new to narrow hem feet, be sure to pick up some fray check to seal any portions of raw edges that might not make it through the foot properly.
-I was scared to use heat on my fabric and ended up not using enough to properly fuse my waistband interfacing to my lining. As a result, my initial waistband was wrinkly and droopy. I had to remove it, readhere the interfacing, and sew it all over again. So make sure you get it nice and fused before you attach the waistband. The skirt is heavy due to the amount of fabric, so you need good waist support.
-Instead of using a button or a hook, I attached some KamSnaps to my skirt. I got this set from Amazon and they are so easy to use and so durable! I love them.
