Viola Skirt, Sew Me Something

Viola Skirt

I love, love, love this pattern!! It was fun from start of finish. This is from a fairly new pattern company called Sew Me Something. At the moment they have two dress and one skirt pattern. I bought my copy at the Sewing for Pleasure show at the NEC but their patterns are more readily available on their Folksy page.

Viola Skirt Pattern and Fabric

The Viola pattern is a super easy reversible skirt. Like I said I discovered this pattern at the Sewing For Pleasure Show that I went to back in March. The lovely ladies at Sew Me Something had a stand at the show to launch their patterns. They had samples of all their garments on display to tempt everyone in and it worked as the patters were flying off the shelves.  

Short skirt side

The Viola skirt(s) is a really flattering shape and has a lovely shaped waistband which, personally, fits me great. The Viola skirt is a great garment to play with fun fabrics as there are so many combinations between the long and short skirts as well as the waistband bias trim and the contrast hem. I think the pattern is quite versatile too, for example, if you put a zip in instead of the button placket then you would have a fab lined skirt. Although I think what makes the Viola skirt so special is all it's reversible fun. I really love the way that you get a little peek of the longer skirt to match the bias trimmed waistband. 

Viola Skirt Short 

I chose a lovely vintage-esqe/Cath Kidson inspired 100% cotton for my shorter skirt. It is one of those shades of greeny teal that is very difficult to get a photo showing the true colour. It is quite a different colour to what I am used to wearing but I think it ties in nicely with my wanting to get more colour in my wardrobe. Now I need to make a couple of tops to go with it, I'm thinking a pink Renfrew to match the flowers.

Viola Skirt Long

On the flip side I chose a simple red and white polka dot cotton for the longer skirt. I kept this side pretty simple as I wanted to be able to wear it to work. I think the reversible style of skirt is such a good idea. It takes just about the same amount of time as making a fully lined skirt but you get the reward of having two skirts at the end of it. Plus it is also great for holidays as you don't need to pack as much.

Viola Skirt Long Side View

It has a double sided button placket which sits lovely against the hip. In order to achieve the double sided joy of this skirt you need buttons on both sides of the placket. This means that there are 12 buttons needed in total. I managed to get half of my buttons from the same stall at sewing for pleasure as I got the fabric for my short skirt. These Vogue Star buttons were in a mix n match bucket 5 for £2 if I remember right. At the time I couldn't decide if I wanted the green or pink so I bought them both. I ended up going with the pink as they and a similar size to the red and white buttons which I bought for the red side. As both buttons have to go through the same hole I thought it would be better that they were the same size so the button hole wasn't too big on one side.

Button Options

*Tip* don't sew the buttons on too tight! As they are sewn on back to back they can be a bit tricky to fasten if they and sewn on too tight to each other.

Finished Measurement Oops...

I only have another two comments,

1. The cutting layout plan suggests that you should cut x4 bias strip from the long skirt fabric. However this will mean that you have a bias strip on the long skirt which is exactly the same as the actual skirt. So, remember to cut one from each fabric if you want a contrast on both skirts. Or like I did, just cut x2 bias strip and leave the longer skirt plain.

2. This is a pretty minor point, there is a slight miss print on the pattern envelope. The sizing chart says that a size 14 has a finished waist of 23 1/2'' but in reality it is actually 33 1/2''. I'm sure most people would be able to work this out but just thought I would say.

Viola Long Skirt

I have worn this skirt loads since finishing it. I can definitely see me making another Viola skirts. Especially as I am going on holiday with my man and we are sharing a suitcase, I will need all the space saving clothing I can get.

New Pinking Shears

In other news I have just treated myself to a pair of Fiskars pinking shears. I pinked all of the internal seams on my Viola skirt and I think they look great. I am going to be pinking everything I can from now on :-)