Remember the cute little A-line skirt from the front cover of Love at First Stitch? Well, its real name is the Delphine Skirt and I was lucky enough to pattern test it, way back in October last year. It's become a familiar sight in my wardrobe and has been worn, worn and worn again, so it feels a bit odd writing a review all these months later! Here's what I thought...
For fabric, I used a red denim from the Goldhawk Road. I was only planning on buying a metre to send to Evie from Pendle Stitches as I knew she wanted some. At the counter however, I discovered it was the end of the roll and the shop keeper offered me the last three metres at a discount (you've gotta love those Goldhawk Road gents.) It would have been rude to refuse, so after dividing the remnant and sending half to Evie, I ended up with just under 1.5 metres. That's more than enough for this skirt and it's the perfect weight as the pattern requires a fabric with some structure to it, to keep its shape.
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| Apologies for the 'spoiling for a fight' face... |
The Delphine skirt has a neat, fitted waistband and an exaggerated A-line shape. I stupidly cut out a size larger than my measurements as I was worried it might be too tight around the waist. Duh - not only was it too big, but the contrast between the fitted waist and the A-line was a bit lost. The skirt needs to be a good nipped-in fit around the waist i.e. not too big and baggy, otherwise you're liable to lose the exaggerated A-line of the skirt section. This contrast is (for me anyway) the main appeal of the skirt, so my advice is to choose the size that's nearest to your waist size and don't be tempted to make a larger size just "to be on the safe side". The pattern sizes are accurate - trust them!
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| You can see the exaggerated A-line better in this picture |
Delphine is a very simple skirt to make - even after cutting out the wrong size, I was able to adjust the waistband and skirt side seams to the correct measurements really easily. The instructions are clear and logical and the pattern is perfectly drafted. There was only one thing I changed about the construction and that was to use a standard dressmaking zip rather than an invisible one. This is based on my own personal experience with denim skirts and zips - my denim Ginger skirt has an invisible zip and you can really see the toll taken on it. In fact, it could do with being re-sewn as parts of it are hanging off (ahem!) Anyway, the denim I used is quite a heavyweight one, so I decided a standard zip would be more hard wearing.
The facings are neatly machine finished at the zip edges, which is a nice touch. I used a red polka dot cotton as my facing, partly to reduce bulk, but mostly because denim skirts HAVE to have polka dot facings don't they? I think I read somewhere that it's against the law to have any other kind!!
You can't go wrong with this skirt - the neat A-line shape goes with everything and because it's red and denim, it's already become a real wardrobe stable. The fact that it's denim also means you don't have to wash it very often (not in my house anyway!)
I now have a second Delphine in the correct size all cut out and ready to go. Expect to see it gracing the pages of this blog before too long. x
The Delphine pattern was given to me free of charge for pattern testing. All views my own.
