Vogue 8711 - The Bootylicious Skirt

Pattern Review - Vogue 8711

So it seems as though I have been MIA these past couple of weeks. The reason for this is silly - I broke my camera on a hen-night out. So although I have been sewing I have not been able to upload any suitable proof of this!

As I was visiting the folks this weekend I forced asked my mum to take a couple of snaps of Vogue 8711 before heading out for my cousin's birthday drinks.

I have made this skirt previously (view D) in my pre-blogging days as a skirt for work in black jersey, but I have been dying to make this again with the contrast panels. I'm not sure about other sewers out there, but I generally find skirt patterns really underwhelming, so when I first saw this one a couple of years ago I had to jump on it!

I absolutely love the fit and style of this skirt and think that it flatters most shapes. It creates such a feminine silhouette either enhancing your god given curves (have you guys seen the stunning Mimi G rocking this?) or for those less curvily endowed, it creates a lovely hourglass illusion with the ruching and curved hem. 

As this is one the few clothes where my child-birthing hips/ethnic behind work in my favour I thought I should throw in some gratuitous booty shots:-

Every time I wear this skirt it makes me want to dance around to Sir Mix-a-Lots's 'Baby Got Back'.

Yes folks, there's more....

Anyway enough about my love of lady curves - more about the pattern: I sewed this straight out of the envelope cutting a size 16. As this pattern is designed with negative ease it makes the fit super simple. I did however ignore the elastic guide and probably halved the amount of waist elastic that was suggested, as I have a relatively 'iddy bitty' waist compared to my hips. I picked up the wine coloured jersey from a fabric shop in Goldhawk Road  priced at £4.99 per metre and I used a remnant of black jersey from my stash (probably from Simply Fabrics in Brixton). 

As with other reviewers my only complaint would be the large amount of bulk that happens at the seams. I spent alot of time carefully layering and trimming those bad boys, but I think that the underlining is necessary for stability so it's worth it.  

I absolutely know that I will get so much wear out of this little skirt. This pattern is such a Vogue pattern - classic yet modern. Another reason why I love this pattern is that I can wear it on a night out and feel dressed up with out feeling that I am exposing too much flesh - I am definitely getting old. My link to the review on Pattern Review can be found here.

Perhaps I can blame my age on the fact that I have been rubbish and made a ridiculous number of mistakes whilst sewing my dress for a friends wedding. I have almost arrived at wadderville 3 times over the last week or so. However the dress is almost finished and after the wedding next week fingers crossed I will have some snaps of something wearable!

Happy Sewing!