Pattern Review - Tilly & The Buttons, Clemence Skirt

Hey Everyone!

Continuing with the skirt theme this week I bring you another make from my week off work, the Clemence Skirt by everyone's favourite indie pattern house Tilly & The Buttons. I had the opportunity of meeting Tilly at the Knitting & Stitching Show earlier in the year and I have to admit I did feel like a total fan girl! Tilly is sewing royalty and I find what she does as a female entrepreneur truly inspirational.

The Clemence skirt is somewhat of a cult pattern featured in Tilly's book 'Love at First Stitch' which I'm sure is no news to you whatsoever as most people I hear talk about sewing refer to this book as being their introduction to sewing.

Worn here with Simplicity K8376

I have been wanting to make this skirt since I got the book 3 years ago but I had not seen the right fabric - until now! When I was at the first Sewing Bee Live show a couple years ago I saw this jelly fish fabric (Michael Miller 'Into the Deep') on display and instantly fell in love with it, unfortunately they did not have any left in stock and I searched for it high and low until I finally found it in stock on Etsy from Frumble UK. This fabric is ridiculous and that's why I love it! I mean why not have a jelly fish skirt?! I get very excited showing this to everyone at work...I also bought a matching aqua invisible zip from Minerva Crafts.


The pattern itself is something you have to draft yourself following the instructions in the book, it's very easy, it's just 2 rectangles, a waistband and a pocket. Obviously it has pockets - is it even a skirt if it doesn't have pockets?? The only thing to watch out for is remembering which way is the top because the pieces look similar so my advice would be to mark that onto your pattern.


I had a lot of fun pattern matching the seams so none of the jellies were cut in half! How awesome would this fabric be if it could glow in the dark?! I think that's the only thing that's missing with this. The assembly is really easy to follow as can be expected from a Tilly pattern, with lots of photos and explanations. The only slightly tricky part is inserting the pockets and the gathering can be a bit tedious (I'm a very impatient person!) but totally worth it to achieve the fullness.

I think everyone who sews need to have a go at this pattern as it's a really satisfying make and definitely suitable for beginners. Highly recommend!

Happy Sewing!

Liz

Location: London, UK

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