I offered to return it, but the nice folks at Simplicity said no worries, they'd send me the correct one (which they did, very promptly) and to keep this with their apologies.
So, in a moment of metaphysical pondering ("everything happens for a reason") I thought maybe some great seamstress in the sky was hinting I ought to give this a go. And, once I rummaged around in the stash, I thought it might be just the thing for one of the many Amy Butler prints I've indulged in the past year or so, but haven't made anything from yet.
I made View C, that's the one on the right in the middle row, above. It's got a tad more shaping at the bottom than the plain-jane version, without the frills.
The waist is unfinished here. I'm showing this pic to illustrate how RIDICULOUS!!! the ease on this pattern is. The waist size on this skirt (at this point in construction) is 6.5" -- that's six and a half inches -- wider than the waist measurement for the pattern size. Yes, it's supposed to sit "1" below the natural waist," but sheesh. I don't know about your shape, but I have plenty of curves and even I don't spread out that much that fast.
The waist is unfinished here. I'm showing this pic to illustrate how RIDICULOUS!!! the ease on this pattern is. The waist size on this skirt (at this point in construction) is 6.5" -- that's six and a half inches -- wider than the waist measurement for the pattern size. Yes, it's supposed to sit "1" below the natural waist," but sheesh. I don't know about your shape, but I have plenty of curves and even I don't spread out that much that fast.
Check out that photo again: where's the waist??? Had to admit I saw this coming. It's a six-panel skirt, so no darts, and gee, that waist taper on each panel piece just didn't look like it was gonna add up to much. And it didn't.
Other sewists have commented on this problem at Pattern Review. Which is severe. It's not like there's a waistband to hold this up. How hard is it to figure out that if you have a "no waistband" design, it should be a snug fit at the waist so it doesn't fall down around your knees? If this had been, oh, 2" bigger I could have skipped the zip, stuck some elastic at the top, and called it a pull-on.
The fabric looks good in this pattern though, so that turned out okay. And, after I went back and tapered in the top 10" of every panel seam except the one with the zip, it fits... better. The tapers I made to get the darned thing to stay up don't match my natural tapers very well, but I'm not going to redo them.
Another issue I have with this is that I added 2" to the length, and it's still not as long as the design should be to really look good. Simplicity/New Look, in my opinion, often miss good proportions by just enough to be clunky rather than as graceful and stylish as they could be. The model in the envelope photo doesn't look thrilled with it, either, like she's thinking "Gee, guys, this isn't your best effort."
Another peeve: the flounce in the back is not as well proportioned to the skirt length as it looks like it is in the line drawing:
Anyway, this one is now done. I finished the waist with a quilt-type double-fold binding, which worked fine. And I'll wear it, now and then. But I don't love it, and doubt I'll ever make it again.
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