Completed: The Cascade Skirt

I think this might be my favorite thing I’ve made yet!

For those of you who have been around for awhile, remember this amazing fabric?

It’s from Macedonia – my best friend bought it for me while she lived there last year. I’ve hoarded it for over a year, waiting for the ~perfect pattern to come my way. That proved to be a bit tricky – the paisley motif is fairly large (bigger than my hand), so it definitely needed to be made with a pattern that didn’t have a lot of little pieces. Since I look awful in shift dresses, I thought a maxi dress or skirt would be a good way to showcase the fabric – a lovely, floaty cotton voile. But, almost all the maxi dress patterns I found either required stretch fabric, or gobs of yardage (and I only had 2 yards). So I sat, and I waited as patiently as I could.

Then I got the Cascade pattern for my birthday, and it was like the heavens opened up and started singing to me RIGHT THEN.

I mean, that skirt is pretty heavenly, y/y?

I did have to make a few changes to get this pattern to fit on my short yardage – I had two yards at 60″, and the pattern calls for 3. I did take about 5″ off the back length (partially to preserve precious yardage, partially because I am not an Amazonian Long Legged Beauty like the model and thus did not need a skirt that came down to my ankles :P); I also used the waistband option that buttoned, rather than the ties – again, this saved a lot of yardage. Also, just a head’s up, but I chucked another 2″ off the length once I had the skirt assembled, as it was still a little long. I love the length now!

I sewed the XS and other than taking up the length, I didn’t make any adjustments. This is a VERY easy pattern – it definitely has a lot of wow factor, but it’s super super simple to put together. Even with the french seams and the rolled hem that is FOREVER long, it came together very quickly.

I even had time to throw together a little tshirt to wear with it 🙂 This is the Briar top, the cropped version with short sleeves. It’s basically the same as the ones I’ve made before, just shorter! I tucked the back into the skirt for these pictures, FYI.

But let’s get back to that skirt.

Fuck yeah.

This shit totally makes me feel like Shakira, and I mean that as the highest possible compliment.

And it’s perfect for showcasing this large print, so yay!

The button-band of this skirt is actually really great for using special buttons, since you only need two.

I love these buttons! I’ve been hoarding them for years; since I only had 2, I couldn’t find a suitable use for them. Nailed it 🙂
Also, I totally used purple thread. I didn’t have any pink on hand and I think the purple actually works really well 🙂

Cascades! One thing to keep in mind if you make this pattern is that the wrong side of your fabric will show at the back (that is, assuming you don’t line it). So make sure your fabric is pretty on both sides! As you can see, mine is almost the same – just a little less bright.

Not much else to say here (sorry for the picture overload, btw – I got excited I guess, haha), but I’m so glad I found a use for my special fabric!

As a side note, guess who IIIIIIIIIIIIIII hung out with on Friday…

Yep, that would be the lovely Elisalex from By Hand London!! EEEE!!! She was in ‘Murica for a week, and made an evening pit stop in Nashville, so OBVIOUSLY we met up and went dancin’! I also was there for her very first PBR (sorry, Oona! I know you hate that stuff, haha!) 🙂 She’s just as fun (and gorgeous!!) and you’d expect in person. It was a magical evening and it was STELLAR to meet her and I’m already trying to figure out how to save up enough to go visit HER! So hopefully soon there will be a LLADYBIRD-UK edition. Yes? Yes.

Also, one last thing!!

The Refashioners is live, starting today! Head over to Miss P’s blog to check out all the posts for the next two weeks 🙂

The lovely ladies involved this year are Karen, Tasha, Marie, ME (!!!), Zoe, Sally, Joanne, Liz, Dixie, and Elisalex. I am DYING to see what everyone made up, can’t wait!

Tags: Cascade skirt, completed, skirt