A few months ago Gretchen Hersch released a free pattern for this adorable picnic skirt, which includes a gathered skirt with huge patch pockets and a button down front. The greatest thing about it is that there isn't actually a pattern needed! It is completely made with squares and rectangles, with the size calculated from your measurements. It ended up being a really quick make - it only took me a few days, even with hand sewn button holes!
This is a pretty simple sew, made entirely from rectangles and squares, but what really makes it is this incredible fabric print! I was so excited to find out that it was designed by a Canadian fabric designer from Edmonton named Brett Lewis. He is an incredibly talented quilt maker and he created his first fabric collection (which this fabric is from) in 2019. I am very excited for his next collection, which will be called "Prairie Meadow" and will be coming out this fall.
I don't talk about fabric prints very often, but I am very picky about what prints I pick out, and I often think about them for a long time before buying a few meters. Fabric is very expensive (which is why 'sewing your own clothes is cheaper' is a myth, unless you thrift your fabric), so I have to really love a print before I buy it for a project. I also do not buy fabric unless I have a specific project in mind for it. Sometimes I end up changing my mind and using it for a totally different design, but I always go into the fabric store with projects in mind when shopping.
I first saw this fabric not long after it came out in 2019, but I never had the perfect garment to make out of it. I wanted something that did not have very many seams so that I wouldn't cut through the design, and I was hoping to find something with a spot where I could 'highlight' my favourite parts of the pattern. The picnic skirt ended up being the perfect project - the skirt is made up of three panels that are the width of the fabric, so I did not have to cut through the design at all. Plus, the patch pockets at the front allowed me to pick out my favourite motifs to highlight. I centered the stag on the patch pocket on one side, and the birds with the measuring tape on the other side.
Another thing that I love about this pattern is the hints of sewing equipment woven throughout. I love to hide little messages in the prints in my dresses. In my Halloween Dress from last year I chose a black rose fabric that held subtle little moths and beetles throughout, which hinted at the macabre that I love. And I often include my sewing in my dresses by using sewing pattern printed fabric or hand crank sewing machine fabric. I really appreciate prints that are subtle but include my biggest interests. The buttons, thread, and measuring tape in this print make me so happy, and I think that they are so perfectly interlaced throughout! I also love the colours - blue and green are my favourite colours, and I think that they manage to make the print both vintage and modern looking. Overall, this fabric makes this skirt work with everything I already own in my wardrobe! What an easy to wear piece.
I hope you like the finished garment just as much as I do!
Thanks for reading,
~Katherine
