Pattern review: Tilly and the Buttons – Miette

The Miette skirt by Tilly and the Buttons is a flared wrap skirt aimed at beginner sewers; it has a center front seam, overlapping back panels, and a straight waistband that extends into a tie. The amount of flare will depend greatly on what kind of fabric you use – you can see lots of different versions on the Pinterest board.

Sizing: 1-8, arbitrary sizing ranging from 61/84cm (24/33″) to the largest size, 96.5/119.5cm (38/47″)
What are your measurements and body shape, and what size did you make? I’m 40-32-47″ (PEAR) and made a size 5 tapered out to size 7 at the hips

What adjustments did you make?

• Lengthened the skirt 10 cm.
• Accidentally put the hold for the tie to pass through the waistband, in the wrong place
• Added a strip of fusible interfacing along the back/bias edge to stop pulling so much (if I were to do it again, I’d also use my walking foot)

What did you like?  I like that the waistband is seamed, and I quite like the look of the back with the opening cut on the bias. The pattern seems to work well with a huge variety of fabrics.

Adorable Denim Miette from Sparrows & Spools

What will you change next time?  Honestly I don’t think I’ll make this skirt again. I’ve seen some damn cute versions but I just don’t think I like wrap skirts on my body – I think they thicken the waist, whereas I like patterns that emphasise how small my waist is compared to my booty. This skirt somehow straightens my figure out, and I would prefer to use the Colette Ginger skirt for a similar shape, but more flattering silhouette on me. It also uses more fabric than I would like – I’m stingy with fabric and I could have got a dress from the same amount.

Fabric and Notions required: 2m x 150cm wide (2¼ yards x 60in wide) for sizes 1 – 6  OR 2.7m x 150cm wide (3 yards x 60in wide) for sizes 7 – 8. It uses a fair amount because of the overlap, but the waist ties are seamed so they don’t need to be as long.

A chic leopard print Miette from Sew Cupcake Couture

Curvy Rating (1-5): 3. Maybe I’m being harsh as I don’t like this skirt/pattern on me, but I just feel this pattern bulks out the waist more than more plus-sized ladies would like. I have seen some lovely versions though (particularly the two other than mine that I’ve posted), and it is a really good patten for beginners.