Erin sews Erin: Sew Over it Erin skirt pattern review

Button regrets?

When I wore the Sew Over It Erin skirt in the wild, I discovered that the buttons slid out of the button holes with surprising ease. Most of this issue is because I chose shank buttons that sit away from the skirt (vs. two-hole or four-hole buttons that sit flush). Pro tip: If you make this skirt with shank buttons, be vigilant for wardrobe malfunctions.

Buttonholes with flair

Because the buttons and skirt fabric were so dark, I considered adding decorative elements to the buttonholes. Threads magazine featured a cool article on decorative buttonholes (it starts on Page 14) — including how to hand sew buttonholes — and I was eager to try some decorative hand sewing.

I did one test buttonhole with a railroad whipstitch (above center). Then I stuck my button through the hole and discovered that my decorative stitching was covered by the button, except at the top and bottom of the buttonhole (above right).

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. The whipstitching was a nice accent to the deep brown buttons and dark denim skirt. I knew I needed to make machine buttonholes before I could add any decorative stitching, so I committed to sewing those buttonholes before I made any decisions.

After I machine stitched the buttonholes, sewed on buttons, and tried on the skirt, it was clear the decorative stitching was superfluous. Adding a little somethin’-somethin’ to the top and bottom of each buttonhole would have taken away from the minimal design of the skirt. I’m glad I had the idea, and I’m glad I didn’t follow through on it!

Decorative buttonholes probably work best when they’re horizontal, where a button is pulled to one side (above left). Most of the buttonholes in the Sew Over It Erin skirt are vertical — the buttons sit in the middle of the hole. This experience was an a-ha moment for me!

Fabric choice regrets?

As much as I like the dark denim, I’ve got to tell you a secret about it. It stinks. It has a strong smell I suspect is from its manufacturing process.

I didn’t notice the smell until I prewashed the fabric. I walked into my laundry room and thought, “What is THAT?” As I pulled the denim out of the washer, I came to know the stinky truth.

I washed the denim again on a hot-heavy cycle with an extra rinse, and I added a cup of white vinegar to neutralize the smell. I also tossed in a Shout Color Catcher sheet to grab the navy dye.

The Color Catcher sheet caught a TON of dye. The sheet was dark blue even though I’d already washed the denim! The smell was still there, but not as strong.

After the denim was dried and I was pressing it, I spritzed it with a homemade essential oil spray (distilled water, witch hazel, and a bunch of drops of essential oil). It’s still smelly, and I think only time will wear down the odor. I don’t know what else to do. This isn’t unusual for denim; I have a pair of black Levi’s jeans that still smells weird after years of ownership.

Tips for sewing the Sew Over It Erin skirt

As you sew your own Erin skirt, keep these tips in mind:

Beware of pocket pattern piece typo

When stitching the pockets, the instructions call the front pocket bag the pocket facing. The pattern piece is called the front pocket bag (above), so when I got to directions asking for me to work with the pocket facing, I looked high and low for the pocket facing. That’s a simple correction Sew Over It could make to the instructions.

Pin only at the edge of the waistband

Step 14 (stitching the end of the waistband) tells you to “fold the waistband in half right sides together so that the folded edge is in line with waist seam.” Then you stitch and turn the waistband edges right side out. Pin just at the (short) edge. You don’t need to pin across the entire waistband.

Turn corners with a seam gauge

As you work on the waistband, use a metal seam gauge to help turn the corners. This diminutive notion helped me get super-crisp corners.

Pin the waistband in the ditch

Step 15 has a typo. The step should read, “Fold the waistband in wrong sides together” instead of right sides together. The accompanying photo has it correct.

The Sew Over It instructions call for pinning the waistband in place on the wrong side (inside of the skirt) and transferring pins, one by one, to the right side (outside of the skirt). There’s no need to move pins. Instead, trust your sense of touch and pin in the ditch (the wasitband seamline). Check your progress as you pin to ensure the pins are grabbing the waistband on the wrong side.

Here’s how I would rewrite Step 15: Fold the waistband in half, wrong sides together. Align the folded edge just over (1 millimeter) the skirt seam. Gently press the waistband to set the fold; this will make pinning easier. Pin in the ditch from the right side.