Skirt Skills by Brooks Ann Camper
I am a customer of Brooks Ann. I have no affiliation with her, and this review was not requested or suggested. That said, her Skirt Skills class was truly a unique and vital part of my sewing journey. I am an intermediate/advanced sewist. I am a short, overweight, pear shaped woman who lives in me made clothes. Ready to wear clothing never fit me. In my youth I loved wearing skirts but had to give them up. They shifted throughout the day and hung crooked, even ones with elastic waistbands. Her classes are not cheap. They walk you through the steps to develop your skirt block, check and correct the fit, and then she guides you through designing and flat patterning a skirt of your choosing. It is a lot of work. For me it took 7 iterations of my block before I settled on a solid skirt block that addresses both my tilted waist from front to back and some significant asymmetry from left to right which I did not even know I had. Suddenly all my challenges with pants started to make sense. Here is my first skirt from Skirt Skills, I love the drape, the even hem, the waistband that stays in place and is comfortable both sitting and standing, and my deep pockets are just where I like them. While making this first skirt I committed to Brook Annâs methods. I will not adopt all of her techniques going forward, but even after many years of garment sewing I was pleasantly surprised at all the useful tips and tricks I learned throughout the course. With every new skirt pattern I see I now know I will start with my block and draft a pattern. I might still the buy commercial pattern to aid in recreating design details and to provide instructions on assembly but no more trying to make standardized patterns fit me. I am currently taking her pants course, so tuned.
The skirt is made with cheap medium to lightweight denim. I was playing it safe with my first attempt. It pairs great with Itch to Stitchâs Shay vest made in linen. Unfortunately the comfort level of this outfit cannot be captured in photos!
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