Last month I was lucky enough to be chosen to test forget-me-not’s newest pattern, the Ella Skirt (just released yesterday, Nov 10!)

I loved the idea of this skirt when the tester call went out, so I figured why not try to get in! It’s a lovely gathered skirt with another gathered tier at the bottom, and has lots of pocket and length options to personalize it to your style. This skirt, though, has a fitted waistband and I have a growing baby bump. I wanted to make something that could grow a bit with me, and that I could wear postpartum, too.

I had recently been to Joann’s and spotted some beautiful pink gingham that i knew would be perfect! It had just the cottage core, vintage, fall, feminine vibes I was going after. I also knew that I could cut the patch pockets on the bias for a fun contrast. Working with pattered fabric can be tricky if you care about pattern matching - I took extra care to make sure the skirt pieces and the pockets were matched as well as possible.

I decided to cut my pre-pregnancy size for all pieces except the waistband. Because of the gathers, there was plenty of room to accommodate the bump, and I didn’t want to be swimming in fabric after baby is born. I also decided on the longest option, because worrying about fabric riding up over a baby bump is not a wardrobe malfunction I’d like to experience. 😂 I ended up cutting the waistband four sizes larger than that, and put elastic inside of it. The way the waistband is constructed lent itself well to encasing the elastic. After attaching the back of the waistband to the skirt and pressing as instructed, I sewed both ends of the elastic to their respective ends of the waistband. Then I enclosed the elastic by following the instructions to finish the waistband, going slowly and carefully so I wouldn’t catch the elastic. I also kept the zipper and went with a button closure rather than the hook and eye (because I thought it was cute).

I think this pattern will be accessible to confident beginners - I enjoyed that the instructions included certain steps that others (more advanced) might think are a given, such as when to finish seams. They also contain a glossary in case you’re unfamiliar with a specific sewing term. Advanced sewists will find it a fun, easy make (and will be able to come up with fun hacks/customizations), while beginners will find it doable and learn things along the way.