We love it when we have a chance to have one of our customers/ community members feature their projects here on the ol' Bolt Neighborhood blog. Today we've got a great pattern review from Natalie Ramsland, a long time Bolt customer, a part-timer at Close Knit right next door, owner, designer, maker at Sweetpea Bicycles and you can catch her at her fit studio at Gladys Bikes, just up the street! She's an all around great lady, talented sewist, and has made up a beautiful summer skirt. Take a look. Thank you Natalie!

by Natalie Ramsland

Last spring I sewed myself a couple of Liesl and Co. Everyday Skirts that I reached for day after day through spring and summer. That pattern is quick, easy-fitting, and lovable in so
many ways. I’d make a million of them, but my mama didn’t raise me to be a one trick pony.

So, I ventured out with The Weekend Rambler Skirt by Snapdragon Studios, a yoked a-line skirt
with some fresh design lines. The pattern met my basic skirt criteria: it’s good for biking in and it has pockets! Moreover, this skirt gave me a chance to try a couple new things.
First, I chose to work with a gorgeous, heavier-weight linen fabric. I saw it, I touched it, I wanted it. I have no regrets, but, like all good linen everywhere, it ravels like a sonnuvagun. So I opted for the sturdiest seam finish I could think of, the bias bound seam. The end result is decent, definitely durable, but in retrospect I would have done better to make my own lightweight bias binding rather than store-bought.

The Weekend Rambler has six panels with seams all pressed open meeting at an angled bias-bound yoke seam. Those intersections could have been smoother, but luckily the glorious drape of the linen makes it all look smooth on the body.

The other attribute of linen that made constructing this skirt tricky was that it was rather unstable on the bias, and the pattern had a lot of seams sewn on the bias. I discovered that the pattern instructions illustrated the sides of the lower skirt panels lined up so the ends matched. This didn’t match the actual pattern pieces. One edge was in fact supposed to be longer. But,
believing the drawing, I fudged my material into compliance. This, resulted in having to make
some adjustments and do some trimming to get the next steps to work out. In the future I might stay stitch bias cuts. Or pay more attention to the pattern pieces? We shall see!

On the whole the pattern came together well, but would have benefited from a few more
matching notches to help with precise alignment. The fit and the sizing were true to expectation. As others who have sewn the Weekend Rambler have noted, I felt the pocket size could have been more generous.

Next time - because this pony has a new trick - I think I’ll sew up the Rambler in denim or wool,
complete with bigger pockets and simpler seam finishes. In the meantime, I’m loving my new
skirt!

Guest Blog Post: Linen Weekend Rambler Skirt