I am so excited! Finally, the Elsie skirt is now available in extended sizing - it comes in sizes 0 to 34. Whoop whoop! That is up to 65.5” (166.5 cm) hip circumference. You can see the new size chart here.
I have been working hard on expanding the size range of Anna Zoe Patterns. In fact, all the future patterns will be released in the new size range, but in the meantime I wanted to update one of our most popular patterns. I imagine I will slowly get to expanding the size range of the rest of the patterns, but I am planning to release a couple of new ones before I get to that.
So what about the Elsie skirt? Besides the expanded size range, the design and the instructions were slightly updated as well.
The main change in the design of the skirt is all about the waistband and View A. For both views, the width of the waistband was increased to 2” (5 cm). I feel this width compliments and supports the weight of the skirt better. Of course, if you don’t have a 2” (5 cm) wide elastic you can always adjust the width of the waistband to accommodate the width of elastic you have on hand. The blog post on how to do it will come out soon.
I also changed the design of View A. The front slits and the topstitching on the waistband were removed. This resulted in an easy and very beginner-friendly pattern. Front slits, or just one if you want, are still doable with this pattern. In fact there is now a blog post on how to add the slits back in. The best part is that no changes to the pattern pieces are needed. View B of Elsie skirt, except for the wider waistband, stayed the same.
I also re-visited the instructions. Click here to see the preview. Those who have the older version of the pattern will notice the instructions are now more streamlined and printer-friendly. The step-by-step illustrated instructions are still there and are not going anywhere. Some of the illustrations and steps wording were updated for clarity.
The fabric requirements were re-checked and updated. I was able to save some fabric by rotating the pocket facing piece, so now less fabric is needed for the skirt. I don’t like to rotate any pattern pieces when calculating fabric requirements in case someone uses a directional print fabric. In this instance though the pocket facing, the rotated piece, is hidden on the inside of the skirt and if it is cut upside-down it will not matter since it is not visible when the skrit is worn.
The No-Frills Instructions are now available online as well as a separate PDF file. There is a QR code on one of the pattern pieces that you can scan with your phone and it will take you straight to the No-Frills Instructions page. So if you are making another version of the skirt and do not need full instructions, you can simply pull them up on your phone when you are cutting the pattern pieces out. Amazing!
I did not include the projector pattern file with this re-release. I am not too sure of how many people use it and if it is worth the extra work, but I am open to including it. So if you need a projector file, please let me know. If there is enough interest I will add it in.
With the increased size range I am also increasing the price of the patterns that come in this size range. They will now be offered at $21, but until the end of August you can get the new Elsie skirt pattern for the old price of $15. That’s slightly more than 25% off! The discount will apply automatically in the cart and no code is needed.
I am thrilled for this re-release and so happy for this pattern to be more size inclusive. I hope you like Elsie skirt as much as I do!
Xoxo,
Anya