So today’s sewing project, the DP Studio ‘le 406’ asymmetric ruffle skirt is a re-make in every sense of the word!!

Way back at the beginning of the first lock down in early 2020 – I sewed a leopard print silk version of this pattern.

You can read all about that one here!.

And, I love that skirt, I really do!

But I don’t wear it that often (6 times in 3 years, to be precise), because, well, it’s really delicate silk. I ride a bike to work most days, so I am just too scared of damaging it (it already has some pulling in one area at the back of the skirt that I think was caused by rubbing against the rough textile covering my bike lock).

And, even though I have no qualms wearing ‘nice’ clothes just around the house, even I draw the line at silk!

So, for a long time, I have been wanting to re-create the skirt in a version which is more wearable day-to-day, keeping the silk version for very special occasions!

So, when Atelier Brunette released this Leony Kelsey print in EcoVero viscose, I knew that the time had come for the remake that I had dreamed of.

Leopard print feelings

I have strange feelings about leopard print fabric, I must confess.

For the longest of times, I swore that I hated it. I couldn’t really put my finger on why.

And, then, well, I’ve started to find myself increasingly attracted to it. I’ve made a couple of garments in it now and I find myself starting to understand the maxim that leopard print is a neutral!

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But in the me-made world, I just haven’t seen that many leopard print fabrics that really hit the sweet spot in terms of size of pattern and colour (I mean, seriously, who needs green-coloured leopard print fabric – it doesn’t make any sense to me!!!!!).

So as soon as I saw the soft pinks and ochres making up the Atelier Brunette take on leopard print, I knew this was just the kind of leopard print I need in my life.

BTW For any other Sezane fans out there – this fabric totally reminded me of the leopard print used in the Sandy Skirt. (Confession: I actually purchased the leopard print Sandy Skirt a few months ago and returned it because the bias cut did not suit my body and I didn’t like the shiny satin-like feel of the fabric. This matte crepe-like Atelier Brunette fabric, is soooooo much nice than the one being used by Sezane. It’s a bit of a “Sewing is a Super Power” moment when you can create something you wanted in RTW, only better!!!!).

Sewing le 406 skirt

My DP Studio “le 406” skirt is a size 46. As I still have the version I sewed a few years ago, I knew that the sizing would be fine as is.

I’m not going to talk too much about the making process – you can read the post from my first version if you want more details.

I’ll give you one pro-tip however. When your pattern pieces are all asymmetrical (which is great as you can cut them on the unfolded single-layer fabric), make sure that you don’t flip a pattern piece around to try to get it to fit better at the fabric.

I had flipped my ruffle around and was about to cut it out before I suddenly had a moment of clarity and turned it back the right way.

Disaster averted!

The only difference between my original ‘le 406’ skirt and this one, is that the skirt comes with two ruffle options. One is a big three-piece ruffle – that’s what I used for my original silk version. The other option is using just one of the three ruffle pieces to make a less ruffled version – which is what I tried out this time.

My rationale was that, unlike my transparent silk, this fabric is printed so it is white on one side. As I thought that potential flashes of the white side in little flashes along the course of the ruffle would be unappealing, I thought it made more sense to go with the smaller, more subtly ruffled option.

I don’t regret this – it was probably the right decision for this fabric. But I think I do prefer the look of the skirt with the bigger ruffle of my silk version.

The DP Studio ‘le 406’ asymmetric ruffle skirt is actually a pattern I really like. I like way it has interesting volume and features at the front and is actually quite streamlined at the back. As someone who always feels that more slim-line skirts do not suit my body well, I really love the way both these versions of le 406 makes me feel comfortable and put-together.

Doubling up

Another confession – I actually like this pattern so much that I purchased it twice!

Let me set the scene for you.

The 8 year old is at a birthday party so you have that amazing luxury of an entire Saturday afternoon to sew! Your new Atelier Brunette fabric had arrived in the post the day before. So, you’re all set for an afternoon of sewing bliss in the dappled sunlight of your sewing corner.

You reach into your fabric collection and pull out your paper copy of ‘le 406’. You open the pattern box.

Only to discover that it contains only the instructions.

It is otherwise empty.

Curious.

You must have simple filed the cut pattern pieces with your other patterns after you sewed it three years ago.

So, you drop to your hands and knees and climb underneath your sewing table (where you store your already cut-out patterns, each one in an individual cardboard envelope and filed into standing filling boxes of ten patterns or so to a box). And as you go through every single pattern you have, a slow sinking feeling dawns upon you as you realise that it’s just not there.

At some point, when going through your pattern collection, you must have decided to purge this pattern. Or you accidentally chucked it. Who knows!

So your Saturday afternoon of sewing bless disappears before your eyes as you crouch in the corner under your sewing table and you instead end up ordering a new paper version of the pattern and drinking wine instead!!!!!

So, yes, this is a pattern that I find interesting and good enough that I’ve purchased it twice. There’s no other pattern that I can say that for!!!!

Perhaps I need to revisit how I store my cut patterns? Anyone have any great storage ideas out there?

In reality, however, I think my issue is less about how I store them and more about the fact that when I periodically run out of space, I go through my cut patterns and get ride of ones that I think I will never sew again. I don’t know how poor ‘le 406’ was accidentally put in that pile, but, evidently it was! So I don’t think there is any storage plan that can make up for that kind of human error!

So, all-in-all, I frickin’ love this skirt. Worth the pain of having purchased the paper version of the pattern twice. I’m very glad to have a more wearable everyday leopard print skirt, reserving its silk big sister for fancy days!!

This is a win of a re-make in my books. What about you? Have you ever loved a garment so much that you’ve remade almost the exact same garment? Or anyone else found themselves buying the same pattern twice????