Today, I’ve got my review of the Steele Pinafore by Elbe Textiles to share with you.

In the form of this winter-inspired corduroy version.

Now, over the past couple of years of working from home/in-and-out of lockdown, like many other privileged persons, I’ve developed a bit of a Yoga with Adrienne habit.

And one mantra I constantly hear during that practice, as I am straining to brace my core during downward dog, is that “the journey is the reward”.

And that phrase is rather apt for how I feel about this Steele Pinafore.

The end product, is not sparking quite the joy I had hoped. But I learned more than enough about myself and my sewing practice during the process to justify its existence.

Winter-fying the Steele Pinafore

The Steele Pinafore is available in sizing which caters for a maximum waist size of 127 cm (50 inches) and maximum hip size of 153cm (60 inches). It comes with two bust size options – B cup and C/D cup. It comes with the option of a plain A-line skirt front, which is the one I’ve used here, or with gathers across the skirt.

The Steele Pinafore is designed for medium weight wovens with good drape – think cotton, linen, silk, tencel. In choosing to try to make it corduroy for a my winter-y take on the pattern, I have definitely gone outside the recommended fabrics. Accordingly, I take full responsibility for the fact that some aspects haven’t quite worked out here – more on that later!

But, just to be entirely clear, my opinion, for whatever it’s worth, is that the Steele Pinafore is a lovely pattern.

And as I go on to expand upon the reasons that I’m not entirely satisfied with my version, I want to be very clear that these reasons relate to personal choices and not to any issues with the pattern itself.

Like all other Elbe textiles patterns, I think it’s great!

So, my first “design choice” (aka mistake) was in choosing my size.

No, actually, before I get into that, perhaps my first “design choice” actually relates to pinafores.

In general.

You see, I love the idea of wearing pinafores. When I see them, I think they look chic and cute at the same time and I WANT ONE! I’ve already fallen down the pinafore rabbit hole in making a Fibre Mood one last year, which turned out to be less than successful.

I also love the look of the York Pinafore by Helen’s Closet, although I haven’t made it (yet!).

So when I first saw the Steele Pinafore, which I found even more effortlessly chic than the above-mentioned models, I thought, fantastic, my pining for a pinafore had reached a pinnacle!

Buuuut, having first thought that the “miss” of my last pinafore was down to the pattern choice, I am now realising, as I contemplate my ambivalence of this finished product, that perhaps I like the idea of pinafores more than the execution?

I can’t quite put my finger on why.

So, mistake #1 is arguably the mistaken belief that I love pinafores.

Mistake #2 would then have to be my sizing choice. Again, entirely my choice, the pattern instructions and sizing charts were perfectly clear!

My body measurements had me a bit all over, in terms of sizing. I was a D at the hips and high bust, and E at the full bust and an F at the waist. Having reviewed the amount of ease in the pattern, as well as reflecting that what I dislike most about my Fibre Mood Dagny pinafore is the lack of waist definition, I decided that it would be safe to size down and I decided to made the D.

In my mind, the 2-3cm waist ease that it would give me, would still be enough.

Well, it wasn’t.

I mean it fits, but by being very close fitting at the waist, I feel that it is losing the effortless vibe that the Steele Pinafore gives off in its product photos. So while I think I could have gotten away with sizing down one size at the waist, I shouldn’t have sized down two sizes.

Sewing the Steele Pinafore

The Steele Pinafore was an enjoyable sew and the instructions and process were straightforward.

The one little tip I have, which is also clearly stated in the instructions, is to read through the entirety of the instructions before starting.

The main reason why this is more than just a statement of “ideal practice but safe to ignore” (kind of like “make a toile” :-)) is because it tells you at step 14 that if you prefer your Steele Pinafore to have additional closures along the side, by way of extra button loops, you needed to have added these back at step 6.

So, you have been warned.

I didn’t want the extra buttons (and I did actually read through the instructions in advance!), so my version features just two buttons on each side, as the pattern is designed, which leaves an opening underneath around the pocket. I have no issues with this.

Speaking of reading instructions in advance – this is something I actually quite enjoy doing. I like to do it in places when I couldn’t actually be sewing (like the dentist’s office or while getting my booster shot) -it gives me a bit of a sewing fix while I’m far from my machine!

The only challenges I experienced while sewing this Steele Pinafore were connected to the fact that my corduroy is much thicker than the fabric for which the pattern was designed. This necessitated a few tweaks.

For example, instead of hemming by folding over one cm and then folding over again, I overlocked my edge and just sewed it over once at 2cm to avoid excessive bulk.

Bulk was also my downfall when it came to sewing the button loops.

Aghhhhh!!!!!!

Button loops in corduroy just don’t work.

Especially when I was defying the pattern’s directions to use buttons 1.5cm or larger by only using 1cm buttons. Since, you know, it was what I had that matched.

So I first tried using the button loop pattern piece, but couldn’t turn it inside out in my thick fabric.

An entirely predictable outcome, but hope springs eternal.

So I folded it in half, but ended up with button loops that were way too thick to sit underneath my buttons.

So I then tried to remake my own button loops by kind of rolling a tube as thin as I could possibly get out of my fabric and top-stitching it down.

It was still too thick to functions as button loops for the small buttons I was using.

Which was just as well, as it was so messy that it looked kind of like a fluffy red hell worm.

So I needed other ideas.

I considered using ribbon instead and tying my Steele Pinafore closed at the sides.

I basted this in place, just to test it out and it both worked and looked cute. But I didn’t have any ribbon in a coordinating colour – my basted ribbon was just to check functionality.

I also very much appreciated a suggestion I received on instagram to make small tabs out of my corduroy and place studs on them. This would have looked really cute and totally worked for the vibe of the pattern.

But I didn’t have any studs.

I also appreciated suggestions I received to make thread loops to serve as button loops.

In the end, I chose a very simple solution of cutting off the corduroy sausage button loops I had sewn and simply using small pieces of round elastic as button loops.

Ribbons or tabs would have been a much cuter solution, but elastic does the job just fine.

And who will be looking at my side, underneath my arm anyway?

In terms of comments on the actual garment, the only other thing I would note that I hadn’t thought about before I purchased this pattern, is that I cannot get into it easily by myself.

The Steele Pinafore closes with a tie at the upper back.

Perhaps there are those of you with exceptional shoulder mobility who can tie an aesthetically pleasing bow at your own upper back.

I, alas, am not one of you.

So I need to be either tied into my Steele Pinafore by someone else or I need to tie it while it is off and then kind of slip my shoulders into it.

With bulky layers on underneath, this “slipping in” is a little awkward to do.

And speaking of bows, I was entirely unable to tie a pretty looking bow in my thick straps, which is why you just see a knot here!

Sewing insights

Are you ready here for a peek inside my sewing brain?

The tabs and studs idea was sufficiently cute that I really should have done it.

But I didn’t.

And that’s because, whenever I’m sewing a project, I kind of reach a point which I like to think of as the apex point of the project.

It comes before the project is finished, but is usually at the point that the project is sufficiently advanced that all the pieces are basically put together and you can try on the garment and get a clear idea of how the final garment is going to look.

And from that apex point, my sewing project either goes in one of two directions.

If I like the look of the garment at the apex point, I head down the mountain towards the finishing line, excited, committed and full of joy. In that mode, I will put in the effort to finish well and do things like chase up any supplies I might need for the finishing touches.

But, if I don’t like what I see at the apex point, then I start straggling back down the mountain towards project’s ends, tired, stumbling and just wanting to be finished.

Unfortunately, I found myself having the latter experience at this apex point, as I put it on and realised, “there’s nothing wrong with it but maybe I just don’t like pinafores all that much after all”.

Which explains why I went for the simplest accessible solution based on what was in my sewing drawer to solve my button loop dilemma!

Seeing red

And while on the topic of various dilemma, I think the other reason I don’t love the finished product is the colour choice.

When I first finished this Steele Pinafore and asked the six year old what he though of it (given that he currently still maintains an undying adoration for his Mama, I always ask for his opinion first!), he promptly replied “well, why did you make a red dress since you don’t like red at all?”.

I resisted the urge to tell him that it was a pinafore, not a dress.

Instead, I reflected on the wisdom of his words.

Mouths of babes and all that.

The reality is that I do not like myself in red-toned garments. And this Steele PInafore is the second time in a few months when I have purchased a fabric, thinking, in my mind, that it was more rust or ochre toned, but realising during the sewing process that, no, it’s really very reddish indeed.

My other foray into red was the Vikisews Nunzia Dress and we all know how that one turned out!

Also, on both occasions, I purchased these fabrics in person, so I only have myself to blame!

So, the reality is that this Steele Pinafore just started to feel more and more reddish/burgundy as the project continued and it’s just not a colour which brings me joy when I wear it.

But, instead of wallowing in regret, I am choosing to appreciate the value of realising that when I step outside of my preferred colour palette, I am often displeased with the result.

Which is really just an affirmation of the extent to which I know myself!

Priceless!

If only I knew how to distinguish between rust/ochre and red at the moment of purchase, all would be well!

The journey is the reward

One thing I forgot to even mention at the outset, is that this fabric started life as a totally different project!

Yep, I actually first made a pair of Persephone Pants, trying to recreate this corduroy version which I love.

However, despite using the exact same pattern pieces, the Persephone pants I made out of this fabric, had hideous crotch bunching which I couldn’t fix.

The likely culprit is the 1-2% elastene in this fabric.

So I actually made the choice to change lanes part way through the project. I cut my persephone pants back into rectangles, purchased another metre of the fabric, and transformed it into something entirely different.

Ahh, from climbing mountains to changing lanes, I’m full of metaphors today.

So this is one sewing project which has been an adventure and, while I don’t love the result, I’m not frustrated.

There was nothing wrong with the pattern or the instructions or the process to frustrate me.

And I learned that I should stick to my colour palette, that I need to pay more attention to the tone/colour of my fabric choices and that, despite my pinterest yearning, perhaps I’m just not a person who wears pinafores.

Although, having said that, I don’t discount the possibility of making this in future – it would be a gathered, linen version – sewing the pattern more as it was intended! (Hmmm, perhaps the possibility that I’m willing to sew another pinafore means that I haven’t learned quite as much from this project as I’d hoped!).

Or, perhaps, the real reason I don’t feel that frustrated or disappointed by this sewing “miss”, is that I’ve found tremendous comfort in mentally consoling myself with that 1970s power ballad by the late Meat Loaf, as I sing softly to my pinafore:

“I want you, I need you, but there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you

Now don’t be sad (pinafore), cause two out of three ain’t bad!!!!!!”