This was written by An from StraightGrain for the Miss Matatabi Makers series and nani IRO month! An is a designer of beautiful children’s patterns and a hilarious and sweet person. She has a new pattern out now, the Ishi dress, and an amazing sewing contest to celebrate the pattern launch! The prizes are amazing!

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Choosing from Naomi Ito’s newest line was as difficult as always: so many stunning prints, so many great colors, and such beautiful materials. I decided to rely on the material to make a first selection. I wanted to make a reversible dance skirt for Norah (who takes weekly dance classes) and so I went for the lightest material: lawn. That narrowed my choice down to the Sazanami Pocho fabrics in 6 colorways. I went for Nonbi and Hoko, because I thought they would combine great in a reversible skirt.

But then doubt struck. If I would make a reversible skirt, this would mean that these fabrics would just be the ‘lining’ of the skirt half of the time. Could I do that? Could I use these superb fabrics as a lining? Wouldn’t that be utterly disrespectful? So I decided to make two skirts instead of one, even if I knew that making two would take up twice as much of my precious time as making one would (yes, mathematics have always been a strength of mine).

I lined the skirts with Robert Kaufman voiles, which have the same weight as the nani IRO lawns. Norah was thrilled with her two new dance skirts. We went to the MAS museum in Antwerp to take some pictures, because there would be enough space to spin around. Ready to twirl, Norah?

And… go!

While I’m happy with how the skirts turned out, I feel a bit sorry that I didn’t use the fabrics for a more special project. As I was cutting them, I realized how perfect each of these beautiful lawns would have been for a delicate sundress with spaghetti straps, and I started to regret that I was wasting them on a pair of ordinary circle skirts. My apologies, Naomi Ito.

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Thank you so much An! Connect with An on her blog, instagram, facebook, and pinterest.