Charm School is a pattern from COSPLAY BY McCALL’S that includes a jacket, skirt with suspenders, and a neck tie. It’s absolutely adorable and will work for both cosplay and fashion purposes depending on the fabric combinations you pick.
Here are the specs:
Skill level: Intermediate
Sizes: 6-8-10-12-14
Pattern number: M2112
First, let’s note that the model for this pattern is wearing a petticoat, as explained on the official website for this item. If you don’t have a petticoat, McCall’s suggests using horsehair braid (not real horsehair, by the way!) to give the skirt extra volume. I’m going to argue that this is optional since not everyone wants oomph in their skirt. It is certainly a nice shape to create but not necessary.
If you decide to follow the pattern instructions closely, you’ll need to buy a great deal of trimmings and notions. Fortunately I am a minimalist and don’t see myself pursuing this pattern in that way. It is my opinion that pattern makers don’t really need to embellish their designs as much as they do. I do appreciate that there are guidelines to work with if I decided to add extra trimmings to spice up a garment, but chances are you’re already a creative individual if you can sew. Is there anyone out there who actually follows patterns exactly to the word (ok there probably is, please hit me up so I know you exist)?
Let’s take a look inside:
This pattern has 8 pages of directions, which is pretty standard. The jacket takes up the majority of the directions and pattern pieces, which I think is obvious just from looking at the model. The jacket requires 15 pieces, the skirt is only 5 pieces an the tie is completely insignificant with only 1 pattern piece. The most difficult garment in this envelope, hands down, is the jacket.
The skirt, which has a similar look to a circle skirt, will be useful for many cosplays and other situations where you need a circular skirt. I like this one because it is designed to be full and flowy – so using this pattern will get you the same effect as making your own circle skirt without the headache of figuring out how much fabric you’ll need. This skirt is a time saver in more ways than one. It’s also fairly simple to make with the step by step directions. I didn’t find any of the directions in this pattern difficult to follow, which I appreciate because I’ve used patterns with confusing and hard to follow directions (this comes up often with jackets and vests for me).
*This item was provided for review.
