Riverbend is the final of the patterns I worked for Crochetscene 2015.  Like Bow Wrap and Crossed Arrow, I had a really good idea of this pattern long before I turned it into a proposal.  Unlike the other two, Riverbend’s genesis and maturing happened at a lot slower of rate.

Part of this was I was working on other projects, and part of it was wanting to let the genesis pattern have a bit of distance before I created something in the same vein.

Sketch for Riverbend

Riverbend became a design idea back when I was working on Victoria’s Riflebird.  Victoria’s Rifebird is a wrap that should be familiar – it has very similar shaping to Riverbend!  You could say they are siblings.  Once I had finished Victoria’s Riflebird, but before I wove in the ends, Sweetness, one of the girls I nannied at the time, wrapped the wrap around her waist and gave a swirl.  I realized then that a similar shape would work really well with a skirt – with some minor adjustments!

I love the idea of wrap skirts.  I like the versatility and the sizing flexibility.  When I was a kid one of my favorite skirts for about a year was a wrap skirt made of two layers of fabric.  Now, I have another wrap skirt that I wear at least once a week in the summer and the fall.  Riverbend is directly influenced by both those skirts.

Riverbend is also defined by the finishing details of this skirt: there’s a bold fun button in he same color of the wedges (a vintage one harvested from my great-grandmother’s collection), and another vintage button in the main color on the inside.

Riverbend, all finished and on one of my new models – this one being more full-hipped.

Riverbend is a wrap skirt, and sizing makes it super flexible.  The subtle a-line of the skirt makes it great in multiple colors for a summery cover-up for every-day skirt, or do it in solid colors for a more professional look.  The distinctive wedges are created using my special technique to work crochet short rows.  (Keep an eye out, there’s a class on that with Interweave coming soon!)  The ribbed fabric gives it a bit of a sexy silhouette – it hugs the hips just a bit before flaring out.  Unlike my original sketch, which had the skirt looking a lot more full, math and practicality made the finished project a little bit less flared.

Riverbend, on my model that’s a bit less full-hipped, you can see the difference in the way the skirt hangs.

Riverbend is currently available in the newest issue of Crochetscene 2015.  You can check out it, and my other three patterns, in the issue!  Also check out my Ravelry page, where you can read my personal notes and the stats about the time I spent on this project!