What’s better than one new Scroop Pattern? Two new Scroop Patterns!
Meet the 1915-18 accurate Seatoun Skirt:
And its modern sibling, the Tara Skirt & Pinafore!
The Seatoun Skirt has been in my development pile for quite a while (early versions of it got worn to our 2021 Historical Sew and Eat Retreat!), but it kept getting pushed back because I already had the Kilbirnie Skirt pattern out.
When it finally got close to finished I realised how much I desperately wanted the amazing pockets on a modern skirt.
(I mean, look at those pockets!)
I was also going through the responses to the Scroop Pattern survey, and one of the top requests was historically-inspired skirts with elastic waistbands.
Combine the two, and what do you get? The Tara! And of course I had to add a pinafore top, because everyone loves a pinafore.
In testing options for the Tara it became obvious that the best fit required a completely different pattern to the Seatoun.
Making a totally different pattern allowed the perfect fit, and it gave me the opportunity to add lots of fun extras to the Tara, like the option to cut it on the bias:
The design link between the two is clear, but every single pattern piece, even the pockets, is different.
The construction for the two patterns (including the pockets!) is also completely different, which is why the Seatoun and Tara are being sold as totally separate patterns, instead of having the historical + modern option of the Fantail Skirt.
The separate construction techniques allow you to do fun things like this with the Tara pockets:
Although they are completely separate patterns, you can still buy the two patterns as a bundle, and save a satisfying 20% when you do.
Plus, both the Seatoun & the Tara are on sale!
To celebrate the launch, the digital PDF Seatoun Skirt, Tara Skirt & Pinafore, and combined Seatoun + Tara Bundle pattern are all 15% off at ScroopPatterns.com for the next week.
No need for a code: the discount is applied automatically at checkout. And if you get the bundle, the 15% is on top of the 20% combined discount price too.
Or, if you are in the US, you can pre-order the paper version at VirgilsFineGoods.com and get 15% off there was well!
The Seatoun Skirt is named for Seatoun: the seaside suburb of Te Whanganui a Tara/Wellington which sits on the Miramar Peninsula looking out at the entrance to Te Whanganui a Tara/Wellington Harbour.
The te reo Māori name for the Seatoun area is Kirikiritatangi, after the rhythmic susurration the sea makes as the waves rattle the small rocks of the beach against each other.
The Tara Skirt & Pinafore pattern is named for Tara, the explorer whom Te Whanganui a Tara (the Great Harbour of Tara) is named after, and the te reo Māori word tara, which means point or peak (like the pocket shape the patterns share). Tara is also the te reo name for the white fronted tern frequently seen flying in graceful flocks over Seatoun.
Learn how to say Te Whanganui a Tara here.
We photographed the wonderful models, Lindsey and Taylor-Rose, in the Seatoun skirt on the coast near Seatoun, and in their Tara Skirts & Pinafore’s on other places along the Wellington coast and in Wellington.
I hope you enjoy making and wearing the pattern just as much as I have!