New (to me) pattern contest on PatternReview, StyleArc non-update

Yes, it's another post from me where I pontificate on possible future projects and post pictures of the prospective patterns! 

New (to me) pattern contest

I've been a member of PatternReview for nearly seven years, but I rarely participate in the monthly contests held there. To put it bluntly, the contest winners are usually more popular, thinner, younger, and far more advanced in their fitting and sewing skills than I am. I have a competitive enough nature that I have no interest in entering a contest where I have zero shot at winning. Starting Sunday, however, is a contest that I am actually interested enough in entering that I don't give a rat's ass how many or how few votes I get. That contest is the "New to Me Pattern Contest", which I am entering to challenge myself to step and hold myself accountable.

With me being me, I haven't yet decided which pattern, or even which pattern company, I am going to use for the contest. I've narrowed the field down to three candidate patterns, two of which are Lekala patterns. Here are the candidates:

Lekala 4319

If you read my Basic t-shirt with a flare post a little while back, Lekala 4319 should look familiar to you:

Since my original post where I pointed out this pattern, I have since purchased and printed out the PDF download. I am really dying to see how Lekala's custom measurement system works out for my body type. An interesting note is that although it's not shown in the line drawing, my version of this pattern includes a dart in front. I wonder if that's an omission from the line drawing, or if it was something that the Lekala system generated for me because of my large bust.

Lekala 4321

Pattern candidate is also a Lekala. I have purchased the PDF download for Lekala 4321, as well. I really love the line drawings of both. I think that if I make the body of this top in black and the yoke in a bright color, it will draw attention towards my face and away from my bust/body:

Victory Patterns Lola Dress

The Victory Patterns Lola Dress is a candidate quite simply because I love the idea of a seamed sweatshirt dress. This dress looks super-comfortable and has looked surprisingly good on a wide variety of figures. I love the idea of pairing this with leggings and boots, and the interesting seaming would give me an excuse to play around with some decorative top-stitching on my Babylock Evolve:

The knock against the Lola is that I haven't purchased the pattern yet, and it is quite a bit pricier (~$12 for a PDF download) than the inexpensive Lekalas ($2.50 each/PDF pattern). And the Lola would require more pattern adjusting/fitting work, since I Victory didn't simply generate a custom pattern for me based on my measurements. But...I really love the look of the Lola from the line drawing. Sweatshirt dress.

As a footnote, I was considering the Deer & Doe Plantain t-shirt for this contest, but decided that while I still plan to make up that pattern, it's a little boring for a contest entry.

StyleArc non-update

I'm still trying to decide which two StyleArc patterns to order along with my freebie pattern for the month of February. They did announce a mid-month pattern release for February, but the new patterns are four nice-enough, but not terribly exciting skirt patterns. They're fine, but they're not going to bump anything off of my pattern candidate list or make my decision any easier. I can't say that I've even eliminated any of the patterns from my original list of six; although I think I might be leaning slightly towards going with two patterns for separates (pants + top/blouse or 2 tops/blouses) over the dress pattern, but I might very well change my mind five minutes from now. My decision will very likely come down to the temperature and my mood when I actually place the order. Whichever patterns I don't choose with this order will still be available in a few months when I place my next order, I'm sure.