Friday, October 10, 2014

This week in patterns (10-Oct-2014)


So, we've got lots and lots of patterns to recap this week!

I debated whether to include Big 4 patterns in my weekly recap. Other people have been doing Big 4 recaps much longer, but I felt that to ignore a new Vogue release would be like ignoring the elephant in the room.  I've already read several other roundups of this particular collection on other blogs even though the collection was just released on Monday, and while I'm probably not saying anything new in my rundown, I still felt that I should include it in this week's post.

Pull up a chair and grab a cup of coffee. We had a LOT of patterns released this week, so this is a bit of a LONNNNNNG post.

Bluegingerdoll - Bonnie knit top

The Bonnie is the first knit pattern offering from Bluegingerdoll and is now available for instant download for PDF format or pre-order for the printed version. The pattern includes three views with interchangeable sleeve and bodice options.
  • View A: Banded hem crop top with crew neck and flutter sleeves. (The pattern announcement mentions that this view was inspired by 1940's-era sweaters.)
  • View B: Banded hem crop top with scoop neckline and 3/4 length sleeves
  • View C: Hip-length top with a boat neckline and long sleeves
Bluegingerdoll Bonnie
You might (justifiably) be wondering if the world really needs another basic knit top pattern offering from another indie pattern company. However, given that Bluegingerdoll drafts for a D-cup, hourglass figure, I'd put it in the "drafting niche" category along with tops like the Sewaholic Pendrell or SBCC Tonic Tee, which are drafted for certain figure types. If you were a new-ish sewist who didn't already have a full pattern stash with a figure similar to the Bluegingerdoll block, this pattern could be a good choice for you.

Winter Wear Designs - Women's Aviator Pants

If you've been eyeing the True Bias Hudson trackpant but feeling discouraged because the Hudson's size range stops at a 46" hip, you might want to check out Winter Wear Design's take on the trackpant trend with the Women's Aviator Pant, which was released earlier this week:

Winter Wear Designs - Women's Aviator Pants
The Women's Aviator goes up to a 51" hip and also includes cargo pockets and a yoga waistband. I'll admit that these caught my eye because I have a similar pair of pants that I bought from Old Navy several years ago that I have pretty much worn to death.  With the yoga waist on my pants, I was able to wear them well, well into my pregnancy in 2012, and now they're my go-to dog walking pants with those cargo pockets. I haven't sewn anything from Winter Wear, so I can't comment on their drafting or instructions, but I wanted to call these out for both their size range and comfortable and utilitarian design.

Blank Slate - Marigold Dress, Blouse, and Skirt

If you follow my blog, then you know that I love Blank Slate's children's patterns--they're practical, cute, have great instructions, and most importantly, actually fit true-to-size (unlike most of the Big 4 kids' patterns I've tried). Melissa, who is the owner and designer for Blank Slate, has been expanding their women's pattern offerings in recent months. She's got a few women's designs that I've been eyeing, but I haven't taken the plunge yet. I think that might be about to change.

The Marigold dress, blouse, and skirt were originally offered as part of the Pattern Anthology collective's 8 Days a Week collection that was released a few weeks ago. Starting on Tuesday of this week, the patterns became available for individual sale.

The Marigold is so "me", it's not even funny. There are blouse and dress options, cap and long sleeve options, and the dress has pockets. On top of that, Melissa says that it's drafted for a D- or DD- cup bust, so many women will be able to skip the FBA or just have a minimal one.

Blank Slate - Marigold dress, blouse, and skirt
While I'm kind of over peplums at this point, in this style, in the sample photos, the blouse doesn't scream PEPLUM! like on some knit designs. I like the banded collar, and the shirring at the shoulders will make an FBA on this pattern very easy to do. I like so many of the views/options for this pattern, I'm truly not sure which I'd tackle first.

Vogue Patterns - Holiday 2014 Collection

Like many other bloggers who have already reviewed this collection, I found the Vogue Holiday collection to be a mixed bag. The formal and semi-formal dresses have some gorgeous and unique patterns, while I found the rest of the collection to be kind of "meh".

"Interesting" is the go-to word for me for the cocktail and holiday dresses in this collection. As much as it would be fun to dress up, I have zero need for a cocktail dress in my wardrobe (my company's holiday party is held at a football stadium, and we likely wouldn't go anyway due to a lack of a sitter).
 

Badgley Mischka V1426

The Angelina's leg pose aside, I think that this is a stunning dress. I love the cascading ruffle and contrast. If I had any occasion to sew or wear this (and access to a longline bra in my size), I'd be all over this Badgely Mischka dress in a heartbeat.

Vogue 1426
Belville Sassoon 1423

This Belville Sassoon dress would probably look awful on my figure, but I think that the cutouts are quite interesting in a showing-hints-of-skin-but-not-trashy way:

Vogue 1423
Claire Shaeffer 9046

This Claire Shaeffer dress-of-a-million-pintucks is interesting and would probably look fantastic on someone long-waisted with an hourglass figure. This is another dress, like the Belville Sassoon one, that I like the idea of, even if it wouldn't work for me or my lifestyle.

Vogue 9046

For the non-holiday dresses, though, the collection largely seems like a rehash of what we've seen the past few years--more peplums (still)!, more seamed sheaths that can be used for color blocking, and more semi-fitted raglan tops. The two vintage designs are nice--one is a coat and the other is a jacket/dress combo.

Vintage Vogue 9052

Here's one of the vintage offerings--the dress and jacket combination. The dress is pretty basic with the exception of the neckline cutout. I could see the jacket actually blending in really well with a modern wardrobe--to me the only thing that screams "vintage" about it is the styling for the photo shoot.
Vintage Vogue 9052
Vogue 9067 - Five easy pieces

Looking at some of the regular offerings, there's the "Five Easy Pieces" wardrobe pattern. This is more of that "art teacher chic", which is totally not my thing:

Vogue 9067
Vogue 9062

The one "custom fit" pattern (i.e. with cup sizes from A-D) is a dead ringer for one of the views of the Colette Laurel dress:

Vogue 9062

BurdaStyle Plus Collection

I won't be reviewing every single BurdaStyle collection in these weekly posts, but since I and many of my readers fall into Burda's plus size range, I will be including the monthly plus size patttern collections in my posts. On Wednesday of this week, BurdaStyle published the October 2014 Plus collection to its website. As is often the case, there are a few really cute garments and a few headscratchers. Let's take a look at the highlights and the lowlights.

First up is my favorite piece of the collection, the #139 seamed shift dress with a keyhole neckline:

BurdaStyle Plus 10-2014 #139
There's darts, seaming, and an interesting neckline. Oh and pockets. You know that I'm a sucker for pockets. Plus, it's a winter pattern with actual long sleeves!

Continuing with the positives, this blouse with a pleated neckline appears in three different variations in this collection. My favorite view is #136, which looks like raglan sweatshirt with a cute bow detail at the neckline:
BurdaStyle Plus 10-2014 #136
And if you don't already have a bomber jacket pattern, Burda has offered a plus version in this issue. Unlike a lot of boxier bomber jackets, #133 has bust and waist darts:


BurdaStyle Plus 10-2014 #133
I didn't care for this oversized jacket with an attached chiffon scarf. I guess that attaching the scarf helps prevent you from losing it?

BurdaStyle Plus 10-2014 #134
And then there's this layered tank set. By themselves, the tanks are fairly inoffensive. But seeing them layered/styled like this, they're screaming trend-that-should-have-been-left-in-1987 to me. I'm surprised that they didn't style them with a pair of zippered-ankle Guess? jeans and an Esprit bag.

BurdaStyle Plus 10-2014 #141

HotPatterns - Metropolitan Rothko Faux-Wrap Skirt

And finally, we have our last pattern for the week. This morning, HotPatterns released their Metropolitan Rothko Faux-Wrap Skirt pattern:


HP Rothko Wrap Skirt

I like this skirt a lot. First of all, it's a faux wrap, so if you live in a windy city like Seattle or San Francisco, you don't have to worry about your skirt blowing open when you step off the bus. Second, the piecing opens up a lot of design possibilities. You could color-block, print-match, or just do a solid version with top-stitching. In fact, I'm picturing a denim version with jeans-colored top-stitching on either side of the seams.

25 comments:

  1. I like that HP skirt a lot! Very cute. View B of the Bonnie is very super cute :) And from Vogue I only want that Tilton jacket. No, I don't need another casual jacket pattern...but it's SO interesting!

    Simplicity/New Look have new patterns showing on their app but not the website yet. :sigh:

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    1. I saw the post about the new New Look/Simplicity after I posted this. I don't have the app, so I'll get those when they're actually up on thw website.

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  2. You just convinced me to buy my first Hot Pattern! Done and done :)

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    1. Congrats! ;) I think you'll find that Trudy's drafting should work well for you.

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  3. Wait. Bluegingerdoll does what now?!!! D cups? Holy!

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    1. Yup, isn't it nice that some companies draft for cup sizes larger than B now?

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  4. Awesome post! You had patterns in there that I hadn't heard of yet :)

    Well done (& thank you sooooo much!!!)

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  5. Thanks so much for this awesome pattern update. I find it so interesting that we must be a similar age, have similar casual lifestyle and yt have such different tastes! This is why a diversity of patterns is needed.

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    1. Agreed--it's nice that there are a lot of options currently.

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  6. I must get the HP Rothko skirt. The only issue I have is now I'll have to choose between the Rothko and the Lantern skirt for my Halloween costume.

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    1. I really like that one. My big concern with that is where to shorten it--I'll likely need to take 3-4" off the length, and I don't want to lose the silhouette. I'm sure I'll figure it out.

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    2. The Lantern or the Rothko? I think ith the Lantern, you could shorten the waist band and the top of the skirt that attaches to it. Most of the shaping is at the bottom with the band.

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    3. I ordered the Rothko, and I'm anxious for her ext general sale. I fel asleep from my allergy meds during the sale for the new top (The Domino, I think) and missed the special. I also want that new knit Deco top/ dress. I'm not feelin' the Tamer pants, though.

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    4. I like the new sweatshirt top and that Artemis top/dress, too (I'd probably only sew the top view of that one). I ordered the pant pattern to stash.

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  7. Also, Compagnie-M just released the Charles pant Nat affiliated, but I do have a few of her patterns.
    http://compagnie-m.com/shop/

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    1. Ooh, I wasn't familiar with them, but they've got some super cute kids' patterns.

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    2. I only heard of WinterWear and Muse from you, so I guess we're even. I like Compagnie M's twist on classic styles, and how many of the styles can be athletic or fancier, depending on fabric.

      I also like Clever Charlotte for the same reason.

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    3. SWEET FANCY MOSES. I just got Muse's email with the new wrap dress. LOVE IT. Thanks for giving them a shout-out. I think that may my pick for the wrap-along. I'm majorly behind because of work, but I still plan to sew one, especially because wraps usually work well for me.

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    4. Isn't that new wrap dress ridiculously cute? I actually saw this comment before I'd opened my email the other morning, so you actually prompted me to rush to check their announcement. I'm thinking that with cooler weather on its way, I'd like to make the long-sleeved/top version to layer over a cami.

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  8. Thanks for the review. I too am learning new pattern makers from you.

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  9. I LOVE the Rothko skirt. I'll probably buy it. But, I love the shirts that are shown with the skirts even more, especially the Day of the Dead Calavera T-Shirt. As soon as I saw the pattern envelope, I placed an order for a Calavera stencil that I'd been eyeing all week.

    I also love the Burda dress with all the pieces. But all those pieces make fitting more laborious. Especially since I end up having to take a lot of length out of Burda patterns.

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    1. The tops are cute, too, although I don't know of any HotPatterns equivalent for that lapped neck tee. I have to shorten everything, too, so I hear ya on what a pain it is to make petite alterations to everything all the time.

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    2. I think that's the new Domino sweat shirt, just tucked in. That envelope neckline looks like it. Either that, or you could skip the faux shirttail and make a standard T bottom on it and tuck that way.

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