This week in patterns (21-Nov-2014)

Greetings and salutations! Things have been pretty quiet around here this past week because I've been traveling for work, spending the past two days down at my company's Irvine office. Let me tell you, nothing will make you miss your kid more than being on a plane full of families going to Disneyland and hearing the words "Elsa!" and "Haunted Mansion!" every three minutes, and I'd only been away from her for a few hours at that point. 

In any case, I haven't gotten any sewing in during the past few days, although I did finish that test pattern the day before I left. She's hoping to release the pattern in December, so if all goes well, I'll be able to post about it then. I didn't encounter anything major with the pattern, so I'd expect the release to stay on track, unless there's an issue with the smaller sizes. As a tester, I'm supposed to be receiving a copy of the final pattern, which I'm looking forward to making up and comparing to the test version. When I return home, I've got a partially finished pair of StyleArc Elle pants and a cut-out HotPatterns Sakura bomber jacket that I'll be working on, and then after that, it'll be Coat Adventure 2014 for me.

So, that's what I've been up to. We had a few new patterns released this week, too:

StyleArc - PDF Downloads!

If you've been wanting to try StyleArc patterns but have hesitated because of the shipping costs from Australia or are wary of single size patterns, I have good news! This week, StyleArc made a small selection of their patterns available as PDF downloads in their new Etsy shop. Each pattern has three size options, as well, so you'll have more options there, as well. Based on what I've seen on PatternReview and around the blogosphere, StyleArc chose some of their most popular patterns for this experiment. The following patterns are now available in StyleArc's Etsy shop. Note that this list seems to grow every day, so just check out the Etsy shop for the most up-to-date list:

• Lola pant
• Nina cardigan
• Laura knit dress
• Laura knit cardigan
• Tamara top
• Phillipa peplum top
• Sandra narrow leg jean
• Zoe pencil skirt
• Franki dress and top
• Sunny top
• Ziggi Jacket
• Jacinta knit dress
• Ursula ponte skirt
• Gorgeous gore skirt
• Ollie tunic
• Fay skirt
• Mindi skirt

StyleArc - Laura knit dress

The prices are quite reasonable, as well. The current selection of patterns run $8-$12 USD. While I can't say that every single StyleArc pattern I've made has been flattering on my figure, due to style choice/wishful thinking, I can say that I've never run into any drafting issues with their patterns. Additionally, their patterns usually run pretty close to their size chart. Basically, these patterns are a much lower "risk" than some other "indie" patterns.

Butterick - Holiday Collection 2014

The last of the Big 4 finally released their Holiday collection this week--Butterick. Like the Simplicity collection, the Butterick collection had both some high points and some head-scratchers. I love head-scratches, though--it's so much more interesting to see a few "What were they thinking?" patterns than a bunch of cocktail dresses and re-hashes of last year's designs like the Vogue Holiday collection had. Let's take a look at a few of the Buttericks:

B6127

I LOVE this dress. I have nowhere to wear it, but I love the lapel and the it's-not-actually-a-jacket overlay. If I recall, this is a knock-off of something that Kate Middleton wore somewhat recently, but I can't recall the designer's name. The skirt wouldn't work on me, but that's an easy enough fix. Might have to buy and stash this one at a Hancock/JoAnn sale. (Seriously, my company's holiday party is an informal event held at a football stadium, so I don't even have the company party excuse to make this.)

B6127

B6131

In B6131, Butterick combined a bridesmaid dress with an infinity dress and came out with this...

B6131

Yeah, I'm not a fan. This is the kind of dress that a really passive-aggressive bride asks her bridesmaids to wear. "Oh, but it's so versatile with the wrap! And you don't all have to wear it the same way; you can personalize it!" Which, really, is just a variation on, "You can cut it off and wear it again!"

B6130

If Colette's Chantilly dress had a child with the new Dahlia dress, it would look like B6130:

B6130

I actually like this quite a bit, if I had a reason to make/wear it. Including a jumpsuit view is a nice variation from your typical holiday dress, and I like that the dress views have princess seamed skirts.

B6143

Hands-down, my favorite pattern in this collection is this new coat pattern with shoulder princess seams, cup sizes, and an interesting lapel:

B6143

I don't know how many coats a person needs--I already have two in my sewing queue--but I really, really want to sew and wear this one, too.

B6151

And finally, there's this... a strappy corset from the Wavery line of all things:

B6151

Without all of the straps, I see a corset pattern that could be useful if you like making corsets. But with the way that it's styled here, I'm thinking that you'd accessorize this one with a riding crop made from fat quarters?

BlueGingerDoll - Violet Dress

I feel like Abby from BlueGingerDoll has been releasing new patterns left and right lately; this is her third new pattern since I started compiling these posts earlier this fall.

The BlueGingerDoll Violet dress is BGD's second knit pattern offering, this time offering a pieced bodice with a v-neck/bust ruching detail and several sleeve and skirt options:

BlueGingerDoll Violet dress

One thing I like about BGD's patterns is that she always offers a lot of options with each pattern, so that you can make them several times without feeling like you've made the same dress/top again, but just with different fabric. I know that this neckline type is a good one on me, and I'm intrigued by the options with piecing. I also know that personally, I'd stick to the fuller/A-line skirt on this one. On the other hand, I feel like I could just frankenpattern a different skirt onto my HotPatterns Cote d' Azur pattern or StyleArc Alice top; however, then you'd lose the seaming details and would have to draft those. At that point, I wonder if it's just more worth it to shell out $14 for the pattern.

I really like Tanya's version, which is both very cute and immensely flattering.

Final Thoughts

The must-buy for me here is that Butterick coat. I'm tempted by the B6127 dress with the interesting lapel/faux jacket, but I just don't see where I'd wear it. I do like the new BGD Violet but will probably pass on it for now, both for seasonal reasons and to contemplate whether my time or money is worth more when it comes to frankenpatterning.

I love that StyleArc is dipping their toe into the PDF waters. In the past, I've tried to bundle/plan my orders from them around the freebie-of-the-month, but this provides a much more affordable and instant gratification way of obtaining their patterns. I can still see myself ordering their paper patterns in months when I like the freebie, but I'm no longer limited to that purchasing model.