This week in patterns (12-Dec-2014)

So, last night, after I thought that this post was ready to go, McCall's sent out an email that their "Early Spring" collection had been released. I took a quick glance through it and did like a few of the patterns. Interestingly (to me at least) none of the standouts were dresses, which are usually the patterns that catch my eye. However, since my parents are in town visiting for an "early Christmas",  I won't get around to writing about those patterns until next week's post.

That said, we'll keep things short this week, with only two new patterns outside the new McCall's release.

Muse Patterns - Natalie dress and top

New pattern company Muse of the Jenna Cardigan and Gillian Wrap top and dress has released a new pattern--the Natalie dress and top:

Muse Natalie

As with Muse's other patterns, the Natalie includes several options for sleeve length and garment length (dress, top, or maxi-dress). The big design detail for the Natalie is a triangular inset piece with ruching on either side.  I liked the Gillian wrap dress and the Jenna cardigan, but I suspect that that triangle inset/ruching feature isn't going to be a friend to the uber-busty like myself. That said, usually when a design is a horrible idea on a figure like mine, it usually looks great on someone smaller busted or pear-shaped.

Now, Debbie at Stitches and Seams, tested this pattern and it looked good on her, so maybe I'm wrong about this not looking good on a full bust? On the other hand, there's a difference between having a full bust and being uber busty, and this pattern might look good on the former but not the latter.

Pauline Alice - Quart Coat

I don't know if you've noticed, but in these pattern company re-caps, I try to only include companies whose sizes go up to a 44" full bust. The reason for that is that's the size limit that I'm comfortable working from, from a pattern alterations perspective. (My high bust is currently somewhere between 42" and 43", depending on how snug the measuring tape is pulled.) With that in mind, technically, 42.5" is within an FBA-able range for me, although I'm likely to going to be adding ease/grading up in areas where I'd typically just grade up to the next size. That said, I've seen some really, really lovely projects made from Pauline Alice patterns, a Spanish indie pattern company. I think that, like a few other smaller size-skewing Euro indies, such as Deer & Doe and Named, they're worth including in these posts, if for no other reason than inspiration/pattern eye candy.

Take the new Quart Coat for example, a military-inspired double-breasted coat with a pleated skirt and zippered sleeves. Unfortunately, there don't appear to be any line drawings for this pattern, but here are a few photos showing the details:

Pauline Alice Quart Coat

Obviously, this style would look terrible on me with the wide double-breast overlap, but I still really like it for the unusual details. At 8 Euros for a PDF download (there's a more expensive print version available), this pattern is pretty affordable, as far as indie coat patterns go.

Final Thoughts

Neither of these two patterns is for me/my body type, but at least they're interesting patterns. I'm looking forward to taking a closer look at and writing about the new McCall's release as I recall there being a handful that I pegged as "wants" when I did a quick flip through them on my phone last night.