Last Week in Patterns (31-May-2015)

We had yet another fairly slow week for pattern releases. The only release that landed on my radar was the Plus collection from BurdaStyle's June issue.

BurdaStyle (Plus): June 2015 - Serengeti Dreams collection

Not surprisingly, the latest plus collection from Burda is a bit of a mixed bag, but at least this one has a few interesting pieces in it.

Let's kick this roundup off with some classic Burda WTF-ery, though.

06-2015 #130A & #130B: Wrap dress and tunic with draped sleeves

At first glance, this is a lovely, flowing surplice-style dress with flowing sleeves. But then you take a look at the line drawing and tunic view in the solid fabric, and go, "OMG, WTH is going on with those sleeves???"

BurdaStyle (plus) 06-2015 #130B

BurdaStyle (plus) 06-2015 #130A

Confession time: I'm way more intrigued by this pattern than I probably should be. I find those sleeves mesmerizing, although that tunic sample looks awfully sloppy. With the styling on this one, the tunic looks vaguely like the mutant costume offspring a Daenerys Targaryen and Cersei Lannister.

06-2015 #129:  Layered Maxi Dress

I love this maxi dress, even though it takes about a million yards of fabric. As my daughter would say, "It's so pretty!" Ok, maybe "a million" is a bit of a stretch, but the largest size does take 7 yards, although I bet that would be quite a bit less for shorties like me. I guess this would provide a good excuse for hitting one of those FabricMart sales, since they always seem to have a lot of interesting rayon challis in stock, right?

BurdaStyle (plus) 06-2015 #129

Now in the sample/model picture, the straps appear to be too long for the model and are sliding off of her shoulders, so that would definitely be something to check when sewing this up. But that's a fairly easy fix, if you do think it will be an issue while wearing.

06-2015 #128: Summer Coat

This coat is nice enough, even if the sample is a bit heavy for a "summer coat". I'm not sure what I think of the scallop detail. In theory, I like them adding interesting details to garments, but in reality, it seems like it might go a bit too far in the "crafty" direction.

There's also a full-length overly dramatic view of the same coat, shown in lace.

BurdaStyle (plus) 06-2015 #128

BurdaStyle (plus) 06-2015 #127

06-2015 #126: Wrap-front Culottes

Can I just say that I LOVE these wrap-front culottes! At first glance, I thought that this was a wrap skirt with an odd kickpleat, but then got super excited when I realized...culottes! I am apparently going through a phase where I am embracing All Things Trendy by jumping on the culotte, romper, and jumpsuit bandwagon.

I just think that these look like a great intro to culottes if you've been scared off by the proportions of other patterns. I'm planning to buy this one.

BurdaStyle (plus) 06-2015 #126

06-2015 #125A & 125B: Raglan blosue

Annnnd a BurdaStyle Plus collection wouldn't be a BurdaStyle Plus collection without at least one oversized, shapeless top.  This one doesn't bother me as much as these usually do--maybe that's because the rest of the collection is at least interesting or has some interesting details, rather than being just a bunch of rectangles meant to hide a larger woman's body.

The print version of this looks waaaaay better than the solid version.

BurdaStyle (plus) 06-2015 #125B

BurdaStyle (plus) 06-2015 #125A

I personally avoid tops with pleats that open over my boobs, but in the right fabric, this top looks like it could have potential on a less gargantuanly-endowed figure.

 

Final Thoughts

So this was a pretty interesting collection from Burda, wasn't it? Crazy sleeves: yay or nay?

We appear to be heading into the summer lull for pattern releases, in that we've had very few for the past few weeks. We should be getting a few new offerings from StyleArc on Monday, so I'll be curious to see what those are.

I've been seeing a few versions of the Colette Aster blouse showing up on blogs, etc, and I've been pleasantly surprised. They've generally looked better than the samples on the Colette website and have looked closer to the line drawings than the envelope samples (i.e. the v-neck isn't as wide in the "real" versions). It looked particularly nice on the two curvy women's versions I've seen (one large-busted, the other more of a pear shape).

I've been dealing with a head cold for the past few days, but when I feel up to being photographed, I finished a pretty cool pair of cigarette pants from that Burda pattern I used for my jeans. We'll see what wrinkles/draglines show up in the photos, but from looking in the mirror, I'm extremely happy with them. I'm currently working on the HP peasant blouse to wear with them.

Last Week in Patterns (24-May-2015)

Happy Memorial Day weekend to everyone in the US! I hope most of us are enjoying the long weekend so far.

We only had a few new pattern releases this past week:

• Colette Patterns
• Paprika Patterns
• StyleArc

Colette Patterns: Aster blouse

The online has been very split it its opinion of the latest offering from Colette Patterns--the Aster blouse:

Colette Aster blouse

I'm pretty split on it myself.

On one hand, it looks like one of those easy, sew-in-an-afternoon projects that makes for a nice summer blouse. I would totally wear this style, and the pattern doesn't take much fabric. That said, I really liked the Sewaholic Oakridge blouse, but have shied way from it because it's totally not drafted for my figure type.

On the other hand, it took Colette over SIX MONTHS to release this pattern after releasing the Dahlia last fall. A six month wait for a very basic blouse pattern??? So I'm a little underwhelmed there. I think that my disappointment largely stems from Sarai saying that they were publishing Seamwork and its accompanying PDF patterns so that they could concentrate on more complex patterns from the main Colette line. But then the first pattern that they release after launching Seamwork looks like a Seamwork pattern?

I'm torn. For a $6 PDF, I'd jump at buying this pattern, but for full-price pattern, I'm a little more hesitant. To be honest, I felt a little burned by getting sucked into the pretty photos and line drawings for the Dahlia and was unpleasantly surprised by all of the drafting issues that popped up when people actually started sewing that pattern. I know that there are some concerns about the neckline with the Aster, but I have somewhat substantial, square-ish shoulders, and know that I could pretty easily tweak the neckline on this as needed (should be quite easy to do with a bias tape neckline finish), so I'm less concerned about that aspect than others.

Paprika Patterns: Onyx Shirt

On Thursday, Paprika Patterns released their take on the woven t-shirt with the Onyx shirt. This pattern has two views--a cropped and regular-length version, both with hi-lo hems. The regular length version has a cuff/epaulet detail on the sleeve. The cropped version has a more exaggerated hi-lo hem and also has waist darts for shaping. I couldn't find any line drawings for these, but here are photos showing both views:

Paprika Onyx top

I really love my never-blogged-because-it-was-the-test-version-of-the-pattern Paprika Jasper sweatshirt, and the Jade skirt is perpetually on my to-sew list, but I'll be passing on this one. Sure, it's cute, but I've already got a woven tee pattern that I'm happy with (the HotPatterns woven tee), I'd never use the cropped view of the Onyx, and like the Grainline Scout, the Onyx lacks much in the way of shaping (although I've certainly been known to add a bust dart to a woven pattern via FBA on more than one occasion).

StyleArc: Mid-May 2015 release

StyleArc's mid-month releases lately tend to either be designer patterns that aren't typical of StyleArc's aesthetic or are fairly basic patterns that Chloe & co. aren't going to showcase as a given month's main release. The mid-May release falls into the latter category in that StyleArc released a couple of beach/pool coverup patterns. 

Summer Cover Up

The Summer Cover Up is a cute cover up, but it also looks like a mashup of the two free HotPatterns cover ups available on fabric.com:

Peachy Beach Cover Up
Medina Mini Caftan

StyleArc Summer Cover Up

Holiday Maxi Cover Up

The Holiday Maxi is pretty enough, and you could probably wear it as a day dress, if you're able to go braless or wear a strapless bra.

StyleArc Holiday Maxi Cover Up

 

Final Thoughts

The only one of these that I'm at all tempted by is the Aster. I was really hoping that we'd have seen a few of these pop up before the end of the launch discount for this pattern had ended. As disappointed as I was that Colette released another basic design, I do actually like the design myself, but I also want to see what it looks like made up on a (preferably curvy) body before pulling the trigger.

I figure that most of the discussion in the comments this week will be about the Aster, so what do you think about it? Any thoughts on any of the other new patterns this week?

Finished Project: Burda 6951 (Plus size slender pants)

Curvy Sewing Collective Announcement

Hello! As you may have seen yesterday, I have joined the Curvy Sewing Collective as an editor!  I am really looking forward to being involved with this group of talented women and to do what I can to promote curvy sewing and body self-acceptance and positivity no matter what your shape or size. And I'd also like to welcome all of my new readers who have started following my blog since the announcement!

Burda 6951

Let's start this post by checking off all of the SBC cliches related to the type of project that I just finished:

• "Jeans y'all!"
• "OMG, you guys, I made jeans!"
• "I sewed jeans. *drops mic*"

Wearing my new Burda 6951 jeans

This pattern isn't a true jeans pattern, and really, this is more of a wearable muslin given that I've still got a few fit issues that I'm working through with this pattern. But hey, it is wearable in that I've worn them twice already, and I did mostly go through the process of constructing these jeans as if this were a "real" jeans pattern. The big differences between this pattern and a "real" jeans pattern are that this pattern does not include a coin pocket; therefore, these are not a 5-pocket jean, and the instructions don't have you flat-fell your seams, do double topstitching, etc. Where you see double rows of top-stitching along my seams, I stitched, serged to finish the seam, and then top stitched twice with Gutermann poly jeans top-stitching thread (I didn't want to mess with flat felling on a potential muslin).

Back pocket

I stole the back pocket design from Nakisha at SewCraftyChemist; I wanted to do something with the back pockets, but don't own an embroidery machine and didn't want to spend a lot of time on decorative stitching, given that I didn't know how the jeans would turn out. I purchased the rivets and jeans button from CastBullet and used Melissa's tutorial to install them.
 

Burda 6951 envelope

Here's the line drawing, where you can see the details a bit better:

Burda 6951 line drawing

You can see that my version isn't as close-fitting as the envelope photo, especially through the legs. I can think of two possible reasons for this:

• The pattern is drafted for stretch, bottom weight fabrics and that draft includes negative ease at the hip in the finished garment measurements. Even though my denim had lycra and plenty of stretch, I kind of freaked out over that and went up a size from the size chart. I realized that I clearly didn't need to do this after wearing them for a bit.
• I do think that the legs are drafted to not fit as closely shown as they do on the model. If you're a longtime reader of my blog, you've seen my legs plenty of times in dresses and skirts. I do not have disproportionately skinny legs to the rest of my body, but I'm finding that I often (not always) need to take in or grade down the size of legs in pant styles that are meant to be slim-fitting through the legs. I don't have this issue at all in RTW pants and jeans, so I suspect that it's a common issue with plus size and/or larger sized pant patterns.

Another jeans pic

Fabric and Notions Used

I used the following fabric and notions for this version of this pattern:

• Stretch denim from stash. I'm going to guess that this denim has at least 2% lycra. It was very stretchy and has good recovery (so far). I don't know the weight, but I'd categorize it as a lighter medium weight denim. Maybe about 8 oz? I'm going to guess that I either purchased this at a Yardage Town (from when I was living in San Diego) or from a flat fold table at Michael Levine's during a years-ago shopping trip to the LA fashion district. In any case, it had been in my stash so long that I felt no anxiety about possibly sacrificing this fabric to a muslin if the jeans didn't work out.
• Facing fabric was leftover cotton shirting from my HP Woven tee.
• 5" YKK jeans zipper.
• Jeans button and rivets from CastBullet.
• Poly Gutermann jeans top-stitching thread.

Please ignore the wonkiness at the edge of the waistband underlap.

Pattern Sizing and Alterations

This is a Burda Plus envelope pattern available in sizes 42-54 (hip sizes 40 1/4"-52 3/4" or 102 cm - 134 cm). My hip measurement (50") should put me in a Burda size 52, but as I mentioned previously, I freaked out over the negative ease in the finished garment measurements and sewed a size 54. I made no other alterations other than shortening the pants inseam by 3" (to 28" hemmed) because I had no idea how these would fit out of the envelope.

One thing that I liked about this pattern is that the front pockets incorporate a tummy panel--one of the pocket pieces extends to the fly facing to help prevent pocket gape and provide tummy support.

For my next version, I'll go down a size to a 52 and add a horizontal wedge to the CB seam to give me better vertical coverage over my bum. I also used the pattern for pocket placement and will be raising the placement of my back pockets in my next version.

Jeans back

Pattern Instructions

The pattern instructions are adequate. If you've never sewn a Burda envelope pattern before, the instructions are far more detailed than the BurdaStyle magazine or download patterns. The envelope patterns also include seam and hem allowances (or at least they do in the US).

I used HotPatterns instructions from another pattern to install the fly zipper, though, because Trudy's method is the only one I've tried where I don't get a weird little pucker where the fold for the fly starts. (Her method is very similar to Sandra Betzina's , but Trudy's incorporates the fly shield at the start of construction.)

Similar Patterns

I'm not sure how many similar patterns there are to this pattern, particularly in a plus size range. The leg profile on the StyleArc Sandra jean should be similar, but that pattern is designed for non-stretch denim. There's also the much-beloved Closet Case Files Ginger jeans, but those appear to be either a true skinny jean or a slightly flared jeans leg. (Fun fact: I chose these Burda jeans to establish a baseline fit for myself when sewing other jeans patterns, such as my plan to tackle the Gingers in coming months.)

Final Thoughts

The fit on these jeans isn't perfect, but I'm pretty happy with it for an out-of-the-envelope first version. I've already made one set of alterations (including going down a size) and have started work on another pair--this time in a bottomweight stretch cotton twill in a fun print.

Last Week in No Patterns (17-May-2015)

I didn't write a pattern roundup post this week because we didn't have any new pattern releases, outside of a couple of StyleArc beach coverups that were released late on Saturday. I'll include those in next week's roundup.

I am hoping to get pictures taken of a new project that I finished, so I should have a post with some actual content in the next few days!

Finished Project: HotPatterns 1186 - Plain & Simple Woven Tee & Dress

I feel like I've barely sewn anything in recent months, although I know that I can chalk part of that to concentrating more on fit and sewing more muslins. Not having new projects to wear definitely does make me do more ogling of the shiney new patterns that get released every week. It's not terribly exciting, but I did manage to complete a real, non-muslin, top a few weeks ago. On top of that, it's even a woven and not a knit! We finally were able to photograph it over this past weekend.

The pattern that I used is HotPatterns Plain & Simple Woven Tee & Dress, which is HotPatterns entry in the woven t-shirt category:

HotPatterns Woven Tee

I think that the envelope drawing is a pretty accurate representation. The pattern includes options for a v-neck or boatneck and options for a t-shirt or a simple shift dress with pockets. I sewed the plain, boatneck-style t-shirt and did not do the removable hem embellishment:

HotPatterns Plain & Simple Woven Tee & Dress

 

Fabric and Notions Used

Note that I made a muslin of this pattern first, to check dart placement, bust fit, etc, so I felt comfortable using a more-expensive-than-normal-for-me fabric for this top.

• Cotton-lycra shirting from Emma One Sock (purchased on a recent retail therapy binge)
• Interfacing from Fashion Sewing Supply

This fabric might be slightly on the crisp side for this pattern, but this cotton had such a soft, pleasant feel to it that I really enjoy wearing this top. I purchased three different blouse-length cuts of various prints from this lot, and I'm happy that I still have two more cuts remaining to be made into more blouses.

Pattern Sizing and Alterations

This pattern is available in HotPatterns sizes 6-26 (32"-52" bust).

I used a size 18 for the neck and shoulders and graded to a size 20 at the armscye. Additionally, I made the following pattern alterations:

• 1" Full Bust Adjustment (FBA) using the Palmer-Pletsch slash-and-spread method. The resulting dart size was manageable, so I left the dart as-is without rotating parts of it anywhere or making other modifications.
• Lowered the bust dart by 1".
• Backed the bust dart off of my apex by 2". The darts still feel a little pointy (although my busy print helps hide this). I'll back them off of my apex a bit more the next time that I make this.
• 1" Full bicep adjustment using the Palmer-Pletsch slash-and-spread method.
• Shortened the top by 2". This was an accident; I meant to shorten it by 1" but was clipping fabric while talking to my toddler and accidentally clipped too much. I'll go back to shortening by 1" for the next version.

None of these alterations were unusual for me. Note that while I don't feel that the sleeves on this run particularly small, if you have larger arms, you probably want to check the fit there before cutting into your good fabric.

Let me call out the fact that the bust point is actually marked on this pattern! It's been several years since I've actually seen the bust point marked, so I want to give kudos for that. It made assessing my FBA MUCH easier.

 

Pattern Instructions

HotPatterns don't have super detailed instructions, but this is a pretty easy pattern. This pattern does have basic illustrations for most steps, and Trudy does remind you when you need to do things like understitch, press your seam allowances, etc. The construction of this top is pretty straightforward, but I don't recall running into anything confusing or weird in the instructions.

 

Similar Patterns

 

It seems like just about every pattern company has a variation on the woven t-shirt. I think that the HotPatterns version has a bit more bust shaping than some of the other options (good, if you're large busted, like I am), but here are a few similar options:

• Grainline Studio Scout tee
• McCall's 6927 (includes cup sizes up to DDD in plus sizes) (I own this pattern but have not sewn it because of some reports I've seen about some oddities with the sleeve drafting, which you can see in the pattern photo)
• Simplicity 1106
• Sewaholic Belcarra blouse

 

Final Thoughts

 

This is a good little pattern to have in my arsenal. It's good for showing off a print, and along the same lines, provides an unbroken canvas if you don't feel like dealing with print matching. The finished top isn't terribly exciting, but it fits me well, is comfortable, and will certainly get worn plenty of times this summer. I'm sure that I'll be making this again before too long.

Last Week in Patterns (10-May-2015)

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mothers out there. And Happy Avoid Going Out to Brunch Day to everyone who isn't a mother! And if you're a mother-to-be, shield your eyes from the last entry out of this bunch of Buttericks.

We had a lot of new patterns released this week, most of which were actually pretty nice, aside from one collection that I thought was particularly awful. So, grab a cup of coffee, and let's get started!

Butterick: Summer 2015 Release

I was initially really "meh" about this release, but the more that I looked through it, the more that it grew on me. One thing that I missed on my first pass through is that there are actually several women's "plus" patterns in this batch that are so "normal" looking (as opposed to being oversized or shapeless sacks) that I initially overlooked them until I clicked the detail links and noticed the size range. I know that a lot of people love Coni Crawford's patterns, but the style of her patterns skews towards an older age group than the one that I'm in, so I was ecstatic to see these plus offerings from Butterick. I love that someone at BMV appears to finally be listening to the requests of larger sewists and is offering us some normal patterns in an extended size range. While there are a number of boring, seen-it-before patterns in this release, there are also some cute, unique designs, too. And, like just about any release from the Big 4, there's a winner if a "WTF?" pattern in here, too.

B6208: Misses' Tunic and Dress

This is one of those "cute for someone else" designs. I suck at sewing pintucks, and the only shaping comes from that tiny teeny little tie. But the sample in that swiss dot type fabric sure is pretty!

B6208

B6211: Retro Butterick Dress and Belt

I hate the fabric choices in the photographed version of this, but love the details and the line drawing. For a pattern with a similar vibe but a less costumey look, you could go for the BlueGingerDoll Odette dress.

B6211

B6210: Women's and Women's Petite Dresses

If you're plus sized and looking for a cheaper alternative (in the US, at least) to the True Bias Southport dress or Colette Adelaide dress, just add a button placket to B6210, which goes up to a size 32W:

B6210

B6224: Women's Kimono and Jumpsuit

Here's the other women's plus pattern--a jumpsuit/romper pattern with a kimono topper. I like this plus jumpsuit offering better than the Khaliah Ali one that was in a recent McCall's release. Including the kimono topper is a nice touch, too.

B6224

B6217: Patterns by Gertie: Misses' Blouse

I haven't been a huge fan of most of Gertie's patterns for Butterick, but I think that this one would make a really cute summer blouse (minus the boob bow, for most of us). For me, personally, I'd probably convert those darts to princess seams, but I love the neckline on this.

B6127

Butterick 6226

We can't have all sunshine and rainbows with a major Big 4 release, though, can we? So here's your WTF-ery from the Butterick Summer 2015 release. Two words: Maternity jumpsuit.

B6226

Really, Butterick?  When I was in my third trimester and peeing every five minutes, I can think of nothing that I'd rather wear less than a jumpsuit where I'd have to mess with taking half of my clothes off while trying to ignore the small being inside of me who was sitting on my bladder. And this jumpsuit has a back zipper, on top of just being, well, a jumpsuit. To be fair, the pattern does include a dress and a tunic view, and those both look okay, but still...maternity jumpsuit.

HotPatterns: Fast & Fabulous Shirt-Tail T's

If you're looking for a quick and easy knit top project, Trudy from HotPatterns released a new t-shirt pattern on Friday. This one has options for piecing, small ruffles, or a solid front. As someone who's always drawn to striped fabric, I'm a sucker for designs that can use stripes in interesting ways. I'm also a sucker for a shirt-tail hem (if you can't tell from various other pattern picks of mine). The pattern itself isn't earth-shattering, but it's very much my style, and I can see myself making this up on a whim when in need of an instant gratification project.

BTW--If you're on HotPatterns' mailing list or a member of the Facebook group, someone has already sewn this up, and it looks really cute on her! 

HotPatterns Shirt-tail T's

Liesl & Co: Spring 2015 Collection

Liesl was clearly going for casual basics with this collection. These designs are cute, classic, and mostly wearable, although not earth-shattering, from a design perspective.

Maritime Top

The Martitime top is a Breton-style knit top.  Breton tops have been pretty popular for the past few years, so I could see this being a useful, basic pattern if you don't already have something similar in your stash.

Liesl & Co. Maritime top

City Stroll Wrap Skirt

The City Stroll Wrap Skirt is a tulp-hemmed wrap skirt. Liesl says that given its shape, you don't have to worry about this wrap skirt blowing open in the wind; however, I wonder what happens to that tulip opening when you sit down in this. Regardless, it's a cute skirt with a lot of flexibility in fabric choices.

If I didn't already own the very-similar Snapdragon pencil skirt (which I still need to make!), I'd consider buying this one. (The Snapdragon actually includes two additional views, unlike the Liesl & Co. version.)

Liesl & Co. City Stroll Skirt

Gallery Tunic and Dress

The third and final style is the Gallery Tunic and dress, a pop-over style tunic or dress with classic shirt detailing. I like this a lot, but I don't think that the pleating would work on my own figure, although it would probably be fine for just about anyone who isn't uber busty. I do actually have a similar HotPattern (the Superfantastic shirt--OOP, so no link) that would probably work better for me, if I did want a blouse in this style.

Liesl & Co Gallery tunic and dress

Papercut Patterns: Chameleon Collection

For the premium prices charged by Papercut, I'd expect more interesting shapes, seaming, and general details than what we're seeing in this collection.

Waver jacket

Papercut Waver Jacket

Sway Dress

Sack with optional belt.

Papercut Sway dress

Flutter top & tunic

Sack.

Papercut Flutter top & tunic

Yoyo dress & skirt

Crotch arrow.

Papercut Yoyo dress & skirt

Final Thoughts and a note about My Sewing Circle

I'm not sure exactly what I'll be buying out of this batch, but I did like a few of the Buttericks. I'd already ordered the HotPattern, but seeing it made up really sold me on the pattern. The Liesl & Co.s were cute, but I already own similar patterns to all three. And finally, the Papercut collection felt like a mailed-in collection in many ways.

On another note, a few of us who are/were looking for an alternate choice in online sewing community to Pattern Review have registered accounts and started posting on My Sewing Circle. There hasn't been a lot of recent activity over there (except for those of us who recently started posting), but I'm hoping that if the activity level increases, there will be an online place to talk about sewing outside of the PR forums. Check out the site, if you're interested.

Last Week in Patterns (4-May-2015)

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