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.