Wow, so we had a TON of new releases this past week, many of which look like they have a lot of potential for being fun, wearable garments.
StyleArc - December Release
As you all know by now, a new month means a new release from StyleArc! One thing to note about this month is that StyleArc's member discount has been increased from the usual 10% to 30% for the month. If you've been thinking about buying a membership (price includes the discount, one free pattern of your choice, and a length of StyleArc's stretch bengaline), December would be a good month to sign up.
Cindy Jean Jacket
Okay, so I love this. I'm not sure about the "optional neck ruffle", but I love everything else about it, and the ruffle is easily enough left off. My StyleArc Stacy jean jacket that I made two years ago is still in regular rotation in my closet in non-freezing weather, and I still love it. I'm totally on-board with making another, more femininely-shaped StyleArc jean jacket.
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| StyleArc Cindy Jean Jacket |
Roxy Shirt
Next up is the Roxy shirt, an overshirt with a cross-over detail over the bum. This is okay. I don't really wear shirts tucked in, and while I think that the back detail is interesting, the first thought that sprang to mind was "butt curtains".
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| StyleArc Roxy Shirt |
Misty Stretch Pull-on Jean
I should hate these, shouldn't I? I should be making jokes about "pajama jeans" and "giving up" and stuff with regards to these, right? I don't. I'm intrigued. They're somewhere between a jegging and a jean, and in theory, no one would know about the elastic waistband except for me, right? And with the 30% discount, they're $7.50 USD, which isn't really more than a Burda envelope pattern or an on-sale Kwik Sew.
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| StyleArc Misty Pull-on Jean |
Tammy Knit Dress Combo
Of course, in a month where there's a 30% discount and two new release patterns that I really like, of course, the freebie pattern-of-the-month is something that I'm totally "meh" about.
The Tammy Knit Dress Combo is a 4-in-1 pattern with options for a short-sleeved top, sleeveless top, short-sleeved dress, and sleeveless dress, all with an optional overlay piece.
With my huge bust and short waist, I suspect that overlay would look hideous on me and just make me look like on giant block of boob. Without the overlay, though, there are worse things than a free t-shirt pattern from a company whose drafting you like.
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| StyleArc Tammy Knit Dress Combo |
Jennifer Lauren Vintage - Enid Sweater
Jennifer Lauren of Jennifer Lauren Vintage, which brought you that Bronte sweater that was ubiquitous in the SBC for a while has released a new pattern. The
Enid Sweater is a retro-inspired cropped sweater designed for sweatshirt knits and ribbing:
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| Jennifer Lauren Vintage - Enid Sweater |
Honestly, this one reminds me an awful lot of the recently released
Bonnie pattern by BlueGingerDoll, although the two patterns sport different necklines, and the Bonnie is drafted for a D-cup bust. Neither pattern is really my style, but these cropped sweaters do really seem to be on-trend right now. The Enid also differentiates itself be being designed to be cut on the bias, which seems a little odd to me for a sweatshirt with a band at the bottom that doesn't really seem to use drape much. I guess it's for the stretch factor?
Colette Patterns - Seamwork magazine (December 2014)
Colette Patterns launched its new electronic magazine earlier this week. The magazine content itself is free and available to read on the Seamwork website:
https://www.seamworkmag.com/
If you subscribe for $6/issue, you'll have access to three PDF download patterns, all of which Colette say can be made in 2 hours or less. For this first issue, the patterns are an open cardigan, a tote bag, and a clutch.
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| Colette Seamwork Cardigan |
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| Colette Seamwork Tote |
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| Colette Seamwork Clutch |
So far, I've read two of the articles from the issue--the one on draping and the one on Pendleton wool --and they had pretty pictures and were interesting. The patterns don't really tempt me. The cardigan is nice, but I know that I have similar patterns in my stash. I do like, however, that clothing patterns from this magazine will include Colette's expanded size range (up to a size 3X).
BurdaStyle Plus - December 2014
The fabric choices and styling in this collection are really horrific, which unfortunately, doesn't seem to be unusual for Burda, especially with their Plus collections. Going off the line drawings, however, there definitely are some interesting and wearable offerings here.
Satin Jacket 12/2014 #137A
You know how we've seen a trend in recent years of jackets being made out of ponte knits and such? This jacket is sort of the opposite of that--a cardigan style made out of a drapey woven. I'd never wear this in satin, as pictured, but I really like the idea of this jacket--easy to sew and can be worn like a cardigan, but made out of a woven.
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| BurdaStyle Plus 12/2014 #137A |
Contrast Panel Blouse 12/2014 #142
If you've liked the interesting seamwork in patterns like the
Stepalica Nougat dress or
Deer and Doe Centauree Dress, but like me, are beyond the size range of their patterns and have no desire to grade up that many pieces, the contrast panel blouse might be an option.
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| BurdaStyle Plus 12/2014 #142 |
Granted, there's another view of this as a two-piece dress where the model looks about 6 months pregnant with the shape of the waist seam/peplum, so that might be something to watch here. I'm still intrigued by this one, though.
Contrast Pencil Skirt 12/2014 #138B
Yeah, so let's take the second most prominent part of my anatomy (after my giant boobs) and put a giant satin panel across it. Yeah, no.
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| BurdaStyle Plus 12/2014 #138B |
In a different fabric choice, though, this one might be okay and offer decent fitting opportunities for those of us with particularly large or small backsides.
Kimono Sleeve Dress 12/2014 #140
While we don't get a seamed sheath dress in this Burda collection, we do get the other staple of Burda collections: a kimono-sleeved empire waist tunic/dress. Here's the dress view, which we've seen variations on in other Burda Plus collections many, many times before:
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| BurdaStyle Plus 12/2014 #140 |
Ruffle Hem Tunic 12/2014 #141
Meh. That's all I have to say here.
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| BurdaStyle Plus 12/2014 #141 |
HotPatterns - Althleisure (mini) collection
Today (Friday), HotPatterns released two new patterns from a new collection of loungewear that they're starting and calling it the "Athleisure" collection. (If you haven't noticed, HotPatterns has a number of "collections", which group patterns with similar aesthetics and styles.) The first two patterns from this collection are a pair of seamed lounge pants and a new hoodie pattern.
HotPatterns 1180 - Athleisure Sunday Morning Sweatpants
The Sunday Morning Sweatpants are a slim-fitting pair of loungepants with a forward side seam, pieced legs, and front patch pockets. I'll admit that when I first saw these, I asked myself, "Do those have a dropped crotch? After Burda tried to (unsuccessfully) force that on us for how many of the past years?" No, it's not a dropped crotch--it's just an optical illusion of the line drawing caused by the piecing of the inner leg. With that in mind, I like these a lot for a running-around-town on the weekend pant.
I think that you could have a lot of fun with contrast topstitching and/or doing a coverstitch finish on these. Trudy also is going to be hosting a sewalong for these starting January 8th.
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| HP Sunday Morning Sweatpants |
HotPatterns 1179 - Athleisure Big & Beautiful Oversized Hoodies
As you know if you following this blog, I will buy and make just about any pattern with a hood and pockets. This pattern will be no exception. I can't decide which view I like better--the longer one (with pockets) or the shorter one with the gathered "skirt" (but no pockets *sad face*).
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| HotPatterns Oversized Hoodie |
I will point out, as someone who has made a lot of HotPatterns over the years, that when Trudy describes something as "oversized", she means it. I'll check by flat-measuring the pattern, but I expect to go down at least a size, probably two, from the size chart, as a starting point. You'll also want to stick with really drapey fabrics on this one to get the look of the pattern envelope.
Simplicity 1254 - Leanne Marshall Coat Update
In unrelated news, I finished my muslin of the Leanne Marshall coat. As expected from my preliminary fitting, I need a tad more room in the upper arm, and I want to take the hips in a bit on my muslin and see how that looks. Outside of that, I think it looks pretty good. I muslined the collar/hood, and I think that's going to look pretty good on the final coat. I'll get some muslin pictures this weekend when I actually have access to daylight, if you're curious.
I'm not going to make a second muslin for those relatively minor tweaks, so *deep breath*, this weekend I'm going to pre-treat my fabric (didn't want to jinx the coat by doing that before I muslined) and get started on it! For those who plan to make this coat but haven't started yet, I recommend going with your expected adjustments for Big 4 patterns, and when you make your muslin, you'll probably be in the ballpark of where you want to be fit-wise. The one exception would be that if you typically grade up one or more sizes in the hips, you will likely either be able to skip that with this coat or grade up fewer sizes.
One thing that amused me, now that I've read all the way through the instructions, is that whoever wrote the instructions for this coat clearly hates hand-stitching as much as I do. The entire lining is bagged except for a small section of the neckline that you slipstitch up at the end. The zipper instructions
are a bit odd, so I'll take photos and try to help with that as I sew up my actual coat.
Final Thoughts
I really like the new StyleArc jean jacket, possibly the pull-on jeans (I know, I know) and the new HotPatterns lounge pants and hoodie. I also like that cardigan-style jacket from the Burda Plus release. Now that I read back over the first sentence here, all I can think are, "Wow, those are some turkey eatin' clothes!" Of course, we'll have another round of turkey eating at my house in a few weeks, and I feel like you can never have too many comfortable clothing options.
