This Week (and Last) in Patterns (aka Sweatshirtpalooza!) (11-Dec-2015)

If by any chance you were wondering about my absence last week, I had been knocked on my butt by the respiratory virus that's been going around. I could barely get out of bed, so writing any sort of blog post was out of the question. No post last week means that we've got twice as much ground to cover this week, and we have had quite a few new releases these past two weeks.

Late Breaking News:  Yes, I did see that the Early Spring (!) McCall's were published last night, but given that we didn't have a roundup post last week, I don't want to delay today's post to get them in. There's a bunch of re-hash-y prom dresses in this batch, but I did see a few cute everyday items from the one pass that I've made through the collection so far. We'll cover those next week.

Do you like interesting sweatshirts? I do. And if you do like sweatshirts, you should be pretty thrilled with these past two weeks because we've had FOUR different unique sweatshirt patterns released. We also had a lot of other things released, too. Here's the list of companies with new releases in the past two weeks:

• Baste + Gather
• Cashmerette
• Colette Patterns
• Colette Seamwork Magazine
• HotPatterns
• Itch to Stitch
• Paprika Patterns
• SBCC Patterns
• StyleArc Patterns

Baste + Gather: Birkin Flares

After seeing many teaser pics on Instagram and a few related blog posts even, Lauren of Baste + Gather has finally released her flared jean pattern. Lauren's jeans are a high-waisted retro-style flare and have been getting a lot of positive comments from testers.

I like them, but I'd have to grade up a few sizes for these, plus, I somewhat recently bought flared jeans patterns from Burda and HotPatterns. (Although if StyleArc put out a flared jeans pattern, I'd snap it up in a heartbeat.)

Baste + Gather: Birkin Flares

Cashmerette Patterns: Washington Dress

My fellow Curvy Sewing Collective Editor Jenny from Cashmerette released her second pattern last week!  Like her first pattern, the Appleton dress, the Washington Dress is designed for curvy figures--up to a size 28 and with three sets of cup sizes: C/D, E/F, G/H. The Washington dress combines a knit top, stable knit hip yoke, and woven skirt to give lots of design and color-blocking possibilities.

I pattern tested this dress and have seen some of the tester photos. I won't show my tester version because I should have sized up (use your judgment as far as how comfortable you are with negative ease, when choosing a size), but I'll say that proportions and color-blocking choices are the key to getting a killer version of this dress. If you're looking to get a slimming hourglass shape out of this dress, you'll want to choose a hip yoke fabric that's darker in color--like a black or a navy. I made my tester version using a neoprene remnant for the skirt, and I really liked how the skirt portion came out, so if you're wondering about that, I say go for it!

Cashmerette - Washington dress

Colette Patterns: Phoebe Sheath Dress

Relatively soon after releasing the Wren knit surplice dress, Colette has released another pattern--this time a sheath dress with an A-line skirt.

My reaction? Meh. I appreciate the diversity of the models used for the photo shoot, but I don't feel like the dress fits or flatters the larger model all that well. In fact, if you click through to the product page, you can see that the gray sample has a bust dart (not shown in the line drawing) in addition to the princess seams. Why not just do a princess seam FBA to get a better fit? Also, for both models, why not extend that front panel all the way over to the princess seam? It just looks odd where it ends.

Colette - Phoebe dress

Colette Seamwork: December 2015 Issue

The theme for the December issue of Seamwork magazine is "Appreciation". I'm not entirely sure what that means, but it does include a mixed bag of two new patterns.

Seamwork: Brooklyn Skirt

Ok, THIS is the type of pattern that I had originally hoped would be included in Seamwork. It's a basic pattern but with an interesting attention getting detail: a half-circle skirt with a DEEP front pleat. I know that I've seen similar skirts pop up on Burda from time to time (and StyleArc also has a deep-pleat skirt in their catalog), but having the Colette version available saves you from having to hunt through Burda's dense online catalog or hunt down back issues of their magazine. So yeah, I like this skirt.

Colette Seamwork - Brooklyn skirt

Seamwork: York Blouse

The York is an unremarkable and inoffensive woven t-shirt-style blouse. It's got a boatneck and 3/4-length sleeves.

Most notable...I didn't get a screen shot in time, but the initial photos that were up for this blouse were BAD. The sample was badly sewn and the fit on the model was terrible--with bust darts that ended several inches below the actual bust of the model. I have giant droopy boobs, though, so maybe that would be a good sign for trying to fit myself?

Colette Seamwork - York Blouse

HotPatterns 1182: Athleisure Pretzel Sweatshirt

We've now reached the first (and probably my favorite) of the four new sweatshirt patterns that debuted in the past week. The Pretzel Sweatshirt features a twist hem in front and looks like the perfect cozy top to throw on over jeans. I can't wait to have this made up and hopefully join my Paprika Jasper (unblogged) and Blank Slate Denver comfy tops in near-constant wardrobe rotation.

HotPatterns - Pretzel sweatshirt

HotPatterns 1199: Fast & Fabulous Halcyon Sweatshirt

HotPatterns released a second sweatshirt pattern last week--the Halcyon sweatshirt. I like the deep v-neck and cross-over detail on this one. I'm not sure how I feel about the super dropped shoulder here, but again, this looks like a great layering piece on a cold, rainy day (like we've been having constantly for the past few weeks here in the PNW--I take back all of my complaints about a lack of rain)!

HotPatterns - Halcyon Sweatshirt

Itch to Stitch: Liana Stretch Jeans

Lost in some of the bigger name releases of the past two weeks, the relatively new but very prolific patternmaker Itch-to-Stitch released three new patterns for basics. The first of these is the Liana stretch jean, which have options for a straight, skinny, or flared leg. I think that these jeans are a fantastic idea--fit your crotch/butt area once, then swap in whatever leg you want to use. Honestly, I'm surprised that we're not hearing more buzz about these--the tester versions look good for the most part, and the size range for the pattern is fairly inclusive (better than the Birkin Flares).

Itch to Stitch - Liana stretch jeans

Itch to Stitch: Mila Shirt

The Mila shirt is one of those placket-style shirts that's been everywhere in RTW for the past few years. There are a few similar patterns out there (New Look 6474 comes to mind), but the Mila has classic shirt details and is geared more towards flannels and shirting, whereas the New Look and other similar patterns seem like they're more geared towards lightweight and/or sheer fabric. The Mila also has cup sizes up to DD, so that's a nice feature, too.

Itch to Stitch - Mila Shirt

Itch to Stitch: Irena Top

The third and final pattern in this batch is the Irena top: a knit pullover top meant for layering. I like the design of this one, but I'm not sure how well it would work on someone with a large bust. None of the tester photos that went out with the newsletter showed the top on anyone particularly busty, if I recall. So, this is a wait-and-see for me.

Itch to Stitch: Irena top

Paprika Patterns: Zircon Sweater/Dress

Following up last year's popular Jasper sweater/dress, Lisa from Paprika patterns has released another sweater/dress--this time without pockets but with an interesting inset yoke and hem detail. I think it's a pretty cool-looking sweatshirt; I love that yoke detail. My local JoAnn's (of all places) has a bunch of quilted knits and double-sided knits right now, which I think would be perfect for this.

Paprika Patterns - Zircon Sweater/Dress

SBCC Patterns: Brooklyn Hoodie

So, this is an interesting pattern. Betsy from SBCC wanted to take the oversized look that's currently in style, but draft this hoodie so that it would be proportionate with a petite woman's figure. It's got dropped shoulders and roomy at the chest, but more fitted through the sleeves and torso. I've had success with SBCC patterns, and I like the idea of this hoodie.

SBCC - Brooklyn hoodie

StyleArc: December 2015 Release

With the flood of other new patterns this month, StyleArc's December releases would be pretty easy to overlook. They're not bad, by any means, but we saw more interesting releases from some other companies, IMO. As they've been doing the past few months, if you order a paper pattern from StyleArc, you get a choice of a new pattern (the Maris top) or an older pattern (the Peta pant) as your freebie pattern for the month.

StyleArc: Kaye Tunic

It's a drapey tunic with drapey side pockets. It's fine, but there isn't much to say about it. Or maybe I'm just fatigued from going through so many patterns at this point.

StyleArc - Kaye Tunic

StyleArc: Maris Top (Freebie option)

It's a drapey top with design and color-blocking options.

StyleArc - Maris top

Final Thoughts

After barely having bought any patterns in the past few months, I went on a pattern buying binge these past two weeks.  Far too many patterns screamed "Layer up with me! I'm cozy and comfortable" while we've been mired in a really rainy stretch here in Seattle. (Hint: Most of the ones that I bought were sweatshirt patterns.)

Was there anything that you particularly loved or hated these past two weeks?