This Week in Patterns (27-Nov-2015)

I'm doing an abridged version of my roundup post this week as here in the US, we are in the middle of a long, Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Cutting to the chase, here are links to what we saw released this past week:

• BurdaStyle Plus: Hotel Bar (December 2015 collection) - A collection of little black dresses (LBDs) that I might find more interesting if I had any place to wear a LBD. At least they're not shapeless sacks, right?
• Pauline Alice: Seda Dress -  Cute 50's-inspired dress with the option of being off-the-shoulder or with a contrast yoke (for those of us who can't go braless or wear strapless bras). I love that she was thoughtful enough to include that option for those of us who are more...endowed. The samples in the photo are too large on the model, IMO, but I like the design of the dress, and like many of her designs, I wish they were available in a larger size range.
• StyleArc: Hedy Designer Dress - Asian-design-inspired unstructured dress with interesting construction details. It's a cool design, but I don't think I could wear it.
• StyleArc and MimiG Collaboration: Maya Dress - This pattern appears to only be available in PDF download format via StyleArc's Etsy shop. Not sure what the deal with this is, considering that I've never seen a formal announcement about it. The Style is certainly more MimiG than StyleArc. Hmmm...

This Week in Patterns (23-Oct-2015)

We had a pretty interesting week of new patterns this week, including a couple of major indie releases and a new BurdaStyle Plus collection. Here are the new entries:

• BurdaStyle Plus
• Colette Patterns
• Pauline-Alice
• Peekaboo Patterns
• StyleArc 

BurdaStyle (Plus): November 2015 collection (Canal Walks)

I've been so impressed with BurdaStyle's plus collections as of late that I recently spent a chunk of birthday money on a trial subscription (after not having subscribed in ~5 years). While maybe not as outstanding as the September 2015 collection, November's collection has a few pieces that are right up my alley.

11-2015 #130: Cuffed Culottes

First up is a completely unremarkable pair of culottes.  Can you even call these culottes--they don't really have any of the volume associated with culottes and look like long shorts or short capris to me. This is probably the worst design out of this group.

11-2015 #130: Cuffed culottes

11-2015 #129: Button Up Blouse

Up next is a nice basic: a darted button-up blouse. I think that this could be a nice alternative to the Grainline Archer for those of us who wear larger sizes. Note that the Burda (unlike the Archer) has a bust dart for shaping.

11-2015 #129: Button up blouse

11-2015 #128A & B: Shirt Dress and Tunic

Next up are my two favorite pieces of the collection--a retro-inspired shirt dress and tunic. I love the gathered shoulders, open neckline, and tie option on these.

11-2015 #128A: Shirtdress

11-2015 #128B: Tunic

11-2015 #127: Long Sleeve Dress, Skirt with Flounce, Pencil Skirt

This collection has three views that all use variations on the same skirt pattern. There's a long-sleeved dress, a skirt with a flounce, and a plain pencil skirt (which I'm not including a photo of because...it's a pencil skirt and we all know what that looks like).

11-2015: #127: Long sleeved dress

11-2015 #126: Pencil skirt with ruffle

11-2105: #124 Long Pea Coat

Finally, we have a coat and jacket pattern that uses the same base pattern. I'm not a huge fan of the lack of shaping here, but I do think that it's a sharp-looking coat and jacket, and it has nice details. The coat has an optional removable fur collar.

11-2015: #124: Long pea coat

11-2015 #122: Belted jacket

Colette Patterns: Wren Dress

We finally have our latest non-Seamwork release from Colette Patterns, and it's a knit surplice/faux-wrap dress. It's a pretty enough dress, but I'm a little wrap dress'ed out at the moment. The gathered front bands are a nice detail, and I like that it comes with two different choices of skirts. As far as whether I'd purchase it, though, I think I'll wait to see some reviews and how it looks on a curvy figure first.

Colette - Wren dress

Pauline-Alice: Rosari Skirt

OMG, this is such a cute skirt!  Love the 70's vibe and the different length and pocket options. Yes, you could find a similar skirt in a vintage pattern, but this one has a decent (not great) size range, and the PDF is only 8,00€.

Pauline Alice - Rosari skirt

Peekaboo Patterns: Bristol Button-up

I haven't typically included Peekaboo patterns in these roundups because the early women's designs in this line all had similar alternative patterns that were available many other places (e.g. a raglan tee), the samples appeared to have fit issues, and they lacked line drawings. They still lack line drawings, but to give credit where it's due, Amy released a cute hoodie with an asymmetrical zipper a little while back that's been getting rave reviews, and now she's released a shirt-jacket that's a fun 90's callback: the Bristol Button-up.

Peekaboo - Bristol button-up

Remember those flannel shirts with the knit hood? That's what this is. I had a neighbor in the dorms who used to wear one of these all the time. The main things that I remember about him were that shirt and the fact that he used to play Wolfenstein at all hours, blasting the sound over the speakers from his IBM 386. ("Guten Tag!") This pattern comes in sizes from an XXS-XXXL and is fairly reasonably priced for an indie. (And if you question whether these are actually coming back in style, there's a kids' version of this shirt in the December Burda preview.)

StyleArc: Louisa Dress/Top

I'm either in an unusually good mood, or there have been some really cool patterns released this week. The latest from StyleArc also falls into the "want" category.

StyleArc - Louisa top/Dress

I love the seaming/darts and how they open up into pleats to make a full-skirted dress. On the other hand, I know that that neckline (when zipped) isn't going to work for me, so I'll wait to see a review or two on this one to make sure that the zipper can be worn semi-open to give more of a v-neck-style neckline.

 

Final Thoughts

 

What were your favorites out of this week? Mine are actually the Burda Plus shirtdress (no surprise there) and the new Peekaboo Bristol (I'm wearing Doc Martens while I type that, BTW) AND I really like the Pauline Alice skirt. I quite like the StyleArc dress, too, but think I'll need to see it made up a few times first. 

This Week in Patterns (13-Sept-2015)

Okay, both my work and non-work life have calmed down a little bit since I initially moved these posts to Sundays a few months ago. I'm going to try moving them back to Fridays, at least for the time being. By running these on Friday, I always used to feel like the discussions that followed in the comments were a fun way to kick off my weekend, and I'd like to try to get back to that.

This past week wasn't quite as crazy as the previous week, but we did have a fair amount of activity in pattern-land:

• BurdaStyle
• Colette/Seamwork
• Grainline Studios
• StyleArc
• Victory Patterns

BurdaStyle: Fall/Winter 2015 (Envelope patterns)

The new batch of BurdaStyle envelope patterns was released this week. Unlike the magazine and download patterns, BurdaStyle envelope patterns include seam allowances (at least in North America) and comprehensive instructions. If you're curious about trying Burda but are intimated by having to trace, add seam allowances, or wanting decent instructions, I recommend trying a BurdaStyle envelope pattern. In any case, there were a few interesting offerings in this batch, and it might just be my perception, but it seems like they're relying less on re-issuing magazine patterns as envelope patterns with this release.

Burda 6744

Sized for petites, this multi-princess-seamed fit-and-flare dress offers a lot of options for fitting. The godets give an impression that this is a pleated skirt at first glance, but it's not. So, you get the look of pleats, but without the bulk over the tummy or bum area.

Burda 6744

Burda Young Plus - various

For the first time that I can remember, Burda is offering a few Plus patterns as part of its junior's line, Burda Young. I think that this is fantastic, given that at the Curvy Sewing Collective, we're frequently asked for recommendations for youthful, Plus patterns. I think that these would be a great place to start for many plus sized young women who are new to sewing or who have loved ones sewing for them.

Burda 6717

Burda 6717

Burda 6716

Burda 6716

Burda 6748

In the misses' Plus offerings, there's an interesting-looking coat/dress pattern with a front zip. Of course, if my husband saw this, he'd make an "easy access" joke.

Burda 6748

Burda 6713

Finally, my favorite pattern out of this batch, and one that I'll definitely buy when it's on sale, is this blouse and shirtdress pattern. I love the neckline on this, and those darts will provide plenty of shaping.

Burda 6713

Colette/Seamwork: Announcement of Seamwork Podcast

Thursday, Sarai announced on the Colette Blog that she's gotten in touch with her inner Marc Maron (beyond both being cat people) and has a podcast in the works. The podcast will be focused on various topics related to garment sewing.

On one hand, I enjoy listening to podcasts on my headphones at work, and love the idea of one focused on garment sewing. (I don't know of any other podcasts with that focus off the top of my head, but maybe I'm missing something?)

On the other hand, I'm hoping that this doesn't continue to stretch Sarai/Colette any more than they already appear to be with their monthly Seamwork releases. They've only released two "regular" patterns in the past 12 months at this point.  I know that I sound like a broken record here, but I miss the old Colette.

I will say, though, if Sarai is diverting her attention away from patterns at this point, a podcast, which I can passively listen to while at work, is much more appealing to me than reading Seamwork magazine, which I generally haven't been reading very much.

Grainline Studios: Lark Tee

So...the new Grainline pattern turns out to be a tee pattern. This isn't a huge surprise, since this is what Jen was hinting at in social media.

Personally, I don't have a need for another t-shirt pattern--the SBCC Tonic Tee is my go-to t-shirt pattern, and when I make a t-shirt, I use that pattern as the base and alter from there. But, Grainline has a reputation for good drafting and good instructions, so if you don't have a TNT t-shirt pattern already, the Lark is possibly worth a shot. I can't fault Jen for filling out a hole in her pattern offerings, either, when nearly every other indie offers a basic t-shirt. The Lark also offers pretty much every possible neckline and sleeve option that you could want.

Lauren of Baste + Gather wrote a really interesting and thoughtful post about the mixed social media reaction to the release of the Lark tee and on "fangirls". It's worth a read:

Do we really need another t-shirt pattern?

Anyway, here's the Lark tee:

Grainline Studios - Lark Tee

StyleArc: September Designer Release

StyleArc continues to release patterns at a fast pace. Just after releasing two new patterns on the first of the month, they've released two more this past week.

Daisy Designer Pant

The Daisy Designer Pant is a woven pull-on pant that celebrates the return of wider-legged pants. It has feature pockets and wide hem bands. These look stylish and comfortable, and if I didn't already have similar patterns, I might be tempted.

StyleArc - Daisy Pant

Daisy Designer Tunic

The Daisy Designer Tunic has optional inseam pockets and an on-trend double hem. This tunic isn't really my style, but I do like it. It looks really stylish in the sample photos, where it appears to be made up in a white linen.

StyleArc - Daisy Tunic

Victory Patterns: Boundless Style Lookbook

Seemingly dormant indie pattern designer Victory patterns resurfaced recently with a book announcement and and a promise of upcoming patterns (along with a request for pattern testers). Earlier this week, Victory posted a link to the online lookbook for their new book, which is called Boundless Style:

Boundless Style Lookbook

The book's format will be similar to Tanya Wheelan's recent Sew Many Dress book, where a sewist will be able to design her dress patterns by mixing-and-matching different bodice, skirt, and sleeve elements. However, Victory's aesthetic is very different from Tanya Wheelan's, so I don't see much overlap between the two books.

There's also a lookbook online app, that lets you play around with mixing and matching the different design elements yourself:

Boundless Style Lookbook App

I love the idea of the app and had some fun playing around with it a few days ago.  Most of the designs aren't really my style (I gravitate much more towards Tanya Wheelan's style), so I probably won't buy the book unless I see some dresses made up in the SBC that compel me to purchase it. I do really love the mix-and-match concept of these two recent books, and I wouldn't exactly cry if this is a trend that we start seeing from other pattern designers with book deals.

 

Final Thoughts

So...Lark tee, yay or nay? Any favorites among the new Burdas? And did you get a chance to play around with the Victory lookbook at all? If so, what did you think of the patterns/combinations?

Finished Project: BurdaStyle Plus - "Vintage Chic" shirtdress

If you follow the Curvy Sewing Collective, you might remember that I recently posted a review there of the new BurdaStyle compilation book of plus sized patterns:

Book Review: BurdaStyle Modern Sewing - Full-Figure Fashion

I don't want to rehash that review here on my personal blog, but I do want to go into more detail about the nice shirtdress that I made from the book.

BurdaStyle Plus - "Vintage Chic" shirtdress

This pattern has been around for a while in various formats, first appearing in an issue of BurdaStyle magazine back in 2013.

Dress pattern from the BurdaStyle Plus book

Here's where you can find the pattern with the differences noted for each permutation:

• BurdaStyle magazine (print): August 2013 issue (Trace from the pattern sheet, and add seam allowances. Includes a separate blouse view.)
• BurdaStyle download (Print and tape the PDF, then add seam allowances.)
• BurdaStyle envelope pattern B6896 (Standard envelope pattern with comprehensive instructions and seam allowances already added. Includes separate blouse view.)
• BurdaStyle Plus compilation magazine for Fall/Winter 2015, according to this preview. (Trace from pattern sheet, add seam allowances. Includes several new views for this pattern that have not been previously released.)

I chose to make up this pattern for my book review for a number of reasons:

• I really liked the collar/neckline, which reminded me of the Colette Hawthorn, and I also felt that the Burda's multi-dart arrangement would be more large-bust-friendly than dealing with adding darts to the Hawthorn. I also preferred the larger-scale Burda collar. (I do however like the semi-circle skirt of the Hawthorn better than the Burda--I see a frankenpattern of these two shirtdresses in my future.)
• I love, love, love my Marigold shirtdress and wear it nearly every wash cycle. I liked the idea of another throw-on-and-go woven dress. (Note that if the Burda book hadn't fallen into my lap, I probably would have just made up another Marigold.)
• It was my favorite design out of the BurdaStyle Plus book, with the tunic that Tanya had made up running a close second.

Fabric and Notions Used

 

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

• Homebody Tacks by Cotton + Steel. Purchased on sale from Craftsy. This is basically a higher quality quilting cotton--not something that I'd typically use to make a garment with, but it was on sale, I liked the print, and I think it worked fine for this shirtdress. Note that this fabric is only 44" wide. Post-FBA, my skirt piece did not fit on the fabric on the fold, so I lost some fullness from the front pleats to compensate.
• Lightweight fusible interfacing (on collar and self-faced button opening) from Fashion Sewing Supply.
• Buttons purchased from my local JoAnns.

Pattern Drafting, Sizing, and Alterations

 

This pattern is available in Burda’s standard Plus range: sizes 44-52, which equates to 39 1/2″ (100cm) bust and 41 3/4″ (106cm) hip through a 48″ (122cm) bust and 50 1/2″ (128cm) hip.

I started with a size 50, which was the appropriate size to use for my high bust with Burda Plus' D-cup bodice draft. From there, I made a 2.25" FBA, splitting and rotating the dart into the existing shoulder and waist darts.  I did end up doing quite a bit of pin-fitting and stitching, ripping out, and re-stitching the darts to get them positioned in a way that I liked.

Note that the skirt on this dress runs long. I ended up shortening the skirt by 4" from the original pattern piece. While I'm only 5'2" tall, I typically shorten skirts/pants by 2"-3", depending on the pattern.

Because my fabric wasn't wide enough for my post-FBA'ed front skirt piece, I had to take out some of the depth of the front pleats. You can barely even see the pleats in my photos. For future versions, I'll stick with making this dress out of wider fabric or will need to purchase extra fabric and add a CF seam.

I also made the following "design" changes:

• Omitted the self-fabric belt
• Omitted the self-fabric tie 
• Shortened the full-length sleeves to short sleeves--this is partially because I ran out of fabric and partially because I was afraid that long sleeves on this style of dress would look frumpy.

Note that my "running out of fabric" issue is because I started off with less fabric than the pattern recommended. If you had the right length and width of fabric as recommended by the pattern, I think you'd be fine squeezing everything in; however, there isn't much wiggle room in the layout, etc.

Back view, or wow, I really need to get back to the chiropractor

Pattern Instructions

 

The pattern instructions in the book were a bit of a disappointment, considering that this pattern has been out in "envelope pattern form" for a while already. The book-version of the instructions was more comprehensive than your typical Burda magazine or download pattern instructions, but lacked illustrations in a number of places where they could have been helpful to a less experienced seamstress.

For example, the buttons and buttonholes are applied to a self-faced opening. The instructions and accompanying diagram would lead you to believe that you fold over the self facing twice to the wrong side of the bodice, which will leave you with an unfinished seam allowance at the top. Instead, you’d want to turn the last fold to the right side of the bodice so that you can get a nicely finished seam allowance when you fold the facing back right-side-out. I found few other oddities, too–mostly to do with the order of construction jumping around a lot, so I just used my own order of construction.

 

Final Thoughts

I'm pretty happy with the final dress, although I suspect that I'll continue to make some fitting tweaks. I've only had a chance to wear it once in the few days that it's been since I've completed it, so I'll decide what additional fitting tweaks I need with a few more wears.

Overall,  I feel like this is a nice shirtdress pattern for plus sized women, and if it interests you, Burda certainly has provided plenty of different ways to acquire it, whether your preference is tracing from a book or magazine, downloading a PDF, or using an envelope pattern.

Last Week in Patterns (21-June-2015)

We had more pattern release activity this week than we've had in a while, with a new BurdaStyle collection and Jalie announcing their 2015 patterns. This week's releases:

• BurdaStyle (Plus)
• Jalie
• StyleArc

BurdaStyle (Plus): July 2015 collection

BurdaStyle posted their Plus collection for their July 2015 issue earlier this week. There was one piece I loved, one piece I kinda liked (in one sample) and a lot of meh.

07-2015 #134: Short sleeved maxi dress

First up is a peasant-style maxi-dress. It's okay, but it doesn't really thrill me. I can't tell if those are raglan sleeves, or if they're some sort of weird flutter sleeve that's just attached at the neckline.

BurdaStyle July 2015 #134

07-2015 #131 & 07-2015 #133: Peplum blouse and scarf print dress

So these are clearly the same pattern, although with Burda giving them separate pattern numbers, I'm not sure if you'd get both views as part of the same download. Both are pretty "meh" to me, but I actually really like the eyelet version of the blouse that they paired with the flared jeans (below).

BurdaStyle July 2015 #131

BurdaStyle July 2015 #133

07-2015 #130A: Denim pants

I love this outfit. The flared pants/jeans are fun, and they actually have seaming on the legs--a feature that I can't recall having seen recently in a plus sized pattern, which is funny to me, because the seams can help with fitting. And the blouse is the same as pattern #131. I like it MUCH better in the eyelet shown here than in the fabrics that they chose for the actual pattern photos.

BurdaStyle July 2015 #130A (paired with #131)

07-2015 #129A: Midi Flutter Dress & 07-2015 #129B: Gown

Patterns #129A & B are a perfectly serviceable dress and gown. Neither is really my own style, but they're inoffensive in that they aren't horribly shapeless or anything.

BurdaStyle July 2015 #129A

BurdaStyle July 2015 #129A

07-2015 #128: Crochet Tunic

A BurdaStyle release wouldn't be complete without a shapeless rectangle, so here's this month's shapeless rectangle, which really is a rectangle with a neck hole cut out:

BurdaStyle July 2015 #129A

Jalie: 2015 Release

Long-time indie pattern fav Jalie announced their 2015 patterns for release this week. Disappointingly, to some of us, there weren't many "everyday" patterns in this release, but there definitely were some very useful patterns for a lot of us. If you're unfamiliar with Jalie, they tend to release a lot of well-drafted everyday basics, activewear, and niche sports (e.g. skating) patterns with all sizes from 18M all the way up to plus sizes with a 53" hip.

In the niche pattern category, we had the following:

• Anne cheerleading uniform
• Carmen skating dress
• Lillie gymnastics leotards

In the patterns with a bit wider audience, we have the following options:

Anne-marie tank and dress

Anne-marie is a racerback tennis dress or tank top, with a useful pocket in the back. I don't play tennis or cycle (the two intended uses for the dress view), but I could see this just being a cute summer dress for Eva or a useful exercise top for myself.

Jalie - Anne-Marie tennis top or dress

Cora Running tights and shorts

The Cora running tights and shorts are an inseamless exercise tight. If I still jogged like I did in my younger, slimmer days, I'd be all over this pattern. I'd be curious to hear from others how these compare to Melissa Fehr's inseamless running pants.

Jalie - Cora running tights

Elenore pull-on jeans

Yup, pull-on jeans. And they will be perfect for my daughter, who currently sticks with leggings, as far as pants go. I'll probably sew up a pair or two for myself as well. This is one of those patterns where the utilitarian aspect makes it a total no-brainer that I'd purchase this one.

Jalie - Eleonore pull-on pants

Bella Dress

The Bella dress is designed for twirling. Really. It started off life as a ballroom dancing pattern (see the built-in leotard option) but Jalie decided to add options for making it an everyday dress. Given that I sew for a little girl who loves to twirl, this one is also a no-brainer for me to purchase. And yeah, I could definitely find a use for a fit-and-flare princess seamed knit dress for myself, too. ;)

Jalie - Bella dress

ETA: Someone on PatternReview just pointed out that this dress only goes up to an adult size AA--a 42" bust instead of Jalie's usual 50" bust. WTH? That's kind of lame, given that one of the usually great things about Jalie is the size range. I could still use this dress for Eva, but I guess I won't be making one for myself, then.

StyleArc: June 2015 designer release

*sigh* As much as I've loved StyleArc in the past, based on recent releases, I really feel like their aesthetic is starting to move away from my own.  We got another "designer" release for our mid-June release earlier this week, and this time around it's a boxy top and a gaucho-esque pair of pull-on pants. These aren't bad or boring patterns--they're just not my own style.

Ethel Designer Pant

The Ethel pants are a pull-on cropped-leg pant with a tucked elastic waist and a full leg that narrows at the hem. Basically, to me, these seem kind of like this season's culottes, but without the typical volume that we've been seeing at the hem. But I kinda like that volume--in my fantasy of my yet-to-be-sewn culottes, the legs are flowy and swishy. I do think that the the Ethels could be a very comfortable pant for summer, though.

StyleArc - Ethel pants

Ethel Designer Top

I was completely "meh" on this, until I scrolled down past the line drawing and saw the sewn up sample. It's another boxy, woven t-shirt style top.

StyleArc - Ethel top

I still don't think that this shape will work on my uber busty figure, but I will admit that it looks awfully nice on the model, especially in that crisp white fabric that shows off the seamlines:

StyleArc Ethel sample

Ricki Top

The email announcing the Ricki top went out a few days after the two Ethel pieces. The Ricki top is interesting to me for two reasons:

• StyleArc says that the back wrap gives full coverage, while retaining the look of the current crossover trend.
• The top is designed for scuba fabric.

StyleArc - Ricki top

I'm not going to rush out and buy this one right away, but I'm intrigued. This is a simple enough style that I could see myself seeing a made up version that I like on someone's blog, buying the PDF, and having a finished top a few days later.

Final Thoughts

Well, it looks like I'll be adding a few Jalies and those Burda plus pants to my pattern collection. And I'll want to find an appropriate blouse pattern (I'm sure I have one somewhere in my stash) to make in a white eyelet to duplicate the styling of that Burda picture. And I'll be keeping my eye out to see how the StyleArc Ricki looks when made up. That's about all that excited me this week, though. How about you? Are you planning to purchase any of the new Jalies? Also, does anyone know the scoop on the Bella dress only going up to size AA (42" bust)?

Coming soon, there should be a new Simplicity release (some of the patterns have been showing up in JoAnns), but those patterns aren't available on the Simplicity website yet.

Last Week in Patterns (4-May-2015)

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