This Week in Patterns (18-Dec-2015)

We had a fairly quiet week in pattern releases this past week, as many people start to wind things down for the holiday season. Here's who released patterns this past week (okay, the McCall's release was really last week):

• McCall's
• StyleArc

McCall's: Early Spring 2016 Collection

If you click the link to this collection on McCall's website, you'll find a whole lot of boring prom dress patterns at the top. Or, at least, I find prom dress patterns boring since I'm not sewing for a 16-year-old girl. Beyond that, the rest of the collection is mostly inoffensive--there's nothing as bad as the laughable ruffled leggings from their previous release, but also not much to get excited about. The patterns that I'm listing here are the few that caught my eye for one reason or another.

M7314: Misses' Shirtdresses

It looks like McCall's is following up their perennially popular M6696 shirtdress with cup sizes with another shirtdress pattern with cup sizes. The new version has a curved waist and the button placket stops at the waist seam. It also only has waist darts instead of bust-and-waist darts, which should actually make for an easier FBA, if you're like me and still need one even on a D-cup pattern piece.

M7314

M7319: Misses' Gathered Waist Dresses

This dress is really cute, fairly unique, and should look good on most figure types. This one will be on my "must have" list.

M7319

M7330: Misses' Button-up Jumpsuits and Rompers

This collection has a button-up romper/jumpsuit pattern that's a little more sporty-looking than the drapier jumpsuit patterns that we've largely been seeing. I think that this could be cute in the right fabric, but in the wrong fabric, you'll risk looking like a zookeeper or an auto mechanic.

M7330

M7341: Yaya Han Zippered Bodysuit

I'm not a cosplay person, but I do appreciate the fact that this collection includes a true plus size bodysuit pattern. You could use this pattern as the basis for a lot of different costumes, AND it's available in a truly expansive size range. With the popularity of cosplay, I can imagine that McCall's will sell quite a few of these.

M7341

StyleArc: Cameron Dress

The Cameron dress is the sort of throw-on and go dress that usually makes a great instant gratification project. I could see where someone might think of this dress as a sack with an elastic waist, but I have more faith in StyleArc's drafting than that. I made a similar dress (the HotPatterns Uptown Downtown dress) and got a lot of wear out of that for a few years. I like the wrap option on the skirt of the StyleArc, too, which is something that sets it apart from similar patterns.

StyleArc - Cameron Dress

Final Thoughts

So, I'll probably pick up that McCall's crossover dress on sale, and I could see myself getting the StyleArc dress at some point, but that's probably about it for now.  Thoughts?

Finished Project: McCall's 6814 - Children's costumes

You know it's a bad sign for a sewing project when you have to Google one of the notions from the pattern notion list because you've never heard of it before.

For the record, "headliner fabric" is a soft, spongy foam-like "fabric" that is typically used in upholstery. Also, it's a bitch to sew, and I hope to never have to deal with the stuff again.

Anyway, backing up a few steps, my 3-year-old daughter wanted to be a robot for Halloween this year. Specifically, she wanted to be a blue robot. I really, really tried to push her towards the DC superhero costumes put out by Simplicity, but 3-year-olds know what they want, and Eva wanted to be a blue robot. I'd vaguely remembered seeing a robot costume pattern on the McCall's website and wound up ordering the recently out-of-print McCall's 6814.

McCall's 6814

Note that the robot looks suspiciously similar to the robot Plex from Yo Gabba Gabba (a former favorite tv show of Eva's):

Plex from Yo Gabba Gabba

Several trips to JoAnn's, $65 on fabric and notions, and many hours of work later, Eva had her blue robot costume:

Eva in her robot facepaint, post-office-Halloween party

Given the labor effort and expense that went into this costume, I probably shouldn't be too surprised that I couldn't find any reviews for the pattern on PatternReview or on sewing blogs. This costume was a case where it would have been really helpful to have found a previous review or some tips or anything to help out with some of the tricky bits.

 

Fabric and Notions Used

 

Oh boy...you know you're in for a marathon when the pattern envelope splits the notions list between the actual envelope and the paper instructions inside. If you want to tackle this costume, here's the supply list that you'll be buying:

• Fabric for the jumpsuit (in my case, I used a lightweight poly silver lame that shredded if you so much as looked at it).
• 12" zipper for the jumpsuit
• Poly crepe-backed satin for the vest and helmet
• Headliner fabric to interline the vest and helmet pieces
• A variety of felt squares for the gear and button appliques
• Paper-backed fusible webbing to fuse the applique pieces to the vest
• Velcro (for the vest closure)
• Foam (the disks on the helmet are foam disks wrapped in the silver lame fabric)
• 3 pipe cleaners
• 1 pom-pom

Oh, and to attach the lame-covered-foam disks, pipe cleaners, and pom-pom to the helmet, I had to buy one of these:

I now own a hot glue gun. Is that "Mom" enough for ya?

I omitted the window screen from the helmet for the sake of not obstructing visibility (this is also why the helmet is somewhat collapsing on itself).

Pattern Drafting, Sizing, and Alterations

 

This pattern is available in McCall's childrens' sizes 2-8.  Eva should be a size 3 based on the size chart. I considered sizing down because of the huge amount of ease that Big 4 children's patterns are known for, but I'm glad that I didn't. The jumpsuit would have been too short on her had I sized down; go with the size chart and/or your usual RTW size for your child with this one.

Pattern Instructions

 

Oy.  The pattern instructions are enough to get the job done, but they don't really point out any "gotchas" for working with these materials.  The headliner fabric is a nightmare to work with, and they have you underline all of the outer pieces for the vest and helmet with it. This stuff squishes and stretches all over the place. There must be an easier way to underline your "fashion" fabric with this (I did machine basting), but I have no clue what that would be. There was no way that I was going to hand-baste all of those pieces for a kids' Halloween costume. Also, the seams involving the headliner fabric are all horribly puckered. No one said anything about it, but I was glad that this costume wasn't an entry on Project Runway.

 

Final Thoughts

While this project was a huge pain that took forever to sew, but Eva loved it, and that's what counts. She got to wear it to her preschool Halloween party, trick-or-treating at my office, and trick-or-treating around our neighborhood.

"My name is Eva. I am a robot."

Would I make this costume again?  Hell, no. Would I recommend it...well, there aren't a whole lot of other robot costumes out there that don't involve an aluminum foil covered box, so there's that.  If you are asked to make a robot costume, this pattern will likely result in a happy child, and that's the important part.

This Week in Patterns (16-Oct-2015)

We had a fairly quiet week on the pattern release front this past week. (This was a good thing for me because I had a friend in town visiting and really no extra time to sew or blog.)

This week, we had releases from only two pattern companies:

• Grainline Studios
• McCall's

Grainline Studios: Tamarack Jacket

Jen has been teasing with sneak peaks of the Tamarack Jacket on Instagram for the past few weeks. Coupled with how much I liked Sewmanju's quilted jacket and Jen's teaser shots, I actually plunked down some birthday cash on some Nano Iro pre-quilted fabric from Miss Matatabi.  Upon seeing the sample pics, though, I wasn't convinced that the lack of shaping in the Grainline jacket would work for me, so I will be using the Tamarack as inspiration, but actually using a collarless Simplicity jacket with princess seams and cup sizing for my actual jacket.

TL; DR: I like the idea of this jacket. Quilted jackets are everywhere right now, and I think that if I wasn't using pre-quilted fabric I'd be interested in learning the quilting techniques in this pattern. I'm not sure that this particular pattern will work well on a curvy figure, although the samples look great on Jen.

Grainline Studios - Tamarack Jacket

McCall's: Winter/Holiday Collection 2015

Usually, when the online sewing community seems to love a Big 4 collection, I can't find anything in it that I'd want to sew and wear (as is often the case with Vogue). Other times, particularly with McCall's and Simplicity, the online sewing community collectively yawns, but I wind up buying six patterns from that collection. This time, however, the online sewing community and I are in sync: this is a pretty "meh"to bizarre collection.

M7280: Misses' Jacket and Dress

Those sleeves are, um, interesting.

M7280

M7293: Misses' Jacket and Pants

I like the shoulder saddle detail on this jacket, although it looks like you'll have to sacrifice the princess seams from the other views to get the shoulder detail:

M7293

M7296: Misses' Jumpsuit and Romper

I can't decide if this lounging jumpsuit/romper is the best or worst idea ever. On one hand, it looks super comfortable for hanging around the house. On the other hand, if it's cold enough to lounge around in a cozy jumpsuit, do I really want to get undressed to use the bathroom?

M7296

M7295: Misses' Top and Pants

Okay McCall's, now you're just trolling:

M7295

Final Thoughts

This is the rare week where there weren't even any patterns released that I'll be putting on my wish list. I'll be keeping an eye on posts related to the Grainline pattern just to see what techniques others are using for their jackets. (I haven't yet decided if my take using a Simplicity pattern will be lined or unlined with bound seams.) 

Did anything new grab you this week?

Last (Two) Weeks in Patterns (23-Aug-2015)

While we only had a single pattern released last week, we had much more pattern company activity this week.

In this post, we'll talk/pontificate about the following pattern companies:

• BlueGingerDoll
• McCall's
• New Look
• Simplicity
• StyleArc

BlueGingerDoll

Not a new release...in fact, just the opposite...  Does anyone know what's going on with BlueGingerDoll?  Abby's online pattern store has been down for several weeks, and her Instagram account is now private.

There's been no related announcement; hopefully, she's just taking a temporary break. Even if I didn't like every design, I did find that Abby has had a pretty distinct voice and some unique designs compared to other patternmakers. I hope that there isn't a serious issue causing the blackout.

McCall's Fall 2015 release

It's funny--most people were "meh" about the early Autumn release from McCall's, while I ran out and bought 3 patterns from it as soon as they were on sale. On the other hand, the online sewing community seems pretty in love with this release, and while I like a few of the patterns, I already have equivalents of many of the ones that I like in my pattern collection.

M7256: Misses' Coats

This coat is stunning. I already have a statement coat in my Leanne Marshall coat from last year, but I definitely see the appeal of this one. And on the other hand, it's a pretty close design sibling to the princess seamed Spearmint Coat from the seemingly dormant Lolita Patterns.

M7242: Misses' Laura Ashley Dress

When I think of Laura Ashley dresses, I think of dowdy elementary school teacher clothing. You know, like the dress in the line drawing below. But with the right fabric, you can see that this pattern actually had a lot of potential. So, this pattern is clearly all about fabric choice:

M7242

M7254

I really like these cardigans. It's a nice, fresh shape, and there are a lot of different view options. I'll be picking up this one on sale.

M7254

M7251: Misses' Plenty by Tracy Reese blouse

I kind of like this Tracy Reese blouse and appreciate the fact that there are two fairly different views:

M7251

New Look: Fall 2015 non-release

Instead of a release of new patterns for fall, New Look re-issued a small set of popular patterns from past years. Most of the patterns are only available in New Look's old, limited size range of 8-18 (most newer New Look patterns go up to at least a size 20). I'm not sure if this is a bad sign for the New Look line, or if they just didn't have a fall collection ready for some reason.

Simplicity: Fall 2015 release

The general consensus online has been pretty "meh" about this release. I agree, as far as the women's patterns go, although there are two patterns on my list. As is usually the case this time of year, though, there are a couple of fun kids' costumes in this release.

Simplicity 1012: Misses' 1960's Vintage Dresses

Love this design; no idea how I'd FBA this. I think this is a pattern where I'll admire the versions that everyone else churns out.

Simplicity 1012

Simplicity 1018: Misses' Knit Dress

It's a knit, princess-seamed fit-and-flare style dress. I predict that we see a lot of these made up on Pattern Review and around the SBC in coming months. This pattern is on my to-buy list, too.

Simplicity 1018

Simplicity 1016: Misses' Coat by Mimi G Style

Mimi G's aesthetic is not my aesthetic, but I like some of the patterns that she's released with her Simplicity line. The internet seems pretty split on this coat, but I really like it.

Simplicity 1016

This coat reminds me a bit of the coat that Suzy Bishop wore in Moonrise Kingdom, which I've always coveted:

Suzy Bishop in Moonrise Kingdom

Simplicity 1035: Girls' DC Comics Costumes

Having a superhero-loving 3-year-old makes purchasing this pattern a no-brainer. Eva particularly loves Wonder Woman and Batgirl. Even if she opts for a different costume for Halloween, I'll probably be making up those for her to play dress-up.

Simplicity 1035

Simplicity 1096: Childs' Minion Costume

I have a 3-year-old. Of course, I'm buying a pattern for a child's Minion costume. My only concern here is that the cover illustration shows actual Minions and not the made up costume, or even an illustration of the costume.

Simplicity 1096

Simplicity 1031: Dog Costume Coats and Hats

And last, but not least, there's a steampunk costume for dogs:

Simplicity 1031

StyleArc mid-month release (August): Agnes Designer Dress

This month's "designer" release from StyleArc (since this seems to be what they're doing with the mid-month releases now, rather than releasing really basic patterns like they used to at mid-month) is a panel-seamed dress with external Dior darts and square armholes. It's nice, and it's interesting, and it's a lot more wearable than some of their other recent "designer" patterns recently. I don't have a particular need for this dress, but I've got nothing to snark about here, either.

StyleArc - Agnes Designer Dress

Final Thoughts

What patterns grabbed you from this past week's releases? I think I'm about the only person in the SBC not buying half of that McCall's collection.

Also, has anyone heard anything about BlueGingerDoll?  Given that we've been starting to see a bit of a slowdown in some indie pattern releases, I'm starting to wonder if we're starting to see the indie pattern bubble begin to leak a bit.

Last Week in Patterns (28-June-2015)

It's Sunday, and we have a LOT of patterns to look through, including early Autumn releases from Simplicity and McCall's, both of which had some nice patterns. Grab a cup of coffee and a nice breakfast pastry because we're going to be here for a while.

Here's the list of the releases that we'll be covering today:

• Cake Pattern: Tidepool Collection
• Closet Case Files: Sallie Jumpsuit and Maxi-dress
• McCall's: Early Autumn 2015 release
• Peek-a-boo Patterns: Friday Harbor blouse and dress
• Simplicity: Early Autumn 2015 release

Cake Patterns: Tide Pool Collection, Wave 1

After a long hiatus of about a year and a half, StephC from Cake Patterns has released a new pattern collection for summer called "Tidepool". She'll be releasing this collection in two waves, and it will consist of three top patterns that can be paired with two bottom patterns, all with multiple views. She's just released the Wave 1, which consists of two shell patterns and a pattern for pants or shorts.

I'll admit that while I was turned off a bit from Cake after Steph's social media meltdown a while back, I do like a few of the patterns in the collection. Granted, I'm not sure that anyone needs three different knit shell patterns that, at first glance, all appear to be pretty similar but with different details.

Pipi Shell

Like all Cake Patterns, you'll draft/trace the Pipi Shell to your own measurements. This is a simple pattern, but I like it. Cut out backs and back details are all the rage these days, but unlike a lot of patterns I've seen along that line, this one is actually bra-friendly. I'd consider this one.

Cake - Pipi Shell

Janthina Shell

Whereas I kinda liked the Pipi shell, I'm pretty meh on the Janthina. It just reminds me too much of those tops with flounces that everyone was sewing a few years ago. Both Simplicity and HotPatterns had variations on this, and I'm just not ready for flounces to come back yet.

Cake - Jathina shell

Endeavor Trousers

These are easily my favorite pattern out of this bunch. The seaming and pocket details, while not totally original, are also something that you don't see in a lot of sewing patterns. The trouser legs are a bit wide for 5'2" me, but I suspect that's something that you can customize with this pattern, at least somewhat. And I just think that the shorts are really cute and wearable.

One thing that I'll point out is that the shorts and pant samples fit Steph very well--no weird crotch wrinkles or butt drag lines or anything. Granted, this is easier to accomplish with a wide legged trouser than, say, a pair of skinny jeans, but we've also seen plenty of pant patterns from other indies that have had insane crotches or other fitting red flags. Outside of the fact that I feel like these look too long on Steph (or that she should have been wearing different shoes), I think that many of us would be really happy to have trousers that fit like these.

Cake - Endeavor Trousers and Shorts

Closet Case Files: Sallie Jumpsuit and Maxi-Dress

I don't have a whole lot to say about this one. I think it's cute, but I've been hoarding jumpsuit and maxi-dress patterns for a while and have options that are fairly similar to most of the views here that I'd wear.

If you're not like me and don't hoard jumpsuit and maxi-dress patterns; however, this one does provide you with quite a few options. I do really like that Heather included both bra-friendly and non-bra-friendly views in this pattern, so that those of us who do not have the option of wearing a strapless bra aren't left out in the cold. I'll be putting this one in my "like it, but probably don't need it" pile.

Closet Case Files - Sallie Jumpsuit and Maxi-dress

McCalls: Early Fall Release 2015

Much like their early spring release about six months ago, there are quite a few patterns that really like in McCall's Early Fall release. What's interesting to me about this collection is that I've been seeing many of these looks popping up in RTW around Seattle. A valid criticism of the Big 4 is that their patterns are sometimes a step behind RTW trends, but you could walk into a department store today and buy pieces that are similar to a lot of the patterns in this collection.

Also, remember that cute brunette model with the short hair that we all liked so much from the Early Spring release? She's back, and she's still damn cute.

If you haven't already refilled your cup of coffee, now is the time to do so.

M7187: Misses' Dress with panel inset and drop-waist skirt options

I think that this dress is really cute. I like the princess seam inset/panel, and the skirt options on the drop-waist are interesting.

M7187

M7188: Misses Dress (with cup sizes)

Princess seams, a short midriff band, and a quarter circle skirt? I'm there. The styling in the sample photo is really unfortunate, but look beyond that and see what a cute, potentially flattering dress there is in the line drawings.

M7188

M7199: Knit jacket with asymmetrical zipper

I've been seeing this style of jacket all over Seattle. They're really cute on a lot of women. I was actually figuring that I'd buy the StyleArc Marie, which is relatively inexpensive in PDF form, to knock off this style, but now McCall's has put out a nearly identical version of this look. The "No provisions provided for above waist adjustment" is a little concerning, though, given that I know I'd need to FBA this.

M7199

M7192: Misses' Tops with sheer overlay

I've been seeing these blouses with the asymmetrical sheer overlays around town a lot so far this summer. I've stayed away from these patterns with the overlays on the front before because I was afraid that the fabric would hang unattractively off of my boobs, but I'm less concerned about that with this version, since the overlay fabric would be a lightweight, drapey sheer.

M7192

M7195: Misses' Woven Sweatshirts

Woven t-shirts have been huge for the past couple of summers, so it makes sense that the next step in this trend evolution would be a woven sweatshirt, right? I live in the sweatshirt capital of the world, so of course, I'm going to give this one a try.

M7195

M7203: Misses' Romper and Jumpsuit

Because I hoard but don't make romper and jumpsuit patterns. Well, to be honest, part of that is that I've been searching for a romper/jumpsuit pattern that had the following elements that previously had been difficult to find all in one pattern: button front, elastic waist, easy to FBA. This pattern checks all of those boxes. Have I finally found the pattern that I'll use to test drive this trend?

M7203

M7214: Kids' and Adults TMNT and Minion costumes

Minions! And Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! All part of the same pattern! Eva is really into minions right now, so this pattern will be a likely contender for this year's Halloween costume.

M7211: Frozen Costumes for Dogs

Frozen costumes for dogs. I have nothing else to say about this.

M7211

Simplicity: Early Fall Release 2015

Simplicity released a small batch of patterns earlier this week (although these patterns had been appearing around JoAnns' stores for at least a week before this). As is typical with their early fall releases, this batch contained a few costume patterns that I suspect Simplicity expects to sell well for Halloween. There are also some nice basics for fall, including a jacket that I absolutely love.

Simplicity 1066: MimiG Lined Jacket

Generally, MimiG's style and my own style don't have a whole lot of overlap, but OMG, I LOVE THIS JACKET pattern! First off, it's actually a lined jacket pattern (as opposed to draft your own lining and figure things out), it includes multiple cup sizes--up to a DD in the larger range, which is what I use, it has shoulder princess seams (yay!), and I really like the optional details--you could either go with a bit of a military look or incorporate some faux leather piecing.

We know what jacket pattern I'll be making this fall, right?

Simplicity 1066 - MimiG jacket

Simplicity 1063: Misses' Knit Tops

Based on my experience with a similar HotPatterns knit top that I ended up not wearing much, I don't think that Simplicity 1063 is the best look for me, but it's an interesting pattern that incorporates some draping and a crossover in a kind of cool way. (There was also a similar BurdaStyle pattern about a year and a half ago.)

Simplicity 1063 - Misses Knit Tops

Simplicity 1061: Sew Chic lined dress and jacket

This dress is cute as heck (especially in the fabric that they chose), although it's probably not something that I would sew/wear. I suspect that we'll see lots of cute versions of this one out and around the SBC in coming months.

Simplicity 1061: Sew Chic dress

Simplicity 1095: Misses' (Dr. Who) Costumes

I don't watch Dr. Who myself, but I know plenty of people who are really into it. One of the most Seattle cars I've seen since moving here was a Fiat with a "My Other Ride is a Tardis" sticker on it. This costume is for the driver of that car.

Simplicity 1095: Misses' (Dr. Who) Costumes

Simplicity 1094 & Simplicity 1097: Girls' and Misses' Frozen Fever costumes

Were you a child in the early 80's? Did you play with Star Wars action figures? Do you also happen to remember how George Lucas would license and Kenner would sell action figures who appeared in all of ONE SHOT of the original trilogy? Like this guy--Hammerhead? (He was featured in exactly one shot of the Cantina Scene in Episode IV.)

Star Wars Hammerhead action figure

Disney/Simplicity appear to be heading down a similar route with the movie Frozen and its characters. With a true sequel somewhere on the distant horizon, Disney ran a 10-minute animated short called "Frozen Fever" before the live-action version of Cinderella a few months ago. We now have a set of women's, children's, and 18" doll costumes from Simplicity, based on the dresses that Anna and Elsa wore in that short. Has Frozen jumped the shark? And is this worse than Anna and Elsa costumes for a dog? (FWIW, my 3-year-old is currently more into Thomas the Train and minions than she is into Frozen.)

Simplicity 1094

Simplicity 1097

Final Thoughts

So when is the next McCall's sale at JoAnn's?

Scrolling through this post, I feel like a cat in a room full of laser pointers. This one! No,  I'm getting this one!

My picks for the week are the Endeavor (I actually have a voucher for a free pattern from Cake from my "house" winning a long-ago sewalong), the MimiG jacket from Simplicity, and a whole lot of the new McCall's patterns. Which are your favorites out of this bunch?

Last Week in Patterns (26-April-2015)

So, um, hi? In no way did I anticipate the response that my last post received. I didn't have time over the weekend to respond to everyone's comments, but I did read all of them. That was easily the greatest number of comments for any of my posts on this blog.  A few things to take away from that post and the response:

• We all have different experiences with PatternReview, but I noticed that the trend from the posted comments was that the people who felt most positively about it were the people who'd made a comment to the effect that they didn't go into the forums much. Take away message for me: Stay out of the PatternReview forums. I have enough things on my plate and don't need to add to them by going places with what I feel is negative energy.
• For those of us thinking we'd like to see a little more diversity in guest posters and content on CSC, please send them your articles and reviews! 
• I've been guilty of saying that I would write something for the CSC and then flaking, and from reading other comments, I'm not the only one. (I had been totally on board with the "season of separates" idea, but for "pants month", my pant muslin needed a lot more work than I anticipated, and I wasn't able to get a "real" pair done by the end of that month. And then my dad's health plummeted, I traveled back and forth to San Diego a bunch, and I barely sewed anything for two months.) 

Back to the purpose of this post: I want to get the pattern roundup post series going again, although I'll be posting these on Sunday (rather than Friday) to give myself the weekend to finish writing them. We had a somewhat interesting week of releases this past week.

This week, we have new patterns from the following companies:

• Grainline Studios
• McCall's
• Muse
• StyleArc
• TrueBias

 

This Week's Pattern Round-up

 

Grainline Studios: Morris Blazer

I am so flippin' sick of waterfall cardigans. They were fine for a while, but now I'm done with them (like peplums). It makes me really happy that we're starting to see some new cardigan/casual jacket shapes emerging from the pattern world, like the just-released Grainline Morris Blazer (The SBCC Cabernet cardigan, in a boyfriend shape, is another.)

Grainline Morris Blazer

I'm not sure that this boxy silhouette is the best choice for my figure, but I really like the shape and design. Jen drafted this blazer to be made from either a ponte/doubleknit or a stretch woven, so you have quite a few fabric options for this pattern, and the resulting jacket should be pretty comfortable.

I'm somewhat tempted, but it does look pretty similar to the HotPatterns Sweet Jacket, which I already own. I like the collar of the Morris better, but the back of the HP is a lot more interesting.

McCall's Patterns: Summer 2015 release

I thought that overall, the summer release from McCall's was pretty boring, but of the patterns that I liked, I *really* liked them a lot. There's also a really good "WTF" pattern in here, too, for those of us who are amused by that sort of thing.

M7167: Misses' romper and jumpsuits

So that Vogue 9075 culotte jumpsuit pattern that I've been planning to make for the past couple of months? I like this McCall's pattern better. And the McCall's has cup sizes, too. On top of that, the sleeves are a more youthful shape, and I think that this will be a more flattering look on me.

McCall's 7167

If I could go braless, I'd be all over the view with the cutout/strappy back, but McCall's at least provided a covered back view, too.

M7156: Misses' dresses, rompers, and jumpsuits

I am going to buy make up View A of this pattern, and rock it over a babydoll tee with a pair of Doc Marten 8-eyes, grab a wine cooler, and chant, "Donna Martin graduates! Donna Martin graduates!"

McCall's 7156 - View A

Seriously, though, I will be buying this pattern. It's a classic shape with princess seams, I can easily increase the width of the straps to make it more bra-friendly, and since I now hoard romper and jumpsuit patterns, it'll be good for that, too. (This pattern is also a less expensive version of the By Hand London Sabrina dress.)

McCall's 7156 - View C

M7168: Misses' two-piece swimsuits

How refreshing to have a retro-style swimsuit pattern where the straps aren't halter straps!  I think that there are a lot of cute options in this pattern, and I think that by mixing and matching different elements, just about any woman could put together a swimsuit that flatters her figure and that she feels comfortable in. The under-bust band on the tops of these also lend themselves more to adding additional bust support more easily than some retro styles. Love the skirt/tankini option, too.

M7168

I recently bit the bullet and bought a Modcloth swimsuit, and I'm really happy with it, but I've added this pattern to my list for the next JoAnn's sale.

McCall's 7154: Archive collection gown

I have neither the figure type nor the event schedule to wear a gown like this, but I do love the design:

McCall's 7154

McCall's 7176: Leather accessories

And then there's M7176, the perfect accessory pack if you're planning to head to a steampunk leather bar. Thankfully, one of the included patterns provides a nice starting point for a pair of assless chaps, should you ever need them:

McCall's 71716

Muse Patterns: Knit sleeve add-on pack

Muse Patterns (of Jenna cardigan and Gilian wrap dress fame) did something interesting this week: They released an add-on pack of four knit sleeve variations that should work with all of Muse's knit patterns.  The knit sleeve add-on pack is available for the very reasonable price of $3 USD (can you tell that I've already purchased this?)

The add-on pack includes the following four sleeve variations:

• Short tulip sleeve.
• Gently gathered sleeve cap, and options for short, 3/4 or long sleeve length with a classic narrow sleeve. 
• Short flutter sleeve.
• Classic narrow sleeve with options for short, 3/4 or long sleeve length.

Muse Patterns - Knit tulip sleeve

One thing that I've really liked about Muse Patterns, from what I've seen so far, is how much emphasis places on providing a lot of value from her patterns. Most of her patterns contain at least three views, and she truly seems to want to provide sewists with patterns that they'll be able to make multiple times with different looks.

StyleArc: Cleo Knit Dress and Tabard

For their mid-month release, StyleArc released a pair of "designer" patterns, which is something that they've done several times in recent months.  I could see how these pieces could look chic on the right person, but they're really not my style.

Cleo Knit Dress

The Cleo has sleeveless and long sleeved options and includes optional dart shaping.

StyleArc Cleo Knit Dress

Cleo Long Tabard

To be honest, before I received the StyleArc newsletter this week, I didn't even know what a "tabard" was. I turned to Google for writing this post:

Tabard definition via Google

I'm guessing that Cleo (or someone else on the StyleArc team, although the garments are named "Cleo") saw something like this on a runway show or something like that. It seems like too random of an offering from StyleArc to not have a clear inspiration piece behind it.

StyleArc Cleo Long Tabard

The StyleArc tabard is designed to be made out of sheer fabrics and worn as an outer layer over the Cleo knit dress.

Honestly, I don't know what to even think of these, so I'm reserving judgment until I see them worn together on a real person.

True Bias: Southport Dress

I've been pretty "meh" on the first two patterns released by True Bias, but I actually think that the new Southport dress is pretty cute:

True Bias Southport Dress

I'm sure that we'll be seeing tons of these popping up all over the sewing blogosphere over the next few months. I think I'd be tempted to buy it, but I do already own the very similar Blank Slate Catalina dress pattern, which I bought last summer.

 

Final Thoughts

We had a fair number of new releases this week, of which, I suspect the Morris blazer and Southport dress are the ones that we'll be seeing the most of in the coming months. (Now, who will be the first blogger to post a photoshoot of a Morris blazer paired with a Southport dress?)

Of all of these, I think I'm actually the most excited about a handful of the new McCall's, since I don't already have pattern doppelgangers for the ones that I like in my pattern stash.

And what do you think about Muse offering the sleeve add-on pack for a few bucks? I'm kind of surprised that more designers don't do things like this--it's a good way to extend the use of your already-purchased (and altered) patterns without having to buy and figure out alterations for a whole new pattern.