Last Week in Patterns (10-May-2015)

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mothers out there. And Happy Avoid Going Out to Brunch Day to everyone who isn't a mother! And if you're a mother-to-be, shield your eyes from the last entry out of this bunch of Buttericks.

We had a lot of new patterns released this week, most of which were actually pretty nice, aside from one collection that I thought was particularly awful. So, grab a cup of coffee, and let's get started!

Butterick: Summer 2015 Release

I was initially really "meh" about this release, but the more that I looked through it, the more that it grew on me. One thing that I missed on my first pass through is that there are actually several women's "plus" patterns in this batch that are so "normal" looking (as opposed to being oversized or shapeless sacks) that I initially overlooked them until I clicked the detail links and noticed the size range. I know that a lot of people love Coni Crawford's patterns, but the style of her patterns skews towards an older age group than the one that I'm in, so I was ecstatic to see these plus offerings from Butterick. I love that someone at BMV appears to finally be listening to the requests of larger sewists and is offering us some normal patterns in an extended size range. While there are a number of boring, seen-it-before patterns in this release, there are also some cute, unique designs, too. And, like just about any release from the Big 4, there's a winner if a "WTF?" pattern in here, too.

B6208: Misses' Tunic and Dress

This is one of those "cute for someone else" designs. I suck at sewing pintucks, and the only shaping comes from that tiny teeny little tie. But the sample in that swiss dot type fabric sure is pretty!

B6208

B6211: Retro Butterick Dress and Belt

I hate the fabric choices in the photographed version of this, but love the details and the line drawing. For a pattern with a similar vibe but a less costumey look, you could go for the BlueGingerDoll Odette dress.

B6211

B6210: Women's and Women's Petite Dresses

If you're plus sized and looking for a cheaper alternative (in the US, at least) to the True Bias Southport dress or Colette Adelaide dress, just add a button placket to B6210, which goes up to a size 32W:

B6210

B6224: Women's Kimono and Jumpsuit

Here's the other women's plus pattern--a jumpsuit/romper pattern with a kimono topper. I like this plus jumpsuit offering better than the Khaliah Ali one that was in a recent McCall's release. Including the kimono topper is a nice touch, too.

B6224

B6217: Patterns by Gertie: Misses' Blouse

I haven't been a huge fan of most of Gertie's patterns for Butterick, but I think that this one would make a really cute summer blouse (minus the boob bow, for most of us). For me, personally, I'd probably convert those darts to princess seams, but I love the neckline on this.

B6127

Butterick 6226

We can't have all sunshine and rainbows with a major Big 4 release, though, can we? So here's your WTF-ery from the Butterick Summer 2015 release. Two words: Maternity jumpsuit.

B6226

Really, Butterick?  When I was in my third trimester and peeing every five minutes, I can think of nothing that I'd rather wear less than a jumpsuit where I'd have to mess with taking half of my clothes off while trying to ignore the small being inside of me who was sitting on my bladder. And this jumpsuit has a back zipper, on top of just being, well, a jumpsuit. To be fair, the pattern does include a dress and a tunic view, and those both look okay, but still...maternity jumpsuit.

HotPatterns: Fast & Fabulous Shirt-Tail T's

If you're looking for a quick and easy knit top project, Trudy from HotPatterns released a new t-shirt pattern on Friday. This one has options for piecing, small ruffles, or a solid front. As someone who's always drawn to striped fabric, I'm a sucker for designs that can use stripes in interesting ways. I'm also a sucker for a shirt-tail hem (if you can't tell from various other pattern picks of mine). The pattern itself isn't earth-shattering, but it's very much my style, and I can see myself making this up on a whim when in need of an instant gratification project.

BTW--If you're on HotPatterns' mailing list or a member of the Facebook group, someone has already sewn this up, and it looks really cute on her! 

HotPatterns Shirt-tail T's

Liesl & Co: Spring 2015 Collection

Liesl was clearly going for casual basics with this collection. These designs are cute, classic, and mostly wearable, although not earth-shattering, from a design perspective.

Maritime Top

The Martitime top is a Breton-style knit top.  Breton tops have been pretty popular for the past few years, so I could see this being a useful, basic pattern if you don't already have something similar in your stash.

Liesl & Co. Maritime top

City Stroll Wrap Skirt

The City Stroll Wrap Skirt is a tulp-hemmed wrap skirt. Liesl says that given its shape, you don't have to worry about this wrap skirt blowing open in the wind; however, I wonder what happens to that tulip opening when you sit down in this. Regardless, it's a cute skirt with a lot of flexibility in fabric choices.

If I didn't already own the very-similar Snapdragon pencil skirt (which I still need to make!), I'd consider buying this one. (The Snapdragon actually includes two additional views, unlike the Liesl & Co. version.)

Liesl & Co. City Stroll Skirt

Gallery Tunic and Dress

The third and final style is the Gallery Tunic and dress, a pop-over style tunic or dress with classic shirt detailing. I like this a lot, but I don't think that the pleating would work on my own figure, although it would probably be fine for just about anyone who isn't uber busty. I do actually have a similar HotPattern (the Superfantastic shirt--OOP, so no link) that would probably work better for me, if I did want a blouse in this style.

Liesl & Co Gallery tunic and dress

Papercut Patterns: Chameleon Collection

For the premium prices charged by Papercut, I'd expect more interesting shapes, seaming, and general details than what we're seeing in this collection.

Waver jacket

Papercut Waver Jacket

Sway Dress

Sack with optional belt.

Papercut Sway dress

Flutter top & tunic

Sack.

Papercut Flutter top & tunic

Yoyo dress & skirt

Crotch arrow.

Papercut Yoyo dress & skirt

Final Thoughts and a note about My Sewing Circle

I'm not sure exactly what I'll be buying out of this batch, but I did like a few of the Buttericks. I'd already ordered the HotPattern, but seeing it made up really sold me on the pattern. The Liesl & Co.s were cute, but I already own similar patterns to all three. And finally, the Papercut collection felt like a mailed-in collection in many ways.

On another note, a few of us who are/were looking for an alternate choice in online sewing community to Pattern Review have registered accounts and started posting on My Sewing Circle. There hasn't been a lot of recent activity over there (except for those of us who recently started posting), but I'm hoping that if the activity level increases, there will be an online place to talk about sewing outside of the PR forums. Check out the site, if you're interested.