New Look 6587 - Patternreview

Pattern Description: Princess seam, button front dresses with gathered skirt, choice of 2 necklines (collar or scoop neck), short, cap and no sleeves. Optional tie belts. I made version E, scoop neck, cap sleeves.

Pattern Sizing: NL sizes 8-18, which are slightly bigger than the Big 4's version of those sizes. By my measurements in NL, I'm a solid 14, but if I'd cut a 14, I'd have been swimming in it. I made a 12, and the fit is good, but still a little roomier than I would have expected. Diet? I don't need no stinking diet, I'm gonna make a New Look pattern and LOOK like I went on a diet!

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, pretty much so. The scoop is almost Burda-low; it definitely requires my better bras or there'd be a little gappage.

Were the instructions easy to follow? I didn't really look at them until afterward (BWOF has me properly trained) but they seemed clear, and this is a pretty straightforward pattern.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? No dislikes. I'm on a dress kick right now, particularly dresses with skirts. Since I don't have the waistline I'd like, I'm creating the illusion that I do by adding more skirt. I don't know if it's fooling anybody, but I'm enjoying swishing around in all this fabric.

Fabric Used: Dark chocolate brown batiste with peach/orange and green embroidery, bought in Paris in 2008. Peach cotton broadcloth for the bodice lining, brown lining fabric for the skirt. Orange shirt buttons from the button box. Eleven of them. And the buttonholer didn't cough once. The fabric is beautiful, but the quality isn't what I would have hoped for - the embroidery is picky and unraveled itself in spots, and I can see this is a dress that's going to require way more care than I'm going to want to give.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Nothing major, other than adding horsehair braid to the hem to give it a little structure since my fabric is really drapy (or limp, depending on how humid your summers are).

Additionally, as a few other reviews have mentioned, this pattern is a little short-waisted. I lengthened it by an inch and it's just barely where I wanted it.

This doesn't class as an alteration or a design change, just as one of those things. I had the bodice constructed and was about to sew in the lining. Since I wasn't going to line the sleeves, I decided I should add them first, then hand stitch the lining to the armholes. I sewed on both sleeves, quickly (no easing, yay!) and went out to the couch to do the hand sewing. DH pointed out that one sleeve didn't look quite right, and that's when I noticed I'd sewn it on INSIDE OUT. In my defense, the light by my sewing machine is so strong that the two sides of the fabric look almost the same; it's only under the inadequate living room ceiling light that you can really see the difference.

I picked off the sleeve, turned it right side out, repinned, re-sewed, and went back to the living room. Where I discovered that the sleeve was right side out, but somehow, I'd sewn it on UPSIDE DOWN.

And it was only around 10:30 p.m. And there was no wine involved, really. Let's just say I taught the cats a few new words, stopped for the night and started over again the next day, when everything went well.

Come to think of it, that's probably why I managed to make 11 flawless buttonholes. The sewing gods were being apologetic after ruining my evening the night before.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I'll probably give it another shot, next time with the V neck and collar, which is actually the view I wanted to make but which didn't suit my embroidered fabric. Next time I'll put a little more attention in to the details - add a little MORE length to the bodice, and make sure that the back neck isn't gappy. It's got good bones, I just don't think I can face it again too soon after all the issues I had.

Conclusion: Cute dress with a few options. If you make sure to sew everything together right side out, it doesn't take long at all!

Finished!

How did the entire day go by before I got around to sewing on two snaps and a button?

I think I just didn't want to face finishing this project, since it took me such mental effort to get started on it. But it's done, and I'm really pleased with the result - and with myself, for actually doing it, instead of just thinking about it until the fabric was no longer usable.

I'll do a proper pattern review for this in a day or so, but I'll "borrow" the format for now and do a dry run.

Pattern Description: Vest with closure and collar variations. Princess seams front and back.

Pattern sizing: NL sizes 4 to 16. I made my standard 12 with very little adjustment.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, absolutely.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? First and foremost, I liked that I could actually get the garment made from my limited amount of fabric. Beyond that, I like the collar variations and I'm always a sucker for a princess seamed garment.

Fabric Used: Do I have to go there? Embroidered velvet purchased at the PR get-together in Baltimore last June at A Fabric Place. Made by Versace. Ridiculously expensive, and I had to have it. Rust-colored crinkled lining fabric. Vintage button.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: Surprisingly, none. This made up straight out of the envelope without me changing a thing (other than the closure, for which I swapped button / buttonhole for snaps with button sewn on top). I think it was fear of messing up my fabric that kept me from changing horses in midstream and coming up with an entirely different vest than I'd started out to make.

I want to add that I think this is a beautifully drafted pattern and very easy to fit due to the princess seaming. NL's instructions remind you to ease the top opf the seam where the two fronts join; a small thing, maybe, but BWOF tends to forget things like that, or bury them so far inside the maze that I don't notice.

I don't read the instructions that often, so when I do, it's nice to see instructions that make sense.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I'll definitely make this again - there's another collar variation to try out, plus the button front. I really liked the single button closure on this one, but that was probably because I didn't have enough buttons to do any other version. Highly recommended.

Conclusion:I'm beginning to think that New Look patterns are really under-rated. They have cute styles, they're well drafted, I've had good results from every one I've ever tried, and they're CHEAP. Cheap as in you don't need to belong to a special club or hope for coupons to come. That kind of cheap.

New Look 6619 Jacket

Since I posted the teaser photo, I guess I should follow it up with a completed project. I've spent the morning tearing the closet out of my sewing room, so please forgive the transplanted PR review. I'd talk more if I had it in me.

Pattern Description: Short, lined jacket with set-in sleeves and collar variations.

Pattern Sizing: 8-18. I made a straight size 12 and it fits just fine. The shape of the jacket is a little boxy (i.e., no bust darts), so there is enough wiggle room here for me to taper it in if I wanted something a little more fitted.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, other than my obvious changes regarding fabric.

Were the instructions easy to follow? I didn't really look at them. I've made plenty of jackets by now, and there was nothing complicated about this style.

That being said, I did make one major mistake (part user error and part pattern issue), but it was fixable, although a major pain to fix. I constructed the jacket and then I cut and made the lining. Trusting soul that I am (not, so how did this happen?) I cut the lining from the pattern pieces marked "cut 2 of fabric, cut 2 of lining". Except the cute little side panel piece isn't marked to cut as lining, and because there was a separate facing piece and front lining piece, I somehow got it into my head that the lining was constructed differently and went on my merry way. Since the missing piece doesn't affect the lining as sewn to the facings, I didn't notice until I got it all sewn in and tried the jacket on - and it no longer came close to fitting. Oops.

Cut the lining out, picked out all the stitches, went back to Jomar the next day, bought more gray lining fabric, recut with the proper piece, and voila! it worked. I looked at the directions later and it really didn't mention that piece either; the only way I would have gotten a heads-up would have been to look at the fabric layout diagram, and how often do we do that?

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I've got a hankering for a Chanel-style jacket and this was the test-drive of the pattern. It will definitely work with the fabric and trims I've selected for the next round.

Fabric Used: Charcoal gray faux "quilted" poly blend from Joann's. I'm not usually a big fan of Joann's fabric, but this was surprisingly nice. It sewed well but it refused to press flat. All the seam allowances are stuck down with Steam-a-Seam because otherwise they wouldn't have stayed down. Fabulous square snaps from Pacific Trims in NYC.

Despite the contrariness of the fabric, I managed to get the sleeves set in nicely (yes, those seam allowances were stuck down as well).

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: Almost none since this was a test drive for a future jacket. I did alter the lining somewhat - this pattern has front facings but no back neck facing, and I don't like the look of that. I also added some width at the top of the lining so I could have a pleat at the top. I cut the sleeves (and that pesky side piece) on the bias to add interest. I've found that bias sleeves ease in much more cooperatively than their on-grain counterparts, so in addition to liking the look, I liked that. Other than that, this was sewn straight out of the envelope.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes and yes. I'm planning on making a Chanel-style jacket from this pattern in a black diamond-patterned wool from Metro Textiles just as soon as I find buttons and trim that work for me. It's not a hard sew, the boxy shape makes for an easy fit, and it's easily customized.

Conclusion: Not a bad thing to say about this pattern.

Last Project for 2008

Done and on my back as I (slowly) type. Full post and review to come.

New Look 6429 Dress

Pattern Description: Misses' surplice dress with faux wrap front and sleeve, collar and belt variations. The bodice comes to a point at the small of the back. I did short sleeves, no collar, no belt.

Pattern Sizing:8 to 18. I made a size 12 but could have probably cut a 10; this dress runs big.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes.

Were the instructions easy to follow?Yes. I actually read the instructions first this time because there is nothing I hate more than picking stitches out of knit and I didn't want to mess up. The instructions were very clear.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? There are 42 previous reviews of this pattern, and everyone, no matter what their figure, looks great in this dress. How can this not be a winner? It's comfortable, it's flattering, the mock wrap in the front covers tummy issues, and the dress gives me the illusion of having more of a waist than I do. No dislikes at all.

Fabric Used: Animal print-ish (the addition of green to an animal print is enough to qualify it as "ish" for me) jersey from Metro Textiles on my recent visit with Ladybirdlove and Carolyn. Loved the fabric on sight, but had no idea what I was going to do with it. The fabric instructed me to make this dress.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: None on this first attempt. Next time I'll raise the neckline by just a bit - I've got a bit more cleavage at work today than I would normally, but I also invested in a decent new bra, so at least the girls are elevated for the display. I also might take the side seams in a little more. This is a pretty snug knit, but I could see where in a slightly more flexible fabric the dress would be a little loose. One other change I'll make next time is to lengthen the facings about an inch, because for some reason or other when I sewed them to the fronts, the facings ended up shorter. Don't know how that happened but since it's caught in the side seams it doesn't really matter anyway.

This dress has been sitting on the table in my workroom for the better part of 3 weeks now (worked on it between pieces of my min-wardrobe), and I realized last night that all I needed to do to finish it was to hem the sleeves. So why had I not gotten around to that? 5 minutes later and I had a new dress to wear to work today.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?Absolutely. There's a 3/4 sleeve black version of this dress in my near future, as well a sleeveless one for next summer when I come across the right fabric. It didn't take long to make, discounting my laziness in finishing the sleeve hems, so with the right motivation this would only take an evening or two. The hardest part was vacuuming the living room carpet so I had enough room to spread out the fabric and cut out the bigger pieces.

Conclusion: This dress would fit under so many categories -: wardrobe builder, highly recommended, great for beginners - it was hard to pick one. Great dress.

Lust / Stashing (Patterns)

What I'd like to find is a blouse pattern that looks like this Roland Mouret jacket, though I'm not sure how it would look on me, considering that my ribcage and my waist are much closer together than the tall young thin thing wearing the original. That's a project for a long, cold winter, drafting something of that magnitude.

I've tried to be good lately about the pattern thing. There are so many that I haven't tried, so many issues of BWOF that are calling out to be pillaged. So how is it that I ended up on Patternreview, ordering KS 3533 (a Duro-type dress out of knit fabric), Burda 7898, an almost exact replica of a dress they did in a BWOF issue last year, and New Look 6732, because I have almost no blouse patterns and I realize that my anti-blouse bias has always been because they don't fit properly. When I made my first Simplicity 7086, it was a revelation - the buttons didn't gap, it didn't ride up, it fit close to my body without being tight. I wanted more. I made another one, and refined the length and sleeves, and played with the buttons a little. More.

Thus NL 6732, which seems like a well-shaped basic - it has 4 collar options, 4 sleeve options (many more once I play with it a little), and it looks like it's a good length. At most it takes 1 3/4 yards, so I can probably scare up that much fabric. Easily.

Then, just when I thought it was safe, I got an email from Vogue. Bastards. Another $6.99 sale. And since their patterns are $25 - how did that happen? It's obscene - I had to buy a few. Two more Vintage Vogues, both dresses, and a Sandra Betzina blouse pattern, 7903, which to me has great faux-vintage potential with its series of 3 small darts in the front and two long, shaping darts in the back. I could actually do without the goofy cuffs on all variations of the shirt, but isn't that the joy of sewing? Looking at what the pattern company gives you and saying, "Nah, I don't think so."
As an example of that, the two dress patterns I mentioned above, are being done backward. The Burda bias cut dress, which is meant to be done in a woven (velvet in their photo and in my mind), is being made, albeit very carefully, in a copper brown stretch velvet. With an invisible zipper, hallelujah, now that I can put them in. And the KS Duro dress just doesn't do it for me in a knit when I have so many wovens that need taking care of. And because I truly hate hemming knits. It only requires a 25% stretch, so I'm thinking that if I cut one size larger than my usual, I should be able to make it work.

We'll see, won't we?