Thursday, August 29, 2013

Ripoffs

Most ripoffs are done under the 'nameless' patterns, this one's under a named designer, Marcy Tilton. And not that I'm complaining, I love this pattern and its the only Tilton pattern I've ever had a positive feeling towards.

Vogue 8904

Now the original could very well be another designer, but this dress takes after the extremely popular dresses being sold on Anthropologie by Bailey 44. Seriously, these things sell like hotcakes there.

Anthropologie (sold out!)

Anthropologie (sold out!)

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

New Butterick Patterns: Fall/Winter 2013

50's style patterns have been in style for several years now and I suspect, will remain comfortably there for several more years, the Mad Men effect. Its too bad I don't like them because 50's silhouettes are made for my body, but if I were to go vintage I love the 20's look, the total antithesis of my body type. Ain't that just the way things work. For all you 50's lovin' ladies, Butterick has some fun stuff though!

Butterick 5951
So this has options to remove that shoulder poof and even the sleeves, but as is this is pure Boogie Woogie Buggle Boy of Company B. What would you call that collar, a modified mandarin?

Butterick 5949
 If you are going to use model-sized women, make your sample model-sized, right? Also, iron your shit, Butterick!

Butterick 5953
I can see a lot of women loving this. I like the button detail, not a fan of the boob frames.

Butterick 5962
Another Gertie offering. I suspect there might be some photoshop going on at her waist because that's remarkably sharp.

Butterick 5947
Someone vaguely 50's inspired that I loooove. Kinda like some 50's/Star Trek cadet's totally inappropriate for actually working on a spaceship uniform (obviously have to hack off about a foot of that skirt to keep things on the up-and-up with the Federation). The button detail makes it.

Butterick 5950
Ick, seen it a million times. The pleats on the side of the skirt are heinous.

Butterick 5952
Totally FLOTUS inspired, right? Michelle loves the matching jacket and dress look and she would rock the socks of this pairing. Great fabric.

Butterick 5966
This coat is all class. Love it. Perfection.

Butterick 5955
Stupid unflattering, but I love it. Fun fabric again.

Not a lot for me, but not bad. Nothing too dull as dishwater.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Ripoffs

We all know many sewing patterns are ripoffs of designer clothes (and many designer clothes are ripoffs of other clothes and so on...), this one surprised me.

The Carven version.

Vogue 8900 is an actual dress. The original is by Carven and is made using a rafia tweed in a red that Vogue managed to match pretty perfectly.

The Vogue version.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Pattern Review: New Look 6097


I'm totally messing with the shape of this thing, but look at my pocketses!

I've been lusting after New Look 6097 for a while now and all thoughts were confirmed. Unabashed success! I went three sizes smaller than the pattern indicated for a correct fit with a very sturdy Italian knit. A very sturdy Italian knit which I discovered likes to unknit itself at an alarmingly fast pace. The pattern calls for a lightweight knit, but this beauty works too! I stabilized the shoulders and pocket openings with the selvedge of some teal silk and tacked down the cuffs, but otherwise followed the pattern exactly. Some previous reviews added elastic to the neckline, but this knit is so meaty especially with the multiple layers of fabric at the neckline, I'm not much worried about mine. I did hem it a lot shorter though, a little too short in the end. Oops. I used a stretch stitch to sew the hems and the space-dyed pattern is so busy you can't tell there's even thread there. 


Hey, look, a button that took me 30 minutes to pick out. Its gold. And plain. This picture shows the colors of the fabric better, it mainly red, gold, and teal, but it seems like everything is in there. Its a sold out fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics. The grain of the pockets was half a design choice and half a lack-of-fabric requirement.


The dress looks really cute with a black belt, but I forgot to throw it on for the pictures. This was meant to be a work dress, but its a little short. I figure the longer sleeve balances things out so its still good. I'll just wear it with a black blazer and leave the hooker shoes at home.

My hand looks alarmingly tiny.

I think this is the: I'm posing but my cats just tripped me picture.

This is a fan-frickin-tastic pattern, I can make a million of these.