New Pattern Roundup for June 2017

Summer is in full swing now, and that means that we’re starting to get our first glimpses of fall patterns for 2017. Butterick and Simplicity both released their fall collections this past month. We had a ton of indie releases in June, but as someone still very much in a summer mindset as a northern hemisphere dweller, those were largely thankfully geared towards warm weather. Let’s take a look…

Butterick – Fall 2017

Since McCall pattern company (parent company to McCall, Butterick, Vogue, and Kwik Sew patterns) was acquired late last year, rumors have been swirling about the new owner cutting ties with the current designers. I’m not sure how much truth there is to this rumor, but the Fall Buttericks do contain new patterns from two of their most popular designers–Lisette (from Liesl Gibson) and Gertie. Now that we’re getting into Fall patterns, we’re also getting a break from the endless parade of off-the-shoulder peasant tops that we saw in most of the Big 4’s spring and summer releases.

Butterick 6493 – Lisette Jacket and Skirt (with cup sizes)

While the sample photo isn’t terribly inspiring (as seems to be the case with a lot of the patterns in this fall collection), B6493 is a nice little jacket and skirt. Even better, the jacket has cup sizes, and the skirt has princess seams!

Butterick 6495 – Lifestyle Wardrobe

IMO, Lifestyle Wardrobe patterns usually tend to be a bit boring; however, this one has a knit top/dress/jumpsuit with an interesting neckline that jumped out at me. Granted, it’s off-the-shoulder again (if you’re sick of that trend), but it’s a completely different style top than we’ve usually seen for this look.

Cashmerette – Webster Top & Dress

If you’re like me, you’ve spent plenty of time eyeing styles with low backs, back cutouts, or strappy details over the years, only to sigh over the bra-unfriendliness for most of these styles. I’m envious of those who can simply buy a strapless bra and wear these styles; however, for the uber-busty, bra manufacturers simply don’t make strapless bras in our size range. I know that Jenny from Cashmerette felt the same way, and so she designed a top and dress pattern with a fun, strappy back detail but with sufficient bra coverage that anyone can wear it.

Closet Case Patterns – Charlie Caftan

Charlie Caftan, oh WHY did you have to be released only two weeks before I’m leaving for Hawaii (with a full slate of vacation sewing on my plate)???

So yeah, if you’d told me a week ago that I’d be ogling a caftan pattern (even though I know they’re “all the rage” this summer), I’d tell you that you were nuts. But this one is super cute, and it isn’t a shapeless muumuu. Even if I can’t make it in time for Hawaii, I think I might still need this for the summer.

HotPatterns – St. Bart’s Tunic-Dress and Blouse

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably noticed that variations on peasant-style blouses and boho style, in general, has been EVERYWHERE this spring. To that end, HotPatterns’ most recent release is another take on the peasant style (they already have a more traditional peasant blouse and an off-the-shoulder style blouse in their catalogue). This one has lots of options for adding fun details like pintucks and trim to personalize your design:

Itch to Stitch – Beausoleil Top & Dress

Itch to Stitch offers up their take on the cold shoulder trend with the Beausoleil top and dress. Like most woven Itch to Stitch woven patterns, this one includes bust cup sizes up to a DD cup.  Typically, we’ve seen this trend in a more peasant-ish style, but both the top and dress version for this pattern are cleaner and less boho than other similar offerings. I particularly like the dress version of this because it has more waist shaping than most off-the-shoulder/peasant dresses.

Itch to Stitch – Oceanside Dress

Here’s another pattern where my immediate thought was, “OMG, why couldn’t that have been released a few weeks earlier, when I might have had time to make one up before I leave for Hawaii?!?”  For whatever reason, you rarely see a knit dress with a fitted waistband like this, but I know that on my Cashmerette dresses that I’ve made (Lenox and Upton), I love how those waistbands look on my apple-from-the-side figure. The Oceanside has a sportier look than most knit dress patterns, but has that same fit-and-flare shape that many of us curvies love.

Jennifer Lauren Vintage – Laneway Dress

The Laneway dress is a fit-and-flare style dress with cup sizes (up to a D-cup) from curve-friendly indie designer Jennifer Lauren. It’s a nice basic style that can be dressed up or down and has some fun collar variations. Knowing the CSC readership, I’d expect this one to be pretty popular with curvy sewists over the coming months.

Love Notions – Allegro Pants, Shorts, and Skirts

If you’re looking for an easy-to-make pair of pull-on shorts, pants, or a skirt for summer, Love Notions’ new Allegro pattern has tons of options for you. Even better, each view includes pockets!  This pattern is designed for lightweight wovens, but if you look through the tester photos, it looks like at least a handful of testers used a knit for their versions. (Who doesn’t love a knit pull-on maxi-skirt? With pockets?)

Love Notions – Laundry Day Tee (Revised)

Love Notions has also released an updated version of its super popular (and FREE to Facebook group members) Laundry Day tee. The updated version has been re-tested and includes fixes to the sleeve fit, new sleeve options, a dress length, and high/low tunic & dress options! The default length for the tee and tunic have also been shortened.

I’d been holding off on trying this one because of the sleeve fit issues that I’ve read about, but now I’m very curious to give it a try. The dress view, in particular, looks like the perfect throw-on-and-go garment for summer.

Papercut Patterns – Sakura Collection

Papercut Patterns…remember them? This New Zealand-based indie was all the rage among non-curvy sewing bloggers a few years ago; however, their original size range tended to limit who could make their patterns without doing a ton of grading. While not particularly inclusive, their more recent collections have had a more inclusive size range, making their patterns available to a slightly wider audience of sewists.

I can’t say that there are a ton of designs out of their Sakura collection that grab me, but I’ll highlight a couple of their new patterns here.

Papercut Patterns – Aomori Twist Top

I thought that the Aomori twist top was really cute. And while I would probably avoid adding that sort of bulk to my own giganti-bust, I think that this style would probably work well on a lot of non-top-heavy figure types. The last time that twist tops were really popular, they tended to be very fitted through the bust, creating more of an empire waist-type seam at the bust, so I think that the more relaxed version here looks a lot more up-to-date with current trends.

Papercut Patterns – Otsu Jeans

OMG, the seaming on these jeans! The Otsu jean is actually an updated take on Papercut’s popular “Peter and the Wolf” pant from a few years ago. The twisted leg in the sample photo aside, I LOVE the contrast top-stitching on them.

Pattern Review – Claire Wrap Dress

If you’re an active member of the Pattern Review sewing community, you’re probably already aware of the new wrap dress pattern that they’ve released. If not, the design/options for Claire wrap dress were largely crowdsourced from PR members in a quest to create the ultimate wrap dress. At first glance, it’s a traditional wrap dress, but it’s got opens for a tie belt/no tie belt, two different styles of skirts, and an option to do a faux wrap underlap instead of a true wrap (perfect for those of us in windy climates). This pattern is also notable for its size inclusivity; the women’s range goes up to a 58″/147cm bust and 60″/152cm hip measurement.

Seamstress Erin – Laminaria Swimsuit

Swimsuit patterns with cup size options are few and far between…especially up to an F-cup! Even rarer are one-piece swimsuit patterns with cup sizes. The new Laminaria from Seamstress Erin fills both of those requirements. It even has straps that are sewn to the back of the suit, rather than the more common halter neck style that can cause neck pain for those of us who are large-busted.

Simplicity – Fall 2017 collection

While the everyday patterns in Simplicity’s fall collection are a little boring, IMO, they have some cute and interesting costume and retro patterns in this batch. One thing that I was surprised about is that for a fairly large new collection, there are no new Ashley Nell Tipton patterns here. I mean, we got those two patterns–the body suit and the bodycon dress quite a while back at this point, and nothing since then. I’d been looking forward to seeing what she does with future releases, and hoping that she might include some more bra-friendly designs in them. But anyway…  Here are the new Simplicity patterns that grabbed me:

Simplicity 8432 – Bombshell Batwoman Costume

This collection includes several retro-inspired “bombshell” superhero costumes, including this new Batwoman costume, which I thought was really cute. (Actually, I think they’re almost all cute–I just pulled this one as an example):

Simplicity 8439 – Sew Chic dress with Bodice variations

Have you eyed Gertie’s “bust shelf” dress designs in the past, but been wary of the proportions on a curvy/busty/larger figure?  Sew Chic’s new S8439 has a similar “bust shelf” design element, but the proportions look like they might be more large-bust-friendly than the Gertie version. Additionally, the Sew Chic dress goes up to a size 28W, making the sizing all around a bit more inclusive.

Simplicity 8447 – Simplicity Vintage Misses’ Overalls, Pants, and Blouses

The super-vintage look isn’t really my own style, but the three garments in this pattern are all just so flippin’ cute.  I think this might be one of those patterns that I have to pick up “just to have it”, even if I never have serious thoughts about making it. Or I could always do a Rosie the Riveter Halloween costume, just to have an excuse to make these!

StyleArc – June 2017 releases

The biggest news for StyleArc this month is a huge update/overhaul of their website. You can now purchase PDFs for download directly from their website, rather than having to go through their Etsy store. Like the PDFs offered on Etsy, these downloads continue to include the size that you order plus the two nearest sizes. They’re also extending their “monthly freebie” pattern offer to include PDFs ordered directly from their website as well.

StyleArc – Lennie Overshirt

StyleArc offers many different styles of shirt patterns. Somehow, though, until this month, they hadn’t released the simple basic of a popover-style shirt made for shirting fabrics. (The Camille blouse is a popover style, but it’s designed for lightweight, sheer fabrics.) The Lennie Overshirt fills that gap in StyleArc’s shirt pattern catalogue:

StyleArc – Roslyn Tunic Dress

StyleArc and HotPatterns tend to be two of the most fashion-forward indie pattern companies, and this month, they each released a tunic/dress with a yoke inset. The Roslyn is StyleArc’s take on that style. I made the Schnittchen version of this a little while back (the Katha tunic), and it’s such an easy-to-wear style that it’s been in heavy rotation in my wardrobe. Unique features of the Roslyn include “floating pockets” and a modesty panel inset for the split neckline.

Final Thoughts

So. Many. Patterns…this past month!  It was a particularly good month if you like floaty dresses. But those retro Simplicity overalls…OMG. I can’t see those NOT being a hit, particularly given that the other pieces included in the pattern are pretty cute, too. (What can I say–I live in Seattle, and I’m a sucker for anything with a hood.) What were your favorites this past month?