We’ve got an interesting month of transitional patterns for March, with the northern hemisphere (in theory) heading into spring, and the southern hemisphere heading into autumn. There weren’t a ton of new releases this month, but I think there’s pretty much something for everyone out of this batch.
If you’ve been reading these roundup posts for a while, you know the drill. I often leave BurdaStyle’s Plus collections out of this series because far too often, their offerings fall into the “shapeless sack” category. So, when they offer something that actually appeals to me, I like to point it out. In addition to these two patterns, there’s also a nice wrap jacket/coat pattern that’s worth checking out if you click the link to the collection (above).
BurdaStyle 02/2018 #129 – Tie Top
We’ve been seeing a LOT of tie front tops in recent months. This one stands out to me with the asymmetric tie and the pretty drape in front. You could make this top warm-weather-friendly by leaving off the long sleeves and simply going with the dropped shoulders as cap sleeves.
BurdaStyle – Tie Top
BurdaStyle 02/2018 #128 – 3/4 Sleeve Blouse
The whole reason that I’m including this blouse (there’s a shirtdress view, too) is the neckline. I have a RTW tunic from Modcloth with this neckline, and I love it. I’m short necked, and with my large bust, I prefer an open neckline, so the collar/neckline on this works better for me than more traditional collars. I know other curvy sewists might be in a similar boat. Also, I thought that the tie cuffs on this were a cute detail, too.
BurdaStyle – 3/4 Sleeve Blouse
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen people post questions on the Cashmerette and CSC Facebook groups asking for a way to add sleeves to the Cashmerette Springfield top. Given that drafting darts and FBAs can be a little tricky when you get into the higher cup sizes, I’m not at all surprised that there were a lot of requests for Jenny to draft a simple woven shell with sleeves. The Montrose top has two neckline and two back options, and I expect that we’ll be seeing a lot of these showing up on social media for spring and summer.
Cashmerette – Montrose Top
Itch to Stitch – Mountain View Pull-on Jeans
Itch to Stitch’s Liana jeans didn’t fare so well in our recent CSC Jeans Throwdown, but perhaps curvy sewists will fare better with the new Mountain View pull-on jeans? In theory, the back leg seam would help with fitting and help a lot of us who get that bagging in the back thigh of other jeans to get a better fit back there. Also, you can beat pull-on jeans made from stretch denim for everyday comfort.
Itch to Stitch – Mountain View pull-on jeans
HotPatterns – Metropolitan Bouvier Jacket
Smack in the middle of our Jackets and Blazers theme for our #curvyyearofsewing, we’re offered this smashing new casual jacket pattern designed for medium wovens (linen, chambray, sateen) or stable knits (ponte). With retro-inspired details, an optional lining, no closures, this one has the potential to be a pretty quick sew, and it doesn’t take a lot of yardage either, if you don’t line (2 1/2″ yards of 60″ wide fabric for all sizes). I wear a lot of sleeveless styles in the summer that I top with either a cardigan or unlined jacket for the office, and this jacket would be perfect for that.
HotPatterns – Metropolitan Bouvier Jacket
HotPatterns – Fast & Fabulous Two-Hour Skirt
On the CSC Facebook group, people frequently ask for quick-and-easy knit skirt patterns. Surprisingly, outside of the Colette Mabel and a few maxi-skirt patterns, there really aren’t that many out there. The new 2-hour skirt pattern from HotPatterns should fill that niche niche nicely, though. This skirt works for most knits and some stretch wovens. It has a semi-fitted A-line silhouette and an invisible “Hollywood” elastic waistband.
HotPatterns – Fast & Fabulous Two-hour skirt
Do you like the look and idea of popover tunics but hate sewing the placket? Love Notions’ new Presto Tunic gives you the look of the popular popover tunic style, but with an inset that should make sewing the placket portion faster and easier. The inset also provides an opportunity to experiment with color blocking or setting the inset on the bias. Also, the pattern includes a “full bust piece” for the front that appears to provide 3″ of additional bust ease.
Love Notions – Presto Tunic
McCalls…Oof. Usually, you’re right up there with Simplicity as my favorite company of the Big 4, but this collection leaves a lot to be desired…like an actual acknowledgement that any significant portion of the female population needs to wear a bra? Seriously, this might be the least-bra-friendly collection that I’ve ever seen out of any Big 4 company. Or maybe I’m just cranky because nearly all of the bra-friendly patterns had an overly flouncy statement sleeve thing going on…and yeah, I get that statement sleeves have been a thing for a while, but as someone who prefers my sleeve hem to not get dripped in salad dressing, it’s a trend that I’m not on board with.
McCall’s 7745 – Misses’ Wrap Dresses
I’m picking one pattern to highlight out of this bunch–which has cup sizes and two (but only two) of the views are bra-strap friendly. We’ve seen this style wrap dress a lot in recent offerings from other patternmakers, but hey, cup sizes.
M7745 – Misses’ wrap dresses
I saw a question in another online community recently wondering why as a curvy sewing-focused website, we haven’t given more attention to Petite Plus patterns, given that they’re drafted specifically for a curvy sewist. The answer, frankly, is that I don’t recall them having released any new patterns in the past few years, and I think their older patterns possibly fly under the radar of a lot of our readership. I think that among our readership, Kathleen Cheetham is better known for her well-regarded Craftsy classes, but for those who don’t know, she does have her own pattern line.
The new Shapely Blouse is the first new pattern that I can recall Petite Plus patterns releasing in quite some time. These patterns are rafted for petite 5′ 2″ women with narrow shoulders, full bust and lots of curves (basically, my own figure!). If you look past the dated styling in the sample photos and focus on the line drawings, PP’s new Shapely Blouse has a lot of potential for a cute blouse. I’m a big fan of open necklines like this, and the collar variations are fun without veering into being twee. We’ll be posting a review for this pattern in upcoming weeks.
Petite Plus patterns – Shapely Blouse
StyleArc had some fun new additions in March. My two favorites of the new patterns were a coat and a dress.
StyleArc consistently offers up a few interesting casual coat patterns per year, and the new Parker Coat is no exception. The Parker is designed for stable knits and a unique collar design. It also includes large patch pockets and a back vent for walking ease.
StyleArc – Parker Coat
The Talulah dress is an easy-to-sew and easy-to-wear knit dress with long sleeves and side gathers to give the skirt more of a flared shape. This one looks like it should be almost as fast of a project as a t-shirt dress, but with the skirt, it provides a little more visual interest.
StyleArc – Talulah Knit dress
Tessuti patterns have historically been fairly popular in some parts of the online sewing community over the past few years, but their typical size range isn’t very curve-friendly, topping out at a 106 cm/42″ bust. Recently, however, they’ve started offering some patterns with an extended size range, up to an AU size 22 (121 cm / 47.5″ bust).
One of the first patterns with this new size range is the easy-fitting pull-on Eva dress. The pull-on Eva dress is designed for medium-weight wovens and can be made sleeveless or with short sleeves. Its lantern-shaped skirt includes side pockets.
Tessuti Patterns – Eva dress
Tessuti Patterns – Milenda Dress
The other pattern with Tessuti’s new size range is the Milenda dress, which is designed for woven fabrics like linen and crepe. The Milenda features short sleeves, pockets, and stitched-down release pleats.
Tessuti Patterns – Milenda dress
Final Thoughts
I am so ready for warmer weather and to be able to feel like I can really start my Spring sewing. I have several rayon fabrics pulled for both the Petite Plus Shapely Blouse, the Cashmerette Montrose top, and I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of my paper version of the HotPatterns Bouvier Jacket. What are you planning to make from this month’s new releases?
I bought the Bouvier Jacket from Hot Patterns. There’s a photo of Coco Chanel on line somewhere and she’s wearing a similar jacket that looks like linen, unstructured, unlined. It’s not her signature boxy suit jacket that she’s famous for but a more slouchy jacket like this one. I can see this one being both lined and unlined. Great round-up, as usual!
Michelle,
I love your reviews. They’re a great cross section of established and indie pattern companies. Please don’t stop. 😉
As always, I love and appreciate these reviews you do. I can’t wait to get my HP jacket and skirt patterns. They will be a staple, I can tell. I completely missed the style sec coat, I may get it and make it for next fall. I love the neckline and collar.
The larger size patterns for Spring were really dreadful, there was nothing new worth buying. I am glad that you give us some other options. Your information is always top notch and I love reading it.
Pat
Why do so few outerwear patterns for larger women have any kind of closure? Do the designers think we don’t feel the cold at all?
I don’t think it’s so much that patterns for larger women lack closure; it’s more of an issue that many of the pattern lines that have outerwear patterns don’t go up into larger sizes. HotPatterns and StyleArc are both pretty inclusive, size-wise, and while their new patterns this month were more “transitional” in nature, if you take a look at their catalogues, they do both offer outerwear patterns with various closures.
Lucy,
I’ve noticed this trend also with the popular Sapporo Coat by Pappercut Patterns and the Strand coat by Merchant and Mills although they’re not specifically for larger sizes.
Really enjoyed the roundup – thank you! Lots of great styles. Last year, the collective published some suggested capsule wardrobes that were so helpful. Could we see more of these maybe a couple of times a year, like spring/summer and fall/winter? That is so helpful in making an organized closet plan, instead of “shooting from the hip” . Thank you again to all the contributors for your pattern evaluations and sharing your expertise!
The capsule wardrobes from last year were part of one of our theme months, but I do think it’s a great suggestion to revisit those ideas a few times a year with updated pattern suggestions for capsule wardrobes.
I think I like the stylearc coat the most… although I’m not sure I’m in the majority on that, lol
Thanks for these roundups, Michelle. They’re one of my favorite posts & I look forward to them at the end of each month.
🙂
Great review. I count on you to tell me what I’m buying this month. It’s the HP Jacket, Petite Plus shapely blouse, and LN Presto.
I have made the Petite Plus shirt and it was fine apart from the width of the collar. Next time I will make it at least 1 “ narrower if not more. I have a short thin neck.
The Capri pants were great as well
Nice roundup! I’m not a fan of flouncy sleeves in my food, either, but I loved all the new McCalls patterns, especially the off the shoulder ones. I have to wear a bra always so what I do is find bralettes or sports bras with pretty lace straps and just wear those. I know those blouse styles are supposed to be worn with strapless bras, but I’ve gotten a lot of compliments with wearing them with the lace strap bras underneath.
I’m also looking into making some bra strap covers (there are a ton of tutorials and images online) so I can just wear my favorite bra and not even have to worry about it.
Amen to the statement about bras! I missed the Parker Jacket and I didn’t know about the Tessuti dresses (love them both). Thanks so much for pulling these roundups together.
Always love these round-ups! Thank you for helping us to find patterns that work and that also look great. I bought the Montrose top immediately and have plans to make it up this weekend. Easter in the Northeast is predicted to be windy and cold, so Montrose will likely not debut on me for another week or two. Purchased the new Hotpatterns jacket as soon as it made its debut last weekend. Still waiting for it to arrive but am very excited about the potential. The online reaction to this jacket was extremely positive — it looks like a hit.
Oooh! Love the Tessuti shape! I bought Petite Plus’s blouse on pattern review. I love her patterns. O.K. I’m getting weak…………I’m buying the Montrose top! I’ve held off for a while now- but darn it I hafta have it! LOL!
Thank You for another great review!
So in love with that HP jacket! It has a 70s vibe and would look great with added pocket flaps – I have some kelly green corduroy that would work well for this jacket. Would love a top-stitiched denim version too. Thank you for pointing it out, I don’t tend to keep an eye out for HP releases so would have missed it!
I love the entire Burda collection, though I’d probably never wear the pants. The stately blouse could be a workhorse in the wardrobe. I usually like Style Arc but the coat seemed boring and the dress reminded very much of the 80s, I’m reasonably sure I have a similar pattern from that era in my stash. The tessuti patterns are interesting but I would still have to grade up and just don’t feel it right now. I may check out the hot patterns, those look very doable.
Thanks for the review.
Michelle,
I’m one of those who loves Petite Plus patterns and I have the Perfect Plus blouse. It is my favorite go to blouse pattern. The fit is fabulous and with a little imagination you can really dress it up or down. She also has available a short sleeve pattern addition if that’s what you’d like. Her drafting is superb and yes, some of the styling is off but we can do our own styling if we find something that fits!
Brigid
Exactly. That’s why I try to concentrate on the line drawings, rather than the sample photos. From the line drawing, the Shapely Blouse looks like a great basic. I’ve got a couple of designer and Japanese rayon pieces pulled for my version, which I think will be really cute with the blouse design.
I made the Burda tie top – my first traced Burda. Definitely can go down a size and I REALLY struggled with the directions for the tie part ( minimal instructions) but I wore it for the 2 nd time this week with leggings and actually felt really polished in it! Actually thinking about making another (going down in size).
Good to know! I actually ordered a single copy of the February 2018 issue because I liked the Plus collection so much.
The HP jacket is really cute. I’ve liked lots from the latest Burda plus collection and never thought to make that tie top without the sleeves. Super cute. And that shirt? LOVE. I’m not a 44 up top but I will try to make that one work because that’s a very nice neckline.
I’ve been in the minority with liking a lot of the McCall’s release :-p I completely missed that SA coat. Don’t need it…but it’s a cool design!
I basically looked at all of the tiny straps and off-the-shoulder designs of the McCall’s collection and “noped” it right off the bat. But if they made strapless bras in my size and if I was inclined to mess with them, I’d probably have given that collection a closer look. I usually like a few McCalls per collection, but this one just didn’t do it for me.
I agree so much with your statement on flouncy sleeves–you just can’t eat without them getting in the way!
I love, love, love McCall’s 7745! The cap sleeves are cute enough for me to get the pattern, but the other view is equally cute. How difficult to you think it would be to widen the straps to make them bra friendly?
I’m lazy. Rather than futzing with the strap width, I’d probably just make one of the raglan/cap sleeve views.
As far as how difficult it would be, it depends on the construction/draft of the straps. If they’re just skinny tubes, you could pretty easily widen them.
Thank you again for another great line-up! I hadn’t seen the Tessuti Milenda before and I think I’m just going to have to order it 🙂
Petite Patterns Plus Shapely Blouse was previously one of 4 patterns including a jacket, pants and skirt included in Kathleen Cheetham’s book “Perfect Fit Plus” published in 2008. The jacket and skirt in this book and her twin set pattern (the cardigan especially) are among my most frequently used patterns. She also has a great skort pattern.
I’d seen some discussion about her pattern being in that book–the book itself appears to be out of print now, so maybe that’s why she released it as a standalone pattern?
This is going to be my first Petite Plus pattern–I’m planning to muslin it as soon as I finish my Ottobre Moto Jacket (I just need to do the collar and hem band on that). I’m really curious to see how the PP fit works for me; the description sounds like it was drafted for a very similar body type to mine (although I’m expecting to need an FBA).
Thanks for the heads up on her book!
I just got the HotPatterns Bouvier Jacket in PDF. I’m pretty excited to try it out. 🙂
You’ve picked out all the patterns that have caught my eye, too, Michelle. Looking forward to seeing your makes!
Yay! I ordered the paper version when it was first released/on sale. (I have a mental limit for the number of PDF pages I’m willing to tape together.) I know that I’m a bit of a HotPatterns fangirl, but I really, really love this jacket–it’s the type of outer layer that I wear all the time in spring/fall (or in the summer with the office A/C).
This will be my first Hot Pattern! I love the look and think it will be perfect for this coldy bear during the summer AC blast. I can’t wait to use up my suiting fabric. 😀
I love the majority of your picks. Not into the Tessuti shapes or the long coat. All the others really get my juices flowing. Who doesn’t love pull-on jeans and a Hollywood elastic waist?
Well Michelle, You have done it again!! This was an outstanding review and I went bananas over the Burda blouse patterns. I think I may have to buy both of them. As always I look forward to your review.