Early Summer Butterick

More patterns! Let's hear it for the dresses!

B5750


B5749


B5758


B5751


B5744


B5761 Connie Crawford -- Does this contain the Spiral Wrap pattern I paid $12 for?

B5760 -- The dress and the cardigan make this an interesting mix of pieces for a wardrobe


B5789



B5756 -- love the maxi

Simplicity Spring 2012

New Simplicity patterns!  Here are my favs:

I heart Jessica McClintock


My first Cynthia Rowley pick. This will have to be longer of course.

Simply perfect.


These remind me of S3503 and S2401, but the uneven hemline on these is so cool.


Three cheers for Amazing Fit!


And that's all folks!

My First Traditional FBA -- A Work In Progress

I've discovered that one of the reasons it takes me forever to complete anything is because I'm delusional stubborn. When I get stuck on an alteration, I try to figure any way to solve the issue that won't result in a seam or a dart. (This only applies to knits.) Given how curvy am, this is a completely ridiculous notion. I've come to terms with the CB seam. The last holdout was the FBA.

I thought Nancy Zieman and her championing of the pivot and slide method would be the answer to my problems. That's still the easiest way for me to tackle the square shoulder adjustment, but it just wasn't working for my more extreme adjustments. What really helped me get there with the FBA was The Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting, which I will review later.

So, I sucked it up and admitted that the 4" difference in my upper bust and bust measurements necessitated a traditional FBA :-(  Enter the "Y" Bust Dart Alteration from Fit for Real People.

Not sure I got the placement right, but we'll see what happens. Yep, I'm still working on B5562. (I'm really sticking to my no UFO resolution.)

I still have a teeny tiny bit of hope for a no-dart FBA.  The Sew/Fit Manual by Ruth Oblander is the original pivot and slide book and it has a special section on "Uneven Block Extensions" which is apparently what I need to make the method work. I didn't fully understand it, but I will devote more time to it later. Right now, I just want to finish this top quickly so I can move on. Since I still have to figure out the collar, I took the FBA path of least resistance.

Hopefully, tomorrow morning, I'll fill it in with tissue and try it on. I might even get to adding the width to the side seams.

McCall Bought Kwik Sew

Huh? Not sure how I feel about this. I love Kwik Sew for different reasons than the BMV brands. I have separate likes and dislikes for each of the BMV brands, but they are unified drafting and the quality of their pattern instructions, both of which can be a mixed bag. To me, what separates the BMV brands is design and, in some cases, attention to fit and level of difficulty.

Kwik Sew has simply awesome directions. They seem modern. They include instructions for serging, 1/4" seam allowances for knits, stabilizing techniques for knit tops, etc. I don't think I've read many complaints about Kwik Sew's drafting. Extra points for all sizes in one envelope and the heavier paper.

I don't own as many Kwik Sew patterns as I do Butterick or McCall's. (I think Kwik Sew falls somewhere between them in terms of classic and contemporary design.)  But I tend to use the Kwik Sew patterns as a reference for other brands.

Please, please let this be the case of best practices being shared across brands and not making the new acquisition fit into the old model.