Pattern Review: S1461 + The floral princess

Picking the right floral print can be tricky for me sometimes.  Do I want a large print or small, do I want realistic looking flowers or no?  The options are endless, but very common for spring and summer.  One of my pet peeves is fit, and I love tunics because they are comfy, but sometimes you can step over into “ill fitted”.  I wanted something that was semi fitted and would look good after wearing it all day.  I found what I was looking for in this multi cup sized tunic pattern.  I see so many possibilities with this, but I also see some issues.  Read on…

Pattern Description:  


Misses’/ Women’s tunic with neckline and sleeve variations.  Separate pattern pieces included for B, C, D cup sizes for misses’ and C, D, DD cup sizes for women’s.

I cut view C

Pattern Sizing:  

20w-28w  I cut a 22W DD cup

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


Yes, right down to the wonky neck line.

Were the instructions easy to follow?  


Yes.  I got a little confused on the neckline and facing, but they tend to trip me up so no surprise there.  I figured it out eventually :).

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?  

Likes:
*I like the cup variations.  I do so much fitting that it’s nice not to have to do an FBA.
*I like the princess seams
*I like the sleeve variations
*I like the neck variations
* I like that you can have a slit on the side or not.
*I like that I didn’t need any closures, i.e. zippers or buttons Yay!!

Dislikes:

* I did not like the neckline wonkyness on view c.  I thought I did something wrong but there’s a big difference on the technical drawing and model.  The model has a wonky neckline so I guess that’s normal.

** Not really a dislike as it is a tunic, but more of a preference.  I wish they had a shorter tunic.  I know you can lengthen shorten, but it would have been nice for  them to already do it for you.  I know, just being lazy here.

Fabric Used:


Linen/poly blend from Joanna’s Fabric

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:  


I normally sew a D cup although I fall between a C/D cup.  D gives me enough room so I don’t have to tug at my top.  I cut a DD just to see if there was a difference.  I couldn’t tell a difference between the D/DD but I cut it because well, for no other reason then to try it.  I’m a rebel!

I graded out to a 24 at the hip on the back side and front side pattern pieces only.

I added about 2 inches to the sleeve width at the bicep.   I traced the sleeve cap and then traced the sleeve  a second time so I ended up with a copy of the sleeve and a copy of just the outline of the sleeve.  I then slash and spread the copied sleeve 2 inches and added tissue to cover the area I slashed.  I then taped the spread sleeve back onto the copied sleeve cap to keep the sleeve cap in tact since I slashed more than an inch.

The last time I slashed a sleeve I distorted the sleeve cap.  This way, I kept the original sleeve cap which made easing the sleeve very easy a technique I saw on Pattern review forums and some blogs.

Would you sew it again? 


Yes!  I want to do some more research on how to fix the wonkyness of the neckline for view C, once I do that I will sew again, or try one of the other views.

Would you recommend it to others?


Yes!!!  You can’t go wrong with the multiple cup sizes and the princess seams.  You can easily modify to get different looks.

Cost:
Pattern: $1.00
Fabric: 2 yrds @ $4.50 /yrd  $9.00

Total: $10.00

Time:

3-4 hours

 Conclusion:


This is a great pattern and easy to sew!  Great for beginners.