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Pattern Review: V9253+ The Dress
I wasn’t sure about this dress, all I could see is cleavage! and lots and lots of fabric. There was yet another IG challenge that I had to partake in, these ladies are awesome! If you don’t follow me on Instagram, you should, lots of shenanagins going on there. I get so much inspiration and encouragement, I get excited each month. I passed this pattern up multiple times, mostly because I couldn’t see beyond what I didn’t like. I’m learning to look at the “bones” of the pattern, I’ve talked about this before, but really, I probably would have passed this one up. In comes my Facebook groups again. Let…
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Pattern Review: S8344+ The Body Suit
Hi there! Well, I’m coming to you with another pattern review. I sewed up Simplicity 8344, this is an Ashley Nell Tipton pattern, if you don’t know who she is, she won Project Runway, the only plus sized designer to do so. She has two patterns and I have them both! She is a great designer that happens to be plus size, she also has a line of clothing at JcPenny. This was a quick and easy sew and I’m not a body suit type of gal, what if I have to pee!!! If you’re not following me on Instagram, you should. I share a lot of ideas, construction…
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Pattern Review: New Look 6507 + the fail dress turned top
I whined and complained on Facebook about how this turned out and after it’s all said and done, I didn’t adjust this pattern properly. I wanted it done and I didn’t really pay attention to the issues I was having, lesson learned. This is a basic pattern and I should have taken a little more time to figure out how and where I needed to make changes. I needed to shape this better as it was really boxy in the back or made it more of shift swing dress and went on with it. This was not a complete fail but a lesson in reading the muslin and making a…
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Pattern Test- Bella Sunshine Desing’s Amelia dress
**Disclosure: I received this PDF pattern for free as a part of testing. The thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are purely my own. *** I really like pattern testing, it’s a lot of work, but I enjoyed the process. I learn something every time I test and I come out with a wearable garment. For this test, I tested the Amelia dress pattern by Bella Sunshine Designs. I was part of pretesting which was interesting, very fast pace and I got to see how changes effect the design and outcome. I went through two muslins to get this fit, but the BSD team was there to look at…
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Pattern Review: Simplicity 8379+ Scandalous animal print knit dress
I love this dress! I’ve made it for me and mini me and I can see one more in my future. I saw one of my sew sisters make this and she encouraged me to make it. It’s super simple and flattering, I wasn’t sure of adding any extra in the hip area, but it works. I encourage you to give this dress a try, if you can rock it short, do you, but I added missionary level length as that’s just my style. Don’t forget to check out the tips and techniques used on this garment, I’ve added a link to a tutorial for the visual learners. On…
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Pattern Review: B6205 + Metallic stripes
Hi! Well, I’m back with another dress! I picked up this striped cotton and metallic fabric from Joann’s with no clue what I would make with it. I thought a dress, but it’s a thin shirting material and I wasn’t sure if it had enough body for a dress. One of my Facebook groups had a stripes challenge and I thought, what a great way to use and highlight this fabric. I’ve also seen these tie shoulders on a ready to wear dress online and thought it was interesting. I have forward shoulders, so an opportunity to not make a shoulder adjustment is a plus! The dress also reminds me…
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Pattern Review: Cashmerette Upton dress
Can I just say, I love this dress! I just finished the Cashmerette Upton Dress! I think like everyone else who has made this dress, I was skeptical of sizing, I guess we can blame that on the fit issues most have with commercial patterns. I don’t have many Indie patterns because commercial patterns are available and cheap. You can’t beat $1.99, I’m not bashing commercial patterns, I have over 400, I know, I know, most I haven’t made, and many of them I purchased for a dollar. There are some really good ones in my stash so I can’t say they are worthless. As I grow as a sewer/…
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Remake: M7313 + spring dress for brunch
I was invited to a Jazz brunch by my cousin and I knew I wanted to make something to wear. Well, life got in the way, and I didn’t finish the dress I wanted to make. I was a little upset, because I really, really like wearing what I make so my husband asked if I could make something this morning. I wasn’t sure, but I saw Judith Dee on Instagram and she just made M7313. I said, wait, I have that pattern and I love that pattern and that pattern is super easy! I pulled it out and used this super cute Liverpool knit from LA finch Fabrics. Liverpool…
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Pattern Review: V1473+ The barganista Challenge
Ok, let me tell you ’bout this dress! First, why this dress? Well, Pattern Review has contests every month and I try and catch a few of them throughout the year to help stretch myself in regards to the things I sew. Recently, I sewed some active wear, thanks to the active wear contest, you can see that review here. But about this dress, I made this dress as a part of the Barganista contest, where you are recreating a designer look on the cheap. I looked around and I just didn’t know what I wanted to make so I changed my focus a bit, I changed what I was…
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PDF Pattern Test: Sahara ladies top and dress
This is my first time testing a PDF pattern and it was fun! I found out about the opportunity to test a top/dress PDF pattern from Bella Sunshine Designs from the Curvy Sewing Collective’s Facebook group. I applied to be a tester and I was selected, I knew nothing about the designer, the pattern or what the process entailed, but after telling my husband about it he said, why not? I’m sooo happy I stepped out of my comfort zone! I have a new found respect for patterns and the time, blood, sweat and tears that are put into drafting and testing them. The pattern I tested didn’t have a…
