Favorite Patterns for 2015- McCall’s

It’s that time of year when Simplicity and McCall’s release their costume patterns and for me to make talk about my favorite patterns from the new releases. Normally I talk about what patterns would be great for, but this year there are so many patterns aimed directly at cosplayers/costumers that I decided to talk about what patterns I like the most for McCall’s and Simplicity in separate posts.

First, I’ll start with McCall’s…

This year McCall’s released two patterns designed by cosplayer Yaya Han. This surprised me because in the past pattern companies, like McCall’s and Simplicity, usually do not hire a cosplayer to design patterns for them. Asking Yaya Han to design sewing patterns is, to me, a nod to the cosplayers that buy their patterns that McCall’s knows they’re there and would like to make patterns that are useful for them. Simplicity also did this, but I’ll talk about that in a different post.

The patterns Yaya designed caught my eye because I could see myself using them. The first is pattern number 7217, the body suit pattern….

Now, I’m not fond of making tight fitting costumes (I love princess dresses and ballgowns too much) this pattern did peak my interest for two reasons…

First, the pattern can be modified to make a leotard. Although I have not use for a body suit, I do have use for a leotard. I already have a costume I want to make that I want to wear a leotard under. I already have a leotard purchased for that costume, but thanks to recent growth spurts, I’m concerned it might not fit me anymore because my torso is too long. So far I had no problem with it, but it is something that I think about when I think of the costume. Having a leotard pattern that I can adjust the torso size on gives me some piece of mind.

Second of all, since the pattern can be adapted to a leotard and I can adjust the torso size on, I immediately thought of making a swim suit out of it. I don’t go swimming often but when I do I like wearing one piece suits. After the before mentioned growth spurts, I tried to find a new swim suit so I could have in my wardrobe in case I have a reason to use it. I ended up leaving the store without a suit because all the one piece suits were too short for my torso. I did find some online that could fit me, but they weren’t within my budget at that time and I didn’t like the way they looked. As for this pattern, I like the way it looks. It might need some modification to turn it into a swim suit, but I like the way it looks more than the other swim suit patterns I’ve seen.

The second pattern Yaya designed is 7218, the peacock dress…

I remember when Yaya made and wore the dress for the first time years ago. I loved it back then so I thought it might be nice to own the pattern of the dress. Also, I’m currently working on a costume that will allow me to use the bolero jacket pattern. 🙂

After hearing about Yaya’s patterns, I found out McCall’s designed a pattern to make dress that looks like Cinderella’s ballgown, pattern number 7213…

I was initially not interest the pattern, I’m making my own Cinderella dress and I already figured out what patterns I wanted to use, and I planned on skipping over it until I realized the pattern comes with anther pattern to make Belle’s yellow ballgown from Beauty and the Beast. I’m planning on making Belle’s ballgown sometime soon so I decided just as potential reference I’ll get it.

Pattern 7213 comes in adult and child sizes. I bought the adult size, but I plan on buying the child’s size in the future. I don’t have a little girl, or a child for that matter, but I do have a friend that is expecting a girl around the time of my birthday. I don’t know what princess she’ll like, but if she likes Belle or wants a ballgown to play in for her birthday, I’m ready to make her one!

Making my friend’s daughter some play or Renaissance Festival dresses is also why I bought pattern number 7212…

And I also plan on buying pattern number 7214.

Even if I never use the patterns for my friend’s children, I’ll keep them because I’m sure they’ll come in handy one day.

The last costume pattern I liked from McCall’s is 7216, a men’s costume…

When I saw it for the first time, I immediately thought of the costumes from the movie The Mask of Zorro or a Mariachi costume, but after some thought I realized I could use it for the Beast’s suit from Beauty and the Beast. (Specifically the Broadway musical) I’ll need to modify it some, but I can use it to make a suit the Beast wears when he becomes human again. Now all I need to go is get a guy to be the Beast to my Belle!

Now, what about Simplicity? What are my favorite patterns from them? Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about them. Simplicity released so many new patterns this year that I’m having trouble keeping up with all the new releases. For that reason, I’m delaying the post until I have the time to figure out what’s new and what I like.