Hi everyone! A few years back, I used to talk about my favorite new home sewing pattern released from the year. I stopped doing this because I became I became so busy I couldn’t keep track of all the patterns I bought that year. This year, I decided to revive these posts, but only as a one month pattern haul. The pattern hauls will include all the new patterns I bought during that month that I want to talk about and, sometimes, what I plan on using the pattern for.
And now, onto the haul!
It’s been a while since I made a post about patterns I bought. Ok, it’s been over a year. And a half. *sigh* I thought about making a favorite patterns for 2016 in December, but I decided not to because life was so crazy for me that I didn’t keep track about what patterns came out last year. I don’t think I’ll be doing a favorite pattern post this year either, but I wanted to talk about Simplicity’s print on demand service.
I had my eye on several patterns available on Simplicity’s print on demand service for many months, but earlier this year bought one. This pattern eventually became available in stores a few months later. Since I had the print on demand pattern, I bought the store version and wanted to do a review of the print on demand pattern and the differences between the print on demand pattern and store pattern.
Disclaimer: I did not receive any compensation for this review nor was I sponsored in any way. I just really wanted these patterns so I purchased them with my own money. I also know there are other blog posts reviewing the print on demand service, but wanted to write a review myself because I wanted to talk about the patterns I ordered. If all goes as planned, I’ll be making a costume using at least one of the patterns I ordered.
The information in this post is current as of August 2017. Continue reading “Simplicity’s Print on Demand Review”
Finally, I made the follow up post to my favorite sewing patterns from McCall’s! (Just in time for Halloween too) It took me longer than I wanted to type this post because Simplicity and McCall’s released even more new costume patterns for sale. This was driving me crazy because… well… I thought they would release them at once and be done with it. Instead they released them in phases. Since I cannot go to a store as easily as I could last year, it took me a while to buy all the patterns I wanted.
Since I’m currently reorganizing my sewing room, I was unable to take photos of all the patterns I bought and wanted to feature in this post. Because of this, I’m using pictures from Simplicity’s website to show what the costumes should look like. Continue reading “Favorite Patterns for 2015- Simplicity”
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… Continue reading “Favorite Patterns for 2015- McCall’s”
Lately I’ve been sewing costumes for this year’s Arizona Renaissance Festival. All the costumes I’m working on are complex and/or detailed and, although everything looks good and is coming together well, I became dishearten about the speed I was working on them. I thought it would be a good self esteem booster to make a simple sewing project and show myself that I can sew fast, sew very well, and the only reason why it takes me so long to make the costumes is because they are just that complex and has nothing to do with my sewing abilities.
Back in December, I found a reprint of a 1940’s Simplicity pattern for a skirt, pants, blazer, and shirt in one of Simplicity’s pattern books. The pattern, Simplicity’s 3688, immediately caught my eye. I had an idea to make a skirt in the style of the skirt used in a woman’s RAF World War II uniform, but I couldn’t find a pattern that was originally printed in the 1940’s. It irritated me because I knew there should be a pattern, but nobody was reprinting it or selling it. The skirt in the Simplicity pattern was the closest I ever saw to the RAF skirt so I bought the pattern along with blue twill to make the skirt out of.
I was able to finish the skirt this weekend and here’s how it looks…
The pattern was surprisingly easy to work with and the skirt fit was correct. Usually when I work with Simplicity patterns that are close fitting to the torso, I need to enlarge the pattern a size or more in order to allow room to fit over my hips. Even if there is a shirt in the pattern and the shirt fits me, I still need to enlarge the the skirt size. With this pattern, I used my normal size and it worked perfectly. I’m very happy with the pattern! The waistband of the skirt sits higher than I’m used to, but I like it anyway. I don’t know when I’ll be able to wear it for the first time, but it’s ready to go!
I’m planning on making the shirt that goes with the pattern and possibly the blazer as well. I don’t know if they will fit properly like the skirt did, but I’m hopeful they will. Right now the shirt and blazer are not a top priority on my sewing list, but possibly after I finish my Festival costumes I’ll be able to go fabric shopping and see what I can find.
That’s all for now!
As many fans of Frozen probably already know, there are commercial sewing patterns based off Anna and Elsa’s clothes. In fact, when the commercial Frozen patterns was available for sale for the first time, it was impossible for me to find one in either adult or child size. Last year I has similar pattern finding problems, except it was for a Merida dress and two coat patterns for characters from the TV show Once Upon a Time. After waiting for 99 cent pattern sales, I’ve gathered as many Frozen sewing patterns I know of available for sale at Joann’s and Hobby Looby and created a list of all the ones I know of.
Before I compare the pattern, I included a history of Frozen sewing patterns, such as which pattern came first, and some notes about their popularity based off my experience looking for them at Joann’s and Hobby Lobby stores near where I live.
Side Note: I was asked before if I received compensation for reviews about patterns. No, I do not receive compensation for reviews on patterns or anything I talk about on my blog. For me sewing is party a hobby and party a job, but talking about patterns falls into the hobby category. Continue reading “A Summary of Frozen Home Sewing Patterns”
Last week, I walked into Hobby Lobby during their 99 cent McCall’s pattern sale without any intention to buy a pattern. Much to my surprise, I found several new costume patterns, but three in specific caught my eye. The first two are coats that have a very heavy Once Upon a Time costume influence while the other is heavily influenced by Merida’s dress from Brave.
Like other McCall’s and Simplicity patterns I’ve found over the years that are based off costumes from movies and TV shows, these patterns are not 100% accurate to the original costumes, but they should give the person using them a good head start and will take a lot of the stress of creating a pattern from scratch.
Before I talk about my favorite new McCall’s costume patterns for 2013, allow me to explain why I’m so excited about one of the patterns…
Back in August of 2012, I began to make Merida from Brave’s dress. I never did finish it, but I used a McCall’s costume pattern to make the dress. (I don’t remember the number of the pattern at this time) I ran into some problems making the dress fit, and assembling the costume in general, so I set it aside with the intention to go back to the costume and finish it after I learned more about sewing or a Merida-style pattern shows up on the market.
Anyway, back to the patterns…
Continue reading “Favorite McCall’s Costume Patterns for 2013”