Making StyleArc Issy a couple of months ago turned out to be my biggest flop in a while. This top swamped me. But the fault was mine, not the pattern’s. I’d made the cardinal mistake of not checking the sizing and picked the most lugubrious fabric! Feeling Issy deserved more, I offered the pattern to whoever felt up to the challenge of making a better job of it.
Lesley in Australia said yes!
I can’t wait to see what she’s made of it! She’s hinted that it’s good. The big reveal, on Lesley’s blog Sew Nip Tuck, is imminent!
Lesley suggested we keep Issy in circulation – an admirable idea – and she’s going to pick the next recipient from those who leave a comment on her post, so do go down under and sign up! Issy is not a particularly difficult make and the instructions (for StyleArc anyway) are sufficient. Also, this company’s pattern paper is the proper white stuff, not tissue, so it’s likely to survive going round the blogosphere a few times.
October 2015: Lesley and Kate, at Kate’s
Another feature of Pass the Pattern challenge is that whoever wins Issy will post a reciprocal ‘mystery’ pattern to the person who sent it: something from your stash you guess might suit them. This was also Lesley’s suggestion so when she told me something was on the way, I had a sense of anticipation. After all, her blog and comments on my posts always reveal good judgement. Besides, the two of us have met in real life. It’s like she knows me!!
When the parcel arrived, the stamps on it were so pretty the Blogstalker sat down on it with determined, possessive fury….
Eventually I tore out this:
Vogue 1285
Immediate thought: this looks like my Style Arc Lea (a favourite of 2015). The ghost of my concerned grandmother began to whisper: “But Marijana, do you really need another dress?!” Vogue 1285 by Tracy Reese, has a kind of Studio-54-Bianca-Jagger vibe and may be familiar to you as the pattern with the “inverted darts”. They’re kind of controversial, flapping about and in the shape of fish lips. In fact, most sewists who’ve reviewed this pattern have tended not to make them.
And yet, look at this Hobbs dress in the shops a few years ago, where similar waist darts had been topstitched down on the outside. It looks great with the rough-hewn denim look: it’s certainly an idea worth copying. Also, a notched collar similar to the one on the V1285 recently caught my eye on this beautiful velvet coat (alas, it’s £199!). I cut this out from some catalogue meaning to copy that too!
So do I need another dress? Well yeah, like, OBVIOUSLY!
Thank you Lesley! 🙂
And good luck to those playing Pass the Pattern.
But the result is this cowled look which I’ve been seeing on womenswear for a few years now. At first it seemed an elegant alternative to the simple jersey top but I’ve come to the party too late and it’s all a bit hackneyed.