A Farewell to Paprika Patterns

 https://paprikapatterns.com/

I tested for her on a couple of things, and it's the end as we know it, 

from the email on December 23rd:

the rest of the announcement is at

https://preview.mailerlite.io/preview/84760/emails/75273100187403615

I tested for them with the Ruby Joggers and the Zircon pullover, the Ruby joggers worked better than the piecing on the Zircon for my limited knit sewing talents. I learned a lot on the Ruby's, and still have my first pair.

https://erniekdesigns.blogspot.com/2018/02/jasper-gets-new-collar.html

The Jasper is still the banger of the collection, the hood is super fun, the instructions are great. I'd cut it wider next time, it runs slender and I do not. it's worth your time if you haven't tried it yet.

I am posting this announcement to mark the moment: the people who were designing in the beginning of the indie boom have pulled away for the most part. Heather Lou at Closet Core is still in the game and doing great at it. I am hard pressed to think of many who are still going at it with new designs.

At some point, the job is a job and needs attention paid to it, and that's a big ask. You can't be heard in the social media marketplace anymore as a little voice, or even as a bigger one.

There's so much noise to signal.

Anyway, there's a sale. Go to it. 

My favorite indie patterns at the moment

You want a good freebie:

https://fancytigercrafts.com/collections/free-patterns/products/one-hour-top.

This one is pretty nice, too

https://byhandlondon.com/products/polly-top

I am curious why so many really simple Independent patterns are priced the way they are.

Maybe other countries don't have club prices or Joann's for cheap patterns, but I'll be honest, 

a pattern has got to rock my world for me to spend over $10 USD on it.

I need it to come to my house, open up and cut itself.

The ones I am fondest of, the ones I make over and over again and have bought more than one, more than once. The ones I foist on others, insisting: NO, really, this one is genius....

The Tiramisu from Sewing Cake

https://www.create-everyday.com/products/0144-tiramisu-knit-dress-pdf

It's all there on the envelope. It's just four pieces.

Why this fits EVERY BODY like a dream, well, lightning struck Steph C and this is the result. Do not question, just accept. Google search the photos for this if you need proof. 

Vintage Vests 222 Folkwear

https://www.folkwear.com/products/222-vintage-vests?variant=35454321102

Pretty much all of the Folkwear are great, but this is the only vest pattern I ever use. It's well drafted, comes in mens and womens sizes, and has great instructions. First welt pockets I ever made, and made a believer out of me.

Loes Hinse Textile Studio Barcelona Dress

This is the other dress that makes everyone look amazing, but this one has sleeves that work and can be made in a woven. This dress, in polka dots, has broken stubborn humans that dared to cross me. It's out of print, but it's out there. It's worth the search.

Barcelona dress line drawing. It's pretty simple to figure out. The skirt is one piece, cut four times, on the bias. The bodice is a pullover with small waist darts, cut ongrain.

CB Spiral Blouse

https://www.centerforpatterndesign.com/patterns/cb-spiral-blouse

I've only made this once, it's a little tricksy to stitch up. There's a part on the sleeve that you have to take on faith (and maybe fold up the paper pattern to see how it could possibly work).  But it does, and it's not a fabric hog. Very wearable, and very worth the $20.

Felix Grainline Revisited: The Fin

I'm shocked I didn't write about this dress when I made it in 2019. 

I think I just didn't want to dwell on another epic fail.

 I had enough fabric leftover to make a couple of masks to go with it this year, so it got a little more love around the house.

Matching mask and dress. There are many matches when your stash is 95% novelty cotton

I did wear it pretty frequently this summer. I do not like the pattern.

 I really hated it at the time when I finished it.

Useful clues:

I had never made a Grainline pattern before this, I was not familiar with the fit profile.

Not useful clues:

I did not line it, because it doesn't need it. The collar/facing finishes itself and the inseam pockets are close to the outside seam and not big enough to need the internal support.

The measurements had enough slack in them to just make out without a toile. 

It's a pullover dress for light woven fabrics.

HOW HARD CAN THIS BE?

Ernie Kovacs, from Giphy

I love this Alexander Henry print, I love how the black collar really pops (which is why it lived in heavy rotation) and sets this fabric off. I love what the dress should look like.

And looking at the photos again, I can see where it went wrong and why it irritates me.

Grainline illustration from website

Several makes of this dress, including the designer, has the same problem:

it's got a fin in the front.

http://www.stonelakeroad.com/home/2019/5/13/two-felix-dresses

https://grainlinestudio.com/collections/dresses/products/felix-dress?variant=22533591040082

When more than one person has the same issue, it's not operator error.

To figure out where this went wrong, I had to reverse engineer it. To see the pattern, I had to figure out when I had purchased it, and where I had put the PDF on my computer (or had I deleted it entirely in disgust? No, but I did toss the printed pattern.)??

Grainline Patterns photo from website

I did find the photos, still unedited, in that month's folder.

I was really steamed about it, as the skirt stuck out in front like the photo below

(and this is the cut down version of this effect).

Hanging up in the website photo, the center is nice and flat, but there's a lot of skirt there. And the back of the skirt is coming forward to the front, just on the hanger. It's all pulling to the front.

My dress enters the room before I do

Selfies from work last summer. Not my pinball machine.

This is the problem

see that? I have a front fin and it hikes up in front. A lot. 

I could not figure out why I have so much fabric in the front in relation to the bodice: I had cut the same size for the skirt as the bodice, and if I slipped up by a size, I wouldn't have that much (and it's a LOT) fabric in the front.

Now I have cut that down (and cut it down again),  and it's manageable (mostly because I love the print/black contrast neckline). I tolerate it.

I have a lot of process photos, but this one of adding the neck facing is going here because I like it.

I wore it a lot; that long v neck with the facing collar is very flattering, it feels good to wear (not every dress wears well in quilting cotton) and it's different from the usual subjects in my closet. The pockets are a bit short (almost 7" deep, not quite enough for a phone and all the potential volume). 

I was going to trim down the front skirt, and continue that skirt gather to the back in a swoop

red line is new style line

Like this

But this is not going to solve it. 

Aubrey Plaza for drama

So what do I think is the problem with this pattern?

The neckline/shoulder seams pull the dress up in front: also, the front v neck should be longer, the skirt/bodice seam is unequally curved. Mainly, it's out of balance from front to back.

I got the idea from Dressmaking Debacles.

http://dressmakingdebacles.blogspot.com/2018/08/grainline-felix.html

"I'm thinking the neck/shoulder fit on Grainline just doesn't work for me. I believe it's meant for a more erect back; the shoulder seam is WAY back on me and I do not have forward shoulders."

And she has the same issue with the skirt in the front.

The neckline is pulling the dress up and to the back.

Look at the selfie profile photo again (it hurts me to look, you go ahead)

The quantity of fabric in front isn't helping.

Oh dear.

I do like the style lines.

So, my solution is simple.

I will be adding these style/seam lines to an existing TNT a-line sheath pattern.

The more I look at the seam line between the bodice and the front skirt on this page, the more I see how it adds to the problem in the front.  The top of the front skirt panel is too flat, relative to the width and curve of the bodice. It's not a lot, but just enough to create that front fin and skirt ride-up. 

I could correct the pieces to make this adjustment, but then there's the angle of the bodice vs my torso.  There's just too many moving parts to get them to fit. I'm really better off just tracing off a new TNT 'a line' dress pattern, drawing  the style lines on it to add the deep v collar (faking the overlap which has no practical purpose) and adding seam allowances as necessitated by adding separate pieces. 

I did add a tiny modesty panel at the base of the v neck, It's deep for me,  as I am actually a pretty modest dresser. My skirts have crept up from shrinkage over the years; I do have some deep seated issues about my knees it seems.

In reconsidering this pattern, it does offer an opportunity to salvage another dress that's been lurking in the WIP pile.
Maybe that long flat facing 'collar' is a solution to this

I love novelty prints, but they can be overwhelming, and it's nice to break them up with a solid trim, or just embrace the insanity and add another print to the mix.

Percy will approve

ATATAC Paper Doll Preview. post three

if ya click on the photos, they get bigger. Or you can slide on by.

Continued.

I have made the spiral shirt from CFPD, so I think I know how this is going to work.

https://www.centerforpatterndesign.com/patterns-1/cb-spiral-blouse

Because of all this, the sleeves make a certain level of sense to me out of the box.

And look at this striped version. The stripes run vertically. They are horizontal on the sleeve, and you can see a curved seam on the bicep, left of the pocket.

This is the time for the tiny paper model.

Copy

Print

Cut out

Add grain lines

Start goofing around.

Where is the neckline? Make that look like a neckline

And use the marked pockets as guideposts

Folding

The seam goes around forming the armscye

Which will keep winding to make a sleeve tube

With a really high armhole. Which is good for mobility (remember those flamenco sleeves?)

Your flexibility is going to come with your fabric choice I believe

And it works

Paper is not very flexible

One side folded, one side flat

Marked up the match points

and put them on the copy in the computer.

I love Paint. Don't take it from me, Microsoft!

So it will work. The front placket area looks to be a little less than the model shows (it barely touches). So I will do a little more goofing around with paper. And then a slightly larger fabric model. I'd really rather fiddle around with dinky seams and tape than scale up too early and curse the time I'd wasted.

And then there's that 'can I size it up?' issue.

But that's another day.

Further!

Atatac Pod Racer Jacket PDF Friday Night PARTY post one

L'Etoffe Fabrics put this link on their spring email.

https://shop.atacac.com/collections/sharewear

And as always, clicking on the photos makes 'em bigger.

And so I clicked and there goes housekeeping this week.

And now I'm sharing. 

Interesting shop and design company.

http://atacac.com/company/

Trying to make wearable digital design, with some visual wit and maybe toss some TR flavor on the mix. 

Even if you have no interest in their product or the rabbit hole you KNOW i'm wandering into, that description of their business and their model is worth five minutes of your time.

Where they are doing with this technology

https://www.clo3d.com/

There are no instructions. 

There are some clues, and a digital book of inspiration

http://atacac.com/book/

It's free. I have some free time. I love an adventure! Let's jam!

The pattern sheet is one big picture. I will need to print it out in tiles/pieces 

Eighty pages. 

Next time, I'd do a screen capture of this small gridded image for reference.

Eighty pages can go wrong so fast....

Don't judge me on my printer. It still gets the job done.

You want the cut marks. If the paper misfeeds (and it will), you'll need the marks to line stuff up.

Eighty pages. 

And I have to stand there and catch them, because the catching box is AWOL.

Who recycled my box?

I use paper from work and home that was just printed on one side. Most of it is dead stuff from the fax machine, some of it is stuff that my boss just is too thrifty to recycle. I used to get this from a pal in a real estate office. Nothing sensitive. Lots of boilerplate. And I thank them all from the bottom of my PDF printing heart.

I did a print of the whole pattern layout for reference.

and then I marked it up when I went through the printed pages, to give myself a sense of how pages will relate to each other.

That previous screen capture shot would have been a good idea......

I taped this in strips, starting with the bottom row and working up.

Those cutmarks are tiny but clear.

overlapping action shots

and laid them out on the floor

while watching superhero tv.

Okay, back to the floor show.

You don't want to tape them down tightly - you will have to wiggle them to fit to each other. And a ten page strip has room for a lot of error.

This is only half of the pages.

The floor is disappearing. I will have to cut this up into sections.

The big piece in the middle needs to stay together, but everything above that are smaller and can be assembled on the table. and my back is killing me.

Cat in upper right for scale 

Ant for scale. That was the rest of the day. 

That's the big piece. If I try to fold it up, it will rip.

I get these big upholstery tubes at Pacific Fabrics by crying.

After the big piece was assembled, the smaller bits can be cut out and taped together individually.

Doesn't it look like it fell apart on the floor below?

Now I need to know more about what and how this goes together

https://shop.atacac.com/collections/outerwear/products/pod-driver-jacket-1

the 3D viewer is at the bottom of the page and rotates

Clicking makes this readable. European Tuc tuc drivers?

The pockets are on the side that is not under the safety belt. There's a safety belt in a tuc tuc?

DAMN. I like this thinking!

But what are all these parts I've been cutting out? How many welts does a pocket need? Couldn't they be one piece, repeated?

After staring at the 3D model in rotation, and looking at the way the lines on the body reveal the grainline, I think I have it. And I will have to put it on the form to see how those sleeves work. 

And those u-shapes? They are the bellows for the cargo pockets. 
We have to stop here. Yes, this is a series. Yes, it will continue this week.