Lace+Crepe

New house, new photo space. This is the last time I’ll be using the balcony-the light is awful (that top is way darker) and I don’t need the extra level of grunge courtesy the rainwater harvest system.

This is a pretty cool pattern for using tiny little scraps of fabric. Great for remnants and even better for using small (read, affordable) amounts of very expensive fabric for that totally luxe feeling.

I want to make another but probably won’t due to the blinding rage of having to piece it together from shitty little A4s* because the seller ‘lacks the time to recreate the pattern in a larger format’ (the file the A4s version was tiled from would have been more than sufficient). I’m all for supporting entrepreneurship but I’m not putting money down for something that turns my hobby into a chore.

It’s probably long enough to cover ‘coin slottage’ issues with low waist jeans (if made it up in an opaque fabric ;).

I bought this (and two other patterns) before I knew providing untiled pdfs was some sort of epic quest that required special effort and a twelve-sided dice (NB:I’ve sewn pdf patterns from Pattern Runway, Victory Patterns and Salme Patterns which were provided, on request, in untiled large/A0 format. Big ups to Lisa of Paprika patterns for including untiled, large format pdfs with every pattern right off the bat [on an unrelated note, big ups to Barbara for that lovely supportive email checking in on me. Lady, you’re a frickin’ legend and I appreciate your kind words more than I can express here. Many thanks].

Another issue with the back is back pattern, is the sizing. Using the correct size for my dimensions (34) results in a too-tight fit and sizing up (to 36) causes gaping everywhere. I compromised by using the smaller size for the back piece, the larger one for the front and grading the join at the shoulders with bias tape (and it shows. Ha!).

*Tiled pdfs are an unnecessary contrivance I f*cking detest because I want to spend my sewing time sewing, not cutting and pasting shitty little A4s together (and there’s a very affordable large format print shop near me which saves me from the said ignoble fate). This is also why I avoid patterns from burdastyle online. It’s not worth the hassle and there’s so much out there to sew that doesn’t require moving furniture and juggling glue/scotchtape.

Pattern: Vanessa Pouzet’s back is back (has bust darts and a yoke in the front). Jeans-Guess, Shoes-John Fluevog.

Fabric: The front is a light silk crepe, the back is two panels of fairly expensive lace that I pieced together (shittily, ha!) by hand.

Modifications:

Back pattern pieces are of the recommended size, front pieces are one size up
I pieced the back together from scalloped lace instead of using the straight centre back seam used in the pattern
The back neckline for the lace portion was finished using a narrow hem foot before being sewn to the yoke pieces

Comments: Check the size chart carefully before buying. I went a size up on the do brasil dress based on my experience with this pattern and bad things happened (gaping neckline, shoulder straps sliding off, general irritation and the binning of a pretty block print voile from mum X(). I binned that pattern with the fury of Thor (in so much as a rolled up paper pattern can be slammed into a recycling bin ‘like a magical flying hammer’.

Disclaimer: All non-self-generated images remain copyright of their original owners and are used here for purposes of illustration, discussion and review.

All opinions expressed in this post are based on my experience with the pattern used. Drama in the comments (why don’t you like her/why can’t you be nice/ waahwaah/boohoo) will be published and thoroughly mocked/ derided (not necessarily by me).

Welcome to the internet, even terrorists get mocked here (the last two vids on that page are pure gold).