Deer & Doe Sirocco

Sighhhhhhhhhhh.

You all know my general thoughts on Indie pattern companies, right? I want a PROFESSIONALLY DRAFTED AND GRADED PATTERN! You deciding you like to sew and want to sell patterns isn't enough! But sometimes, I get sucked in too. Sigh. I couldn't find any info about whether or not they are professional pattern makers so this rant may be unfounded. Does anyone know?


I own a chunk of Indie patterns. (If I eliminate Style Arc that number is cut in half). Sometimes, I do the right thing and *closely* inspect the finished garment pics before buying. Sometimes, I make a mistake and buy the pattern and don't inspect closely until I'm ready to make it.

Listen, I was this || close to choosing another pattern. Sigh.

This is not a dig at any home sewer as I would never do that. Please do not take anything I say personally, I am forming an opinion based on what I see.

So, I go and look and I notice:
Puny bodice pleats. I instantly decide I don't like them.
Front crotch ermm, issues.
Rippling waistbands
Sleeves that are way pulling away from the body when the wearer has their arms lifted (if it weren't a knit, arm movement WOULD be restricted)

And I'm instantly mad that I didn't inspect closely BEFORE buying

Be clear, I am not ragging on sewers nor am I making declarations about the pattern (except for that armscye - No.). I don't draft patterns. I can't say what's objectively right and wrong about the draft. If their patterns work for you then maybe this one will. I just know that I did way more work than I would EVERRRR do on a pattern and especially one that I spent $16 on (I am a Friend of PR) and it's unlikely that I'll do it again. I really like the Pensee top (less so the dress) so never say never. Sigh.

Alrighty so I have never sewn a D&D pattern aside from the Plantain -and I was a new sewer- but I know now that, it didn't really work for me. That top is the reason I've believed, for forever, that they draft for a pear shape (apparently, they draft for an hourglass). I am NOT a D&D customer after this.

I feel like, over the years of being involved in the sewing community, I've seen a lot of conflation between pattern adjustments and pattern drafting. Yes, not many of us will sew a pattern "out of the envelope" and have it fit properly. And even when we do, that is not necessarily equal to a "well drafted pattern".


I make sewing adjustments. I do not fuss about making sewing adjustments; it is what it is. The work I had to do on this front armhole? Nah, not okay.

I don't have a ton of pics because I didn't get nearly any pics of myself alone and it has been SO hot that I have not been able to get full finished "blog photos" of the jumpsuit. This is less about the finished product though and more about the pattern itself. Hopefully I can update the post at some point in the near future with regular front/back/side pics.

As mentioned, I hadn't sewn any of their patterns and knew I'd have to muslin. I chose a size 40/42 (40 neckline/shoulder and 42 everywhere else) based on the size chart:

There is 2-3" positive ease in bust and hips and 3" of negative ease in the waist. I thought this was interesting considering it's a pull-on garment. But I'm going to muslin so it's all good.

I used this cut of Telio jockey ponte (I do NOT like this fabric) as a muslin. Similar drape as my fashion fabric but slightly heavier. The one change I planned to make right away was to lift the armhole and cut it in a bit since I was going sleeveless. I was PERPLEXED by the armhole shape.

Here is my muslin in all its glory (horror? lol!)...

I make adjustments. I assumed I'd need an FBA, full butt adjustment and to shorten the front crotch width. No problem.

I hated the pleats as I assumed I would. The shoulder was too long, the 1-layer waistband was awful and I was again, this || close to jumping ship. I really wanted to eliminate the front pleat but they are diagonal and I didn't fully understand how to make that happen.

Now, if this IG follower is a blog follower, I promise I am not mad/offended/:insert other words: but someone told me I probably don't like the pleats because the jumpsuit is too small and I should go up a size or two.

1) It is a muslin. The purpose is to determine what adjustments, and in what amounts, are needed.
2) Going bigger isn't always the answer. Adjusting where you need the adjustments is better than just going up or down full sizes.
3) In the IG post, I pretty much called out most of these adjustments as necessary...but since I was muslining, why guess at them?

I went back and did the following to the paper pattern:

Converted the back pleats to darts (narrowing the overall takeup about 1/2" total)
removed 5/8" in CB length.
Reshaped the armhole.

Did an FBA and rotated it out
Reshaped the armhole
Took an ENORMOUS armhole dart of ~1" (e.g., don't just automatically go up a size because of tightness)
Straightened out the side seam - I had about 2" of excess fabric at the very top while the waist fit fine.
Converted the pleat to a dart

This really flat shape on bottom is something I don't think I've seen before. I may have been able to understand it better if I'd added the sleeves.

Let me to stop to say the instructions for this front pleat were ridiculous. I hate non-technical directions.  It's probably my biggest gripe with indie pattern makers.

Also, there are no pocket markings AND the pocket is exactly the same for all sizes.

I did Fashion Incubators c*mel toe adjustment which took the front crotch basically from a 42 to a 38.  (did I mention that you shouldn't automatically size up?? Okay, fine, I'm being obnoxious now...)
I added this 1/2" back at the side seam.

More front crotch pics!

Because it WAS too tight in the hips - because, butt - I did a slash and spread to add 1/2" (1" total). The back pant already had a dart, vs pleats everywhere else.

Not shown, as I did it directly on the fabric, was to add 1/4" to the CB crotch seam, tapering to nothing near the point.

And I added 1/2" to the crotch extension which is another common adjustment for me (full thighs).

 

I added 1" total to the "height" of the waistband and doubled it (made a facing). 

Lastly, I removed 2" and they still pool a bit (I could see this being less of an issue in something less drapey where you can roll the legs like the pattern pic).

LOVED the new darted bodice!
The neck binding went in perfectly for me! It's a little wide though...or the neckline curve is a bit too high for me. I felt like it was sort of encroaching.
Really love the wider waistband too!

 

ignore my random foolishness in the background

A full-length pic showing the neck fit thing I mentioned, slightly long legs but not bad, and how much better the front fits compared to the muslin. It fits snug through the bust and part of that is my bra.

My husband and my 4 closest friends.   

This is the closest thing I have to a back fit pic! :-p But *I* think you can see that it isn't pulling, the side seam is straight, the darts fit well, etc.

TL;DR

• Didn't like that there were no pocket insertion markings.
• Didn't like that the pocket piece is the same for all sizes.
• I don't like the bodice pleats.
• VERY low armscye (I can't imagine putting a sleeve in there)
• Weird (IMO) front armscye shape. 
• Didn't care for the 1-layer waistband 
• Too much negative ease at waist (IMO) for a pull-on jumpsuit
• There's something with the shape of the neckline (for ME) that I can't identify.
• The neckbinding went in flawlessly - yay!
  I liked the back fit a lot "out of the envelope". Sure, I needed adjustments (which is NOT an issue) but I think the crotch curve as drafted worked well for my butt.

It turned out and it was pretty and shiny. The fabric is THIS Telio knit from Fabric.com (I am an affiliate). It sewed well, it didn't press well but I don't think anyone expects a poly metallic knit to press well! It did well enough with a little steam, press cloth and a clapper.

It is very slightly sheer held up to the light but I figured (and I do this often, LOL!) that my brown skin and black undergarments would be fine -- full seamless/no show bottoms - I don't do "shapewear" Nope. Cannot. I think I've told the story of trying on a Spanx garment with my wedding gown and immediately calling for her to come get me out of that dress so I could that thing OFF.

Onward!

I was off work and sewed A TON. There are definitely finished items before this but this skirt from Burda 04/2019 is up next for review - spoiler alert: I LOVE IT!