Hot Patterns DISASTER - Weekender Cargo Pants

I don’t enjoy writing bad reviews. In fact, I would much rather just pretend nothing happened and never write about this. But then, I would feel bad about other people buying this pattern. I had such high hopes. I love the casual styling, I love the topstitching, the pockets are fun, I love the pockets that form the belt casing. It could have been a great pattern. I would have enjoyed the topstitching and the pockets. Alas, it was not meant to be.

 

 

First, the crotch height is um, high. Like, the highest draft I’ve ever seen. This almost reached to the bottom of my bra. I don’t understand it. At all. How can the draft be this high? Can you see the faint white chalk marks where the rear pockets go? The pocket flap would start on my back!!

 

Look, you can actually see the bottom of my black and white sports bra. The top of the pants go way above my ribs. And the seam allowances are 3/8” on this pattern. Even if you took that into account, the height on these is crazy.

 

So then I had an ah-ha moment. Maybe it’s NOT the pattern. Maybe I need to make a larger size? And pull them down more?? Maybe my hips are not letting the fabric settle down where it should be? So I loosened the pins holding the CF together and ended up with the weirdest low, pointy crotch ever. No, it’s not me. It’s definitely the pattern. When it is pulled up to rib-ville, the crotch curve actually fits okay. At least, it really felt like that is where it is supposed to be.

 

On the plus side, I used crappy muslin fabric and didn’t spend too much time on this.

Anyone want to buy a pattern? I won’t be using it. I bought it because I love my Jalie Vanessa pants (which I’m wearing right now) and thought these might be similar. Hahahhahahahahhaa. Maybe, instead, I will add the details I like (the pieced and topstitched legs and the large pockets) to my Jalie pants instead. They never let me down. The Hot Patterns tally is 1 for 2 now. I have one more pattern to try out. Oh, and I did email Hot Patterns last week about the missing pattern piece on my HP t-shirt. No response. It’s been a week.

Jalie 3350–Swimsuits

You are probably bored by the swimsuits by now. I make a lot of them. Little people keep growing. Darn the little people!!! This is two more versions of Jalie 3350 which is one of my favorite one-piece swimsuit patterns.

 

On the blue/orange version, I had a black accent piece cut out. But then I forgot to put it on the bodice when I sewed the top bodice to the bottom bosice. Oops. Dammit. I wasn’t going to go back and rip it out just to add it again.

 

These are size O. The girls have a bit of a swayback issue (what’s in the cat is in the kittens!) which I could easily fix (I’m just lazy). One thing I did that I think is clever (go me!) is that I took the too-long straps and sewed them to the CB seam allowance. My hope is that these will last long enough that I can add more length if I need to. Probably the material will die before then, but you never know!

Another Jalie winner. Hell, they are all winners!

Hot Patterns: Riviera Once, Twice, Three Times a T-Shirt

The other day I bought three Hot Pattern patterns and I finally had a chance to sew one of them up. And you know what? I love both versions I made. I would love to make up the third version but I think I’ll need a thicker knit.

Here was my first version. On this version, I made the “regular” t-shirt and added the armbands to make the sleeves a little longer. I put the sleeve band on the cross grain for a little stripe fun. This knit is really thin and was a bit hard to sew. This pattern uses facings which I interfaced. This is a true boat-neck and the neckline is just a straight line between the shoulders. I found the neckline to be wide so I sewed the neckline seam about 1/2” more narrow on each side. This wasn’t quite enough and my bra strap shows. I have one criticism with this top. There is no pocket pattern piece on the pattern sheets. Okay, I have a second one. There is also no pocket placement line on the t-shirt. This is EXACTLY the type of thing I struggle with; the “correct” dimension on a pocket and where to put it. It is those small details that really makes something look homemade versus professional. So, no pocket for me. I may email them and ask about it.

 

I’m not in love with the facings but I think it may be the best way to deal with this type of neckline. Overall, it’s a win. Pooling above the butt because of my prominent ba-donk-a-donk.

 

This is version #2. I’m in love with this version. I narrowed the neckline down a little bit more than the first version. I ended up making the neckline 1” more narrow on each side. This width is about perfect for me.

 

Look at those sleeves! I had to laugh when The Sewing Lawyer put up a post recently about the stupidity of bell sleeves. I couldn’t agree more. This has the fun of a bell sleeve but with functionality. I CAN eat when I am wearing it!

 

This top is designed to be about 2” longer than the plain t-shirt. I like this length better than the other one.

 

I left the sleeves unhemmed and it will be fine in this fabric. Overall, I’m in love with this floral version.

 

I kind of wish I had made it a dress. I don’t think there would have been enough fabric for that though.

So far my experience with Hot Patterns has been one for one. We’ll see if the streak keeps up. I have the pants on the table right now so we’ll see how those fit. Oh, and for the record, my measurements fit into the size 8 and I made a size 8 with no alterations and things fit well. I didn’t even add length which I almost always do.

Hot Patterns

I bought some Hot Patterns the other day. I have never bought one of their patterns before but I have long been enamored by them. This cargo pant is a brand new one but the other two are oldies, but goodies. One thing I wish Hot Patterns would do it a better job of making large pictures of their line drawings. I think I know all the details on these patterns but I’m not quite sure.

 

I made the Jalie Vanessa pants the other day and they’ve been in constant rotation since I made them. This pant reminds me of them a bit and I love the detailing on them. I thought I would give them a try. I think I would wear these quite a bit. I just have to find the right fabric.

 

I’ve loved this top for a really long time and there are so many great makes from this pattern. I know that *jazz hands* sleeves are a huge thing this year in fashion so I decided to get this if not only for the billowy sleeve version, though I do love the other versions too. And who doesn’t need a whole wardrobe of knit tops?

 

And I’ve always loved this third pattern. There are three different neckline variations, three lengths, and three sleeve options. I live in knit dresses in the winter. The tunic and dress are right up my alley. I like the top too, and I love the neckline. Imagine the dress with those ties at the neck in a thin merino wool. And it has pockets! 

Needless to say, I’m excited to get these in the mail. I’ll let you know more when I get them!!

Jalie Celeste

I’ve already made the other view of the Jalie pattern. That is the strappy unitard. Remember how I told you that “the other twin would want one”? Well, here’s the other one. I was right about the popularity of these unitards. The girls are big fans and both “needed” one. This is View A and it is very different than the other one. This one includes a zip front and a partially open back.

 

You can tell this is a little big. They are long and thin. They measure in the L size range for the bust, waist, and hip but in the O range for the length of their torso. I knew this would fit with negative ease and I didn’t want to have to lengthen the torso. I really love how it turned out.

 

Can you tell she’s a big fan?

 

See the wrinkles in the back? That’s because of her smaller measurements. When she gets wider, that will all stretch out.

 

The front bodice and back piece are lined.

 

One thing I forgot to tell you about in the first leotard is the interesting crotch construction. The back piece is very long and basically makes it’s own gusset. The seam that would normally run on your inner legs is pushed up toward the front so that they are near the front of your thighs and not the middle. That probably doesn’t make sense but look at the pattern pieces and it’ll make more sense.

 

I used a Spandex House fabric for the bodice and waist. The blue Supplex fabric was bought in Las Vegas a year ago. I also have this in a dark green too. I’m saving it for something special.

What’s next? I don’t know. I think swimsuits. The twins’ swimsuits are old and they don’t fit well. AT. ALL.