I know I said I would not sew but I lied. After seeing Gillian's and Sara's Myrtle dresses, I couldn't resist. All I can say is, thank the sewing goddess that I made it with a couple of yards of a knit I didn't care about, because oy, it looks so mediocre on me.
I'm not going to show a pic. It's fine but I don't like it enough to photograph it.
I'm not suggesting that the problem is with the pattern. I really do think that it's a matter of shape incompatibility. This dress is cut for a very wide frame and it's difficult to narrow the excessive amount of relative width in the upper bust (cowl area) if you need to keep the depth, just below, for your boobs.
I do believe that the sizes are way off (as a few others have said). I should have made a medium, according to the chart. In actual fact, I cut the shoulders smaller than the XS and it was still way too wide. I made the rest of the dress in a small and it was a bit bigger than I'd like. I don't appreciate having had to measure the pieces to confirm a massive amount of ease.
Although I altered just about everything in this pattern (and I'm glad I did or it would have been unwearable), this dress still didn't cohere on me. I could probably recreate it more flatteringly for my shape (and let's face it - the pattern is ubiquitous) by merging a Maria of Denmark cowl with a Lady Skater skirt.
The instructions are very good - as Colette Pattern's always are. But the PDF pattern is so absurdly arranged, it's insulting. I spent 90 minutes taping and I had advance warning so I was able to save a bit of effort. It's 65 pages. I threw away 20 of them (uncut). I wasted ink. I used a full roll of tape (even though I avoided taping the areas I would cut away). (I have heard that the PDF will be reorganized, btw. So you might want to wait to make this, until the new version is out . I assume you'd be sent an updated PDF if you already own the pattern.)
Happily, I wear my Lady Skater dress constantly - it was more-or-less drafted for me (and altered to fit even better) - and people love it. So I might be ready to use my gorgeous Liberty jersey on that...
It's so disappointing to have spent 9 hours on something I won't wear.
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ugh what a hassle! i wish CP would do a better job with the pdf patterns, it's such an obvious thing to fix. i did once combine the maria denmark pattern with the skirt of the sewaholic saltspring (never blogged though) and it worked great!
ReplyDeleteOoh, that would be a great combo. I don't know how the totally indie pattern companies manage to get the pdfs aligned efficiently and Colette has us printing 65 pages for a sleeveless fucking dress.
DeleteColette is a totally indie company as far as I know, they may be up to five employees now, if that.
DeleteThey are definitely independent but they are the first of their kind. They've been around for a bunch of years. They have much more infrastructure, experience - and money, I imagine - than the sole proprietors whose patterns are the ones I'm referring to (the ones I believe have formatted the patterns better). I believe they should be able to do better and, since they appear to have responded to the peeps who are unhappy about having to print and waste so much paper and effort, they kind of understand they could have done better.
DeleteToo bad you ended up spending all that time on a project with a disappointing outcome. I've been considering letting myself be swayed by the popularity of the new Colette knit patterns (and there are some really gorgeous things being made from these), but given my own narrow shoulders (despite my otherwise plump figure), I think you've just confirmed that I need to stick with my favorite Lady Skater and Cake patterns for my knit dresses.
ReplyDeleteC: If the Lady Skater works well, something tells me that the Myrtle might not - unless you get very creative with the alterations (and you have more luck than I).
DeleteUgh - this really seems like a design that should work on you! I hope you do the Maria of Denmark Mash up some day - I think it would be solid! (PS, I could bring a MoD cowl for you to try on someday, if you want! ;)
ReplyDeleteOooh, would you bring that cowl when we go out? I want to see it!
DeleteI don't know, I'm not at all swayed by their knit patterns... I'd much rather see something fitted, as designed they are too cutesy (the two dresses). I don't know about the skirt, all the photos I saw of it make me think it would ride up like crazy.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, spending half a weekend on something unwearable is soooo... meh
The designs really are as twee as can be. This one had a bit more of a downtown feel, but the gathered waist is just so wretched on me...
DeleteI've said it before and I'll say it again - the Magic Pencil Skirt and the Lady Skater dress cover the ground Collette is trying to go over much better.
ReplyDeleteYou're totally right. And I keep saying I'm not going to go there again. (I avoided the Monetta and that other one!). But this time I mean it.
DeleteI think you need to sit on your hands next time Colette release something. You don't like their drafting and you're never happy with the finished garment.
ReplyDeleteCiara - it's completely true! I am never happy with the outcome. How many times do I have to smack my head against the wall?
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