Butterick 6729 - Issues with the Pattern

[dolcevita]

@Ohsewsimple , can you tell us how she recommends checking indie companies, please? I'm not a FB user and I'm encountering indie patterns more often these days. I've managed to coax an old friend into sewing a bit more (she may no longer be my friend by the end of it!) and we're using a couple of cashmerette patterns and she may well prefer the vibe of indie brands. I'd rather be aware of problems up front and avoid things that may put her off before she's developed her skills.

[Ohsewsimple]

@dolcevita  yes no problem!   
It’s not possible to check everything or even know that you’re going to get something good.  But when I was teaching I always used to tell the girls to to look at the About Me page.  Does it say if they are qualified in pattern cutting?   How long have they been drafting?   It will at least give you an idea that they have been trained, followed a syllabus and have some idea of what to do.  If it says something like 'I’ve been sewing for a few years and just cut my own patterns so decided to sell them too' well I’d probably steer well clear of them.  Sewing for a few years does not qualify you to be able to draft a pattern.  And yes I’ve seen several people like this online.    Another big give away is the patterns themselves. Obviously a bit late when you’ve bought one but have a look at how the sleeves are drafted.  This was what Janet Pray was saying and again something I knew.  If you fold the sleeve in half is the front and back  armscye seam the same?   The back should be longer.  Evidently many are not.  And her advice was to chuck the pattern away and never buy from them again.  I’ve also seen some that are cut in the fold which is just jot possible if the sleeve is drafted properly. Here’s a link to the written stuff from her.

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/New-MythBuster---Twisted-Sleeves.html?soid=1102549393305&aid=

One other point is to not look at reviews.  These are my observations. I have noticed this often.  Many of these indie companies have a serious fan following online.  But the trouble is that many of these followers are not seasoned dressmakers and so probably have no idea what is good and what isn’t.  You can often see photos of finished sample garments that look terrible but still people singing the praise of the pattern maker.  When you’re a beginner you don’t know what you don’t know.  Funnily enough one of my ex students is often messaging me for advice.  I love helping her as she’s so enthusiastic and has really progressed.  She wanted me to write a small instruction every so often.  I said tell me what you want to know and I’ll do it.  But as she said, I don’t know what I need to know. 

I’d also look at the info given.  Is the bust point or  waistline marked on the pattern? I’ve seen some that aren’t.  What measurements are included?   Is there a nape to waist measurement given.  There are some things we have taken for granted with the big companies that just don’t seem to be there on these indie patterns.  There are others but can’t think off the top of my head.  I just kept coming up against this stuff when teaching as the girls liked the indie patterns

Your friend is lucky to have you help.   Hope you’re not tearing your hair out yet

Hope this helps. 
Hope you’re keeping well

[dolcevita]

Brilliant, thanks, @Ohsewsimple . That's the tricky bit, isn't it, on the armscye. Awful to have them with the same curve on front and back, and awful for the people sewing them and being doomed to a poor fit from the start.

Luckily, my friend has no bad habits to unlearn yet, so I can teach her plenty of mine from the start 

I don't tend to look at reviews all that much - pictures are our friend here, and if something looks awful in the samples, then one has to ask why.

My friend is lovely and won't cause me any hair loss, thankfully. One of the first things she needs to get the hang of is how good fit is meant to look, versus the RTW version of good fit.

[Ohsewsimple]

Well @dolcevita your friends in good hands.  I don’t think you have any bad sewing habits.  :thinking: 
Photos are a big give away aren’t they?   Always got my girls to look at the difference between photos and sketches.   
This ex student of mine has bought a few Tilly patterns and then moans about them.   . In fact she has recently queried why a dress she made is annoying her.  I guess the response 'well it’s a Tilly pattern' is not the answer  she's looking for. 

[BrendaP]

@Ohsewsimple   your link didn't work.  This one does

[mudcat]

sleeves...  :thinking:

There's a reason everything I make is sleeveless.    

More seriously, since living in Arizona I have gotten so used to wearing sleeveless that I'm only able to wear "soft" sleeves anymore in the wintertime.  Either a knit cardigan or dropped sleeve jacket like a kimono style for example. Otherwise it feels restrictive and uncomfortable.

However, I often want to convert a Style Arc dress with sleeves into sleeveless so the shape is still important to me. 

[Ohsewsimple]

@Ohsewsimple   your link didn't work.  This one does

Oh thank you @BrendaP.  I had a feeling I’d messed up somewhere.   

[Kwaaked]

@mudcat some of us can't do sleeveless.  Even without the vitiligo, I still have massive scars on my upper back, arms and pits. 

[BriarRose]

This has been an enlightening and somewhat disturbing thread to read. Certainly explains a few issues I've run into here and there that I don't recall encountering in decades past.

[UttaRetch]

I’ve also seen some that are cut in the fold which is just jot possible if the sleeve is drafted properly.

I beg your pardon?

Many of these indie companies have a serious fan following online.  But the trouble is that many of these followers are not seasoned dressmakers and so probably have no idea what is good and what isn’t.  You can often see photos of finished sample garments that look terrible but still people singing the praise of the pattern maker.  When you’re a beginner you don’t know what you don’t know.

Just so.  Some newbies will recognise that something is off and seek greater knowledge, but may will be quite happy to go on churning out badly fitting garments forever.

[Ohsewsimple]

Yes @UttaRetch half a sleeve cut on the fold because obviously the front and back are the same aren’t they??

[eluceo]

Another issue with this pattern is it is short.  Really short. 

Being 5'1", I usually shorten everything,  This skirt with no modifications is well above my knees.  I can only wonder how short this would be on someone normal height. 

Right now this dress is in the naughty corner.  My fabric choice was ill advised as I look like a big beige blob and the fabric is not laying well in the midriff area - think puffy.  Now that last issue is solely user error.  I have ripped the midriff band out and need to find some interfacing that will work on the fabric.

Back to the drawing board with this one. :thinking:

[UttaRetch]

Sounds like a disaster on several fronts.  I would toss the pattern and unfinished dress into outer darkness.

[annieeg]

@BrendaP
Can't thank you enough for that islander sewing link about sleeves.  It was like a blinding flash of light as I now understand why I have problems with a couple of tops I've made which crawl up towards my neck and both are indie patterns and on both of which I've done an FBA.  I think I go wrong with not adjusting the back armscye to match up the front armscye which is affected by the FBA. 
I've also noticed the "crawl" problem with a style arc pattern where I never attempted an FBA, but I think that may be because at the time I didn't realise the SA patterns only has 1 cm seam allowance and I was using the traditional 1.5 (5/8th inch) seam allowance.
Just shows you learn something new every day. :thumbsup:

[Syrinx]

Oh boy the amount of times I've messed up (and easily remedied) fit by doing the wrong seam allowance