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Pinterest…again…and Patrones 314 (March 2012)
To quote my good sewing friend Sarah, “Mwhahahahaha!”, I can hear her from all the way over in Perth.
Yes, I have caved in and re-signed up for Pinterest, if you are interested you can follow me by clicking on the button below. You can choose to just follow the boards you are interested in, ‘thecuriouskiwi’ or individual magazine boards, but I also have sewing inspiration and the obligatory shoes and jewellery boards 
I’ll try to keep it up to date as an easy way to grab my tutorials, magazine reviews (and maybe projects) etc…I can’t have people pining me and not be able to pin back!
Moving right along: Guess what? I actually did some sewing on the weekend.
I know!
It all started with a 1 hour power tidy-up on Saturday morning and then, late on Sunday, I realised that I had somehow managed to finish my vest (including a trip to The Fabric Warehouse for buttons and thread, where I may have also accidentally bought this $5 remnant which is gorgeous) and cut and stitched up a new top to 80% completion. I’m still as stressed as ever but I actually do feel better for having done some real sewing.
Score! Scarlett models a $5.00 remnant
The weather this weekend is supposed to be awful but I’ll attempt to catch up on my photos. For now here’s a couple of sneak peaks:
Right, Patrones, 314, let’s get on with it:
I really like these H & M skorts/shorts(?) and would be a great first shorts project for anyone. They look really comfy and loungy. The blouse is great too (ohh the fabric!) and I love the little ties on the sleeves, also great seaming.
The cute romper with shirring is also in a really nice fabric and would be a great “my first romper” project. They even promise that it’s easy with the return of the “Costura Fácil” badge.
I like the white detailing on this jacket and the wide legs pants look like a good staple pattern.
I’m not overly fussed by these two patterns (above) but I love the fabrics. Actually #13 is quite a cute dress but mostly I love the ombre style dye at the bottom, could be easy to re-create. The jacket fabric I. HAVE. TO. FIND. So gorgeous and it makes me look a new at my stash since I probably wouldn’t have considered this kind of print for a jacket.
These tops are both cute, ruffles and stripes.
This top has a really interesting detail at the front, a sort of pleat with tie/flap thing, another great fabric print and staple pencil skirt, they look great together.
At first I thought the line drawing of this ruffle dress was all a bit much but with a belt I quite like it, it lies much more flat. On the right, another romper, I do quite like the front detail, I think it’s fine pleats or could be pin-tucks.
There is a blouse section in the centre of this issue, nothing really grabbed me but I do like the detail on this one, little loops down the front placket.
In the plus section I think this jacket is just great, a bit safari and really nice detail plus a pleated trouser…
…and another great outfit. I’ve been meaning to try this pleating technique for a while, I first saw it in The Art of Manipulating Fabric, which I bought a little while ago. You basically make the pleats then stitch across to fix them folded over in opposite directions.
Jacquie picked a few different pieces in her review, you can check it out here.
Next month is the Summer Special and the translation of the text above was all over the show but I do spy the word “denim” and more excitingly “pin-up”, “hawaiano” and “charleston”. Can anyone do better than that?
Manequim 634 (March 2012)
Sigh…I’ve had a super crappy week but pretty patterns cheer me up, let’s review:
Ohh shoes! Shoes make me happy too, these are so pretty in all their clompy goodness. It’s a shame all the shoes I can buy right now are for winter. I hope I can find some puppies like these in the shops next summer.
And this month we also get another pretty online crochet pattern (link) and it looks like the plus pattern page is going to be a regular now. I think the neckline of this top is quite nice, a combination of shirt collar and cowl neck.
Our cover model this month is Fernanda Souza, a Brazilian model and actress who is clearly a fan of pink. I really like the dress on the left which is a style I’ve seen before but this pattern manages to still show off a really nice feminine silhouette while being floaty and layered.
Our designer section is Tommy Hilfiger and I have to say that I am a bit disappointed that the number of patterns in this section seems to be shrinking. This month we only get three and while I LOVE this dress and it looks great with the blazer (we also get a jean pant pattern shown in a blue and white stripe that had an unfortunate pattern joining in the crotch that I didn’t scan) there was also an amazing top and skirt that I wished they’d produced a pattern for.
FYI the dress, if you bought it, is R$780 (about NZD$520) and the blazer R$404 (about NZD$270)
The “Democratic Fashion” (?) section has some pretty and light tops and I really like this dress with all the buttons and tabs on the neckline.
I love a good wide leg pant and the fabric of her blouse is amazing too!
Don’t let the line drawing of this first dress in the “Time to Shine” section fool you, those are not several long pleats or darts as I first thought, it’s just representing the lace. I like the strappy neckline, it ties at the back of the neck in a bow.
It’s hard to see the detail of this dress in the black fabric, you’ll have to take my word, when I stare really closely at the magazine page it looks pretty hot. I’ve scanned it several times to try to get the detail to show up but it was Photoshop ultimately that saved the day (click on the thumbnail on the left to view bigger). It looks absolutely awful colour-wise but you can at least see the pleats, waistband and overlapping front.
Finishing up with another tie-front blouse in a great print and next months preview, ohh, Marc Jacobs!
Patrones 300 & 302 (January & March 2011)
Yay, my Patrones issue #300 finally arrived filled with some great items.
First up this sweet little dress. It’s a wrap with curved skirt and nice pleats below the waist band. The fabric almost looks like a linen and it’s nice to see a wrap dress in something other than jersey.
I like this (pea?) coat but I know it wouldn’t look good on me, still the dark blue and white trim is cute, a bit nautical.
Another nice jacket, slightly military but softened by the fabric choice, great top stitching details. I like this girly dress, really sweet and summery.
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The white blouse/shirt has nice pleating on the front and every girl needs a crisp white shirt but I’m not sure about the skirt, it seems to stick out a bit at the tummy.
The dress is my absolute favourite in the whole magazine. I just love it even though the fit on the mannequin is pretty average. It’s a bit safari and a bit trench-coat looking and so many buttons!
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This month also features some maternity patterns. They are mostly just big flowing tops, I think I like the more fitted look of these two but then I guess I’ll never really know what I “like” until I actually am pregnant. The boarder print on the green top is beautiful and the patterns are provided for the pants as well.
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And then of course, once baby arrives, you’ll need some cute little outfits for him or her. The little blue dress is so incredibly cute! I have a friend who just had a baby girl and is learning to sew so I’m going to help her to make this.
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I also received issue 302 earlier in the month but I wasn’t hugely excited about it , hence my only just posting it now, I think because I was so overwhelmed at the awesomeness of the Manequim magazine that arrived just after it – as in it’s pattern sheets are being put through the large copier as we speak for at least 4 future items.
I loved this top as soon as I saw it, kind of similar to this one. I had a few reservations about this style, how it would look on me, I seem to be getting is all wrong lately but then I saw Melissa’s version of the Manquim top she made in silk for her birthday. She looks beautiful and she achieved a great fit so I am sold. I have some nice silk in my stash, I bet I could whip up one of each really quickly for some instant sewing gratification and two quick wardrobe additions.
It’s been a while since Patrones has given us a ‘wtf?’ moment.
So, uhh, here it is…there are no words really…
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Aaand moving right along…
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I’m not really into this dress but I’m putting this up here because I love the belt!
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The next section is nighties/slips, there are several iterations and all really pretty.
The last of my picks is this jacket, I really like the back length and curves. I like how the stand-up collar comes down the front as panels, it gives the illusion of lapels but keeps the bulk down making this jacket quite sleek.
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Next issue is Summer, excellent. The Google translation is all a bit weird but the gist I got was pants in different lengths and skirts plus some original design XXL items.
I’m not receiving the extra issue, I didn’t expect to but I’m not too disappointed since I’ve been told they are just a kind of “best of the best” repeated patterns issue.
