This was the second costume I made in one weekend for Utah’s Costume Con (See review for 9699). I was pressed for time so I didn’t follow the pattern exactly except for the jacket. I had to draft it up one more size–I’m a big woman but my upper arms and my back width are very big (even when I was thin I had muscular upper arms and a linebackers back!). The jacket pattern goes together very easily and the instructions were very clear. It was still a little bit small for me across the chest so I could not close it all the way down the front. So I just put a hook and eye at the middle of the bosom and two more down to the waist. Running out of time I measured how wide the skirt pattern pieces were and simply cut 6 long rectangles of fabric, sewed them together, gathered the top and sewed it to a waistband. It would have been better to cartridge pleat this puppy but again I was out of time. You could do so many variations on design with this pattern. Now the brickbat. Once I sewed on the jacket peplum and tried it on there was this annoying “pooch” where the peplum came up on the middle of my back about 1 inch. We thought it might have been because I drafted the pattern up one size but someone else at Costume Con had made this dress and it had the same little pooch. To fix: We just simply folded it up while I was wearing it and sewed the pooch down—hey, I was in a big hurry. I would suggest add a 6-10 inches to the peplum width and then do small gathers at the center back. Buy this pattern now — I think it will make a great addition to your pattern library. Also — it is sized up the 26!
Note: One of the ladies who creates many of the costume patterns for Simplicity was a presenter at Costume Con 2005 in Utah. She was asked why some patterns were discontinued so quickly or why they don’t do a certain era or look or bigger sizes. She says she would personally love to but, the reality is that Simplicity is a business and they have to stick with patterns that sell.
Jana Keeler –
This was the second costume I made in one weekend for Utah’s Costume Con (See review for 9699). I was pressed for time so I didn’t follow the pattern exactly except for the jacket. I had to draft it up one more size–I’m a big woman but my upper arms and my back width are very big (even when I was thin I had muscular upper arms and a linebackers back!). The jacket pattern goes together very easily and the instructions were very clear. It was still a little bit small for me across the chest so I could not close it all the way down the front. So I just put a hook and eye at the middle of the bosom and two more down to the waist. Running out of time I measured how wide the skirt pattern pieces were and simply cut 6 long rectangles of fabric, sewed them together, gathered the top and sewed it to a waistband. It would have been better to cartridge pleat this puppy but again I was out of time. You could do so many variations on design with this pattern. Now the brickbat. Once I sewed on the jacket peplum and tried it on there was this annoying “pooch” where the peplum came up on the middle of my back about 1 inch. We thought it might have been because I drafted the pattern up one size but someone else at Costume Con had made this dress and it had the same little pooch. To fix: We just simply folded it up while I was wearing it and sewed the pooch down—hey, I was in a big hurry. I would suggest add a 6-10 inches to the peplum width and then do small gathers at the center back. Buy this pattern now — I think it will make a great addition to your pattern library. Also — it is sized up the 26!
Note: One of the ladies who creates many of the costume patterns for Simplicity was a presenter at Costume Con 2005 in Utah. She was asked why some patterns were discontinued so quickly or why they don’t do a certain era or look or bigger sizes. She says she would personally love to but, the reality is that Simplicity is a business and they have to stick with patterns that sell.