You’re all so eager to know more about these patterns! I’ll go into detail about each one individually over the course of this week, but here is some general information about them to help you get started.
First of all, I wanted these patterns to be very approachable for everyone–from beginning sewists to those of you who have more experience and feel comfortable sewing for yourselves. But rather than give you patterns that are easy to sew but that look schlumpy and not flattering, it was important to me that these be really wearable pieces. These patterns are designed to become your wardrobe basics. They’re flattering, easy to sew, easy to fit, and when you make them you’ll feel like a sewing pro. Our testers of all shapes and sizes were very pleased with the results, and I’m confident that you’ll like them too.
Many of you have gained sewing skills and confidence through sewing Oliver + S patterns for your children but are still intimidated when it comes to sewing for yourself. I see this all the time when I teach, and I hear you! These patterns are designed to help you overcome the scary parts of sewing for grown-up bodies, which is mostly the fit part. Because these patterns are easy to fit and include instructions for doing a full bust adjustment, it’s going to be much easier for you to make something that you’ll actually wear and which actually fits than you can imagine. This way, we’ll gradually increase your comfort level so that eventually you’ll be confident about sewing anything you want for yourself!
Regarding sizing, I’ve developed a measurement chart to help you determine your size (you can see it under the “size chart” tab on the page for every pattern), but in general you should feel comfortable making your usual ready-to-wear size. In other words, make the size you actually wear when you go shopping in a store. I’ll write a longer post about fit, sizing and ease shortly, so if you have questions about this sit tight and rest assured that I’ll do my best to cover this topic in greater detail soon. But in the meantime, go for your usual off-the-rack size.
Also, here’s a link for a new and much-requested Liesl and Co. Flickr group. Once you sew one of these patterns, show us all what you’ve done!
What else? Kelly of Cut Cut Sew has already blogged about her Everyday Skirt. It looks great on her, doesn’t it? (Yes, I sent her an advance copy. No, she didn’t sew it in three hours!) I’ll talk more about this pattern tomorrow, with a lot more photos.
Other questions? Which pattern will you try first?