Nita Trousers Tester Version

In another lifetime at the beginning of the year I agreed to be a pattern tester for Amy Nicole's Nita Trousers pattern. I made these up and gave feedback to Amy but it's taken me a couple more months to write it up here. Initially, I hadn't posted these trousers because I had planned to make a pair to wear to work. I had a nice wool blend ready to go, but made this wearable toile first to make sure I got the fit right. Now with COVID-19, there's no real need for new work clothes, so that turned into laziness and I haven't made the work pair yet. Still, it was about time to put this version up.

I made the pattern as close to how the original was meant to look. I'm long waisted so I added 3cm to the rise to get the high waisted fit. I made size 0 but graded to a 2 between the hips and waist as part of the lenthening. I wanted to ensure my make was as close to how the pattern is meant to be to give the most accurate and useful review. The rise sits at the correct spot for the pattern, but I have to admit I personally prefer a slightly lower rise. I find with pants - especially fitted pants - that a high waist is a bit less comfortable and free to move than a slightly lower waist. I tend to fidget a lot so ease for comfort in movement is important. But this isn't a problem with the pattern itself, just a personal preference. Given I had to make an adjustment in order for the pants to fit "correctly", I'm pretty confident that removing the extra rise will be easy and suit my personal preference.

I wasn't paying attention when doing the fly and forgot to topstitch the right fly allowance and didn't stitch the zip down properly on the left fly allowance. Unfortunately I didn't notice my mistake until I was trying on my almost finished pants, so I had to do what I could to fix them but it still pulls slightly open at the top. But I've since made a different pair of pants and used Amy Nicole's instructions - followed properly! - and it's probably the best fly I've ever sewn.

The pattern also has a back welt pocket. There was an option to add a button, but I chose not to. I hadn't done a welt pocket before and thought it would be tricky, but Amy's instructions are very easy to follow. I did however use pins to make sure each layer was aligned correctly. Most of the time I did follow Amy's no pins method, but for a few of the trickier steps I found pins essential for keeping things in place.

One thing I particularly like about Amy Nicole's patterns is she gives the instructions twice - a cheat sheet of written instructions and then illustrated instructions. This makes them accessible for both those who know all the techniques and just need the order of the steps and those who are new to it all and want to see every detail. Amy's instructions are well labelled, so this is a good choice of pattern for someone who's making their first attempt at a pants pattern.

A couple of extra thoughts about the pattern. First, the pockets are excellent and deep. Too many women's patterns either have no pockets or shallow ones, but these are genuinely useful. The pattern is designed for a non-stretch but mine is a stretch woven. The stretch is fairly minimal, but is enough that the cuffs don't quite hold their shape properly without extra tacking stitches to hold them in place. I think if you're nervous about sewing pants it's probably best to stick to a light or midweight woven like the pattern recommends, but if you are more confident you can make it work with some stretch.

Overall I like how these turned out. I found the cut had no fit issues, it is easy to make basic adjustments, and the instructions are very clear. And, once there's a reason to make work clothes again, I will be making these again.

Chelsea Pattern Tester Dress

Just in time for winter and rain - here's a dress for the middle of summer.
Back in February I got the opportunity to be a pattern tester for the new Chelsea Dress from Amy Nicole Studios. I've previously tested her Patti Pocket Skirt and incorporated that pattern into a dress as well. I really enjoyed that pattern, so when I got the email with the first picture of the Chelsea Dress asking for testers I thought it would be fun to try.

As this was a tester version, this was made exactly to the pattern as it was at the time. I made size 0. There were a couple of small changes to the final pattern, but nothing significant and nothing that has any bearing on my experience sewing it up. There are options on Amy Nicole's blog to do a full bust adjustment or raise the deep v neckline, but I did neither. There's also an option to make this a maxi dress, but I made the short version. So my review is just on the basic pattern, but there are options for changing it if you need to.

The bodice is very closely fitted and designed to have no ease. It is fully lined and understitched, with elastic along the plunge neck to keep it in place and stop any gaping. Sewing the elastic in is very straightforward, but understitching is a bit fiddly as the pieces are pretty small. The width of the straps and the fact they are angled to be closer together at the back also helps the dress remain secure. As I said the pattern doesn't really have ease, so the waistband is meant to be snug. The zipper and hook and eye fit very close to the body, so it's important to check the sizing is right.

I didn't have any problems with making the dress, but I did make one dumb error - I forgot to check the printer settings and it printed far too large. The skirt was easy enough to adjust - just cut thesides and length off a bit - but the bodice pieces are not easily adjusted. So, I printed out the half dozen or so sheets again before I cut into my fabric.

The bodice and hem fabric is a linen-like remnant I picked up at a Sydney Spoolettes fabric swap a few years back. I had wanted to make a short sleeve blouse or shell top out of it, but the piece was long and diagonally cut which made fitting pattern pieces tricky. I tried a few times over the years, but couldn't find something that fitted well on the piece. When I got the tester pattern for the Chelsea Dress and saw Amy Nicole's colour blocking suggestions I got this piece out again to see if I could jigsaw the bodice and hem into place and excitingly it fit!

The skirt and pockets are a basic cotton poplin. It's just slightly stiff, so it stands out with a bit of fullness. The dark blue matching the spots on the bodice and hem band was semi-accidental - I already owned both fabrics, so when the bodice pieces fit on the spots this blue was the obvious choice for skirt. The skirt is very simple, just a very basic shape gathered at the waistband with good sized pockets in the side seams. Because I'd printed the skirt pieces out too large I couldn't use the marked notches to guide where to place the pockets, so that was a combination of measuring and guessing. But they are a usable size, which is always a great bonus.

I haven't worn this dress properly yet so can't report on how it goes with a full days' wear. But it's a lovely style and the colour blocking options make it very versatile. It is a slim-fitting design on the bodice so isn't going to suit everyone, but it is an easy sew. But if you like the look of the pattern I definitely recommend it.

The Patti Pocket Skirt

This is the Patti Pocket Skirt from Amy Nicole Studios. A month or so back I was lucky enough to get offered to pattern test a new skirt. And not just any skirt pattern, but one with pockets, which are too few and far between in women's patterns.

The fabric is from My Hung in Hurstville. It's a polyester rayon blend which I've been tempted by for a few years, but never previously had a pattern appropriate for the fabric. The pleats in this pattern needed a fabric that could hold both structure and softness. I couldn't find anything in my stash that seemed quite right, so went looking. Wandering through My Hung this fabric finally stood out as suited to a specific patter.

I made the size 0, view A, the above the knee length. The pattern is designed for petite sizes of 5'4" and shorter. I am 5'6", but long-waisted, so my legs are closer to a slightly more petite height. As such I did not make any changes to the pattern in my construction, apart from using French seams to prevent fraying. I also don't have an invisible zipper foot so had to do a standard zipper insertion. I even followed Amy's instructions to use very few or no pins which was honestly pretty daunting, but actually turned out well.

I started sewing this up a bit later than planned, so I used the second tester version of the pattern and the third tester version of the instrutions. The version I sewed up is I think identical to the final version for this length, and I used the final version of the instructions.

The skirt has six panels as well as pockets. The panels allow for blocking and print mixing. I did consider finding a fabric that would allow proper blocking, but in the end I liked this fabric too much. There is some very subtle blocking as I cut the side pieces on the alternate stripes - the blue and gold match all the way around, but the purple and peach alternate.

Overall I was very happy with this pattern. It was quite straightforward to make, with instructions both clearly written and with clear diagrams. The pockets on this skirt are slightly looser than the body of the skirt, which at first meant I thought I had cut the pieces unevenly. But the instructions do say this is intended, and it does mean there is room to properly use the pockets. The only small thing to note about it is that you need to take care when pressing the pleats and pockets to avoid uneven creases.

I really like this pattern. The pockets are a good size, the pleats are lovely and the length is great. The sizing worked perfectly on me, but for anyone taller or with longer legs it would probably be necessary to lengthen the shorter version A length. I am thinking about making the version B midi length, or possibly just a different version of this short length. It's a lovely skirt, and I definitely recommend it.