Paisley Pendrell

If you’ve been reading the blogosphere a bit last year, you must have come across the fabulous projects of Tasia followed by the launching of her first pattern called Pendrell, all documented on her blog called sewaholic. What better marketing is there for a pattern than a great sewer? Before she launched the pattern, she had made so many lovely versions of this top, that I couldn’t pass on this pattern when it was launched. And she’s a fellow Canadian, too.

I’ll add picture of me wearing it asap. Pendrell comes in three variations: sleeveless (C), pleated sleeve (A)  or sleeve+ruffle (B). I made variation B, because the fabric I picked is a stable jersey that would not have draped well with version A and I wanted a bit more than version C. And also the paisley motif of the fabric seem to go well with the princess seams. I couldn’t figure out a clever way to play with the pattern or match it on the sleeves and ruffles so I left away the ruffles. Maybe Tasia should reissue this pattern with this as variation D because I’m not the first one to do this. I was planing on sewing this within the sew-along she’s holding but I’m too impatient to be working on a top over weeks. It was a good incentive, though.

If you make this blouse, you might want to double-check which size you are because her measurements don’t fit with Burda, Vogue or any other brand I’m aware of. I chose mine based on upper bust measurement and did a princess seam FBA. I find the shoulders rather dropped still, and I was surprised (but not bothered) that the overall fit is not as fitted as I’d though. I also found the top quite long so I shortened it shy of 15cm. All sizes (0-16) are in the envelope and on the same sheet so even though you have to pay attention to make sure you’re tracing (or cutting) the right size, I wouldn’t say it’s confusing. I was somewhat surprised that many pieces that could be cut on the fold are provided as whole. This is one of the reason I’d rate this as a great beginner’s pattern. What I’m missing is body measurements and yardages in metric units (available on her blog but not on the envelope).

Tasia is planning on publishing at least 4 more patterns over the year, and I can’t wait!

To Tasia: My first thought when I started writing this post was “Where did she got that name (Pendrell) from?”. So if you’re reading this, Tasia, please do tell.

I have the feeling I did a lot of pattern matching lately so maybe I’ll take it easy on my next project, at least from that point of view…