I genuinely like Lisa Comfort's patterns, they are easily to follow, I think the packaging is cute but there is one think that annoys me more than most of the large indie pattern companies.
She uses this horrible brown tissue paper that is so hard to trace.
I use the tracing paper from Moreplan as it's the most economical for an every-otherday sewer such as myself. I paid £39.99 for a roll of 50m. Which is a brilliant bargain. Recommended by Sian from Kittenish Behaviour.
It is standard in it's opacity so when tracing Lisa's designs one tiny slip up and your into a different size for 35% of your pattern and you wonder why your notches don't match.
Maybe this little rant can give you a bit of insight into the trials and tribulations of my time tracing and grading for the SOI zoe.
I traced the 14 neck and arms, for the flatter neck, minus the gape. A 16 bust, back into a 14 waist and back out again to a 16 hip, except somewhere along the way the hips have ended up a little bit tight, so I do believe the 14 might have been continued into the hip on some of the pieces and not all.
There also isn't a clear WAIST LINE on the tissue which causes me to have back scrunching if the pattern's waist isn't corrected for the length of my waist, this happens when the garment waist is too long for the body and meets the body where the flair of the hip starts again, fabric therefore bunches up into the back waist dip or just under my bust if I am feeling bloated.
I also needed a full seat adjustment into the centre back seam as the skirt is kicking out in the second toile. This wasn't an issue, just needed around 1 inch adding to the middle of the bum.
Fitting issues are a nightmare if you aren't built like a ruler, I'm gonna turn my issues into a positive here because I am honestly sick of patterns that just seem to only cater for a bigger version of a small woman, and I am not. I am an extreme hourglass.
I do not have the same proportions of bumps. There's a reason why I have to grade down for my waist and up for my tits and hips. My bumps BUMP when they bump if you understand me.
This is what cup sizes are, its the difference between the under/upper bust and the size of the breasts. When women go over a dress size 12, we develop fat in the areas thin women have fat, it doesn't go over like a batting. It goes to distinct areas and those are usually the bust, ass and finally the belly after a certain threshold.
Women don't travel proportionally in sizes. It would be amazing if a company built in a GRADING line guide for curvier women. Or even shape charts. Wouldn't that be the tits.
I made two toilles. And the second toille determined the Full Seat Adjustment that was used in the final version. I would definitely recommend putting the zip in first in the back pieces before adding the back to the dress. Then doing the neck facing last before the arms and hems.
I have been tiktok-ing the whole process. I love tiktok, its just so much more of a progressive community, especially for the thrifty and crafting community. I will insert some of my videos, but if you already have tiktok my @ is @nataliesews.
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