Sewing Simplicity - 16 July 2024

I got given this pattern a few days ago so I'm feeling grateful.

I’ve seen a few You Tube tutorials about this pattern but they weren't very clear. I also found out that this pattern has been printed under a different number. It can be Simplicity 8022 or S9132 so I wonder whether or not it's been reprinted at some point. Anyhow, what I'm linking below is a short example of the sort of tutorial I've watched :

I took a photo of what the pattern sheet looks like :

I doubt you’ll be able to see it very clearly, but just to clarify, the dark vertical lines show you the different sizes starting at S (small), and then M (medium), L (large), and XL (extra large). The pattern pack also includes smaller teen sizes.

The video I linked above starts from the point where the person has cut the pattern piece to the size they need. In my case I didn’t want to cut the paper pattern because once you cut it you can only make it to that size. I decided to trace it and keep the original in pristine form.

The first problem I had was the size of the tracing paper. This pattern is very wide because it’s a one piece pattern that includes the front and back; there are no side seams. My friend lent me her old roll of tracing paper which she’d used at College. This good quality paper was actually rather thick and brittle but there was no other option. It was easy to trace all the lines with my sharp pencil.

I initially chose to trace size L just to have extra in case it was too tight, but the leg area was rather too wide and I therefore joined a line to meet the M size line. That's the first alteration I made without even trying on the pattern.

It was really hard to handle the tracing paper on the dining table because it kept on rolling around so I tried to put weights around the area like the roll of Sellotape, a box, the pattern itself, the scissors, and even my phone, which you can’t see above because I used it to take the photo.

It was also really complicated to take a clear photo when it was all on the table. I quickly remembered that some people do all the process on their floor : from tracing (if necessary) to cutting the pattern. I couldn’t have traced the pattern on the floor because there’s carpet. I laid the pattern on the floor to take a clear photo though and now I honestly think that the legs still look rather wide.

All the sewing videos that I’ve watched recommend sewing a test (or toile) to check the pattern fits. This saves your best fabric, the heartache of realising that the pattern is too small or you need to make changes .

_{‘Bear’ in mind that the background colour of this fabric is green.}

In my case I did not have a special fabric in mind. I did find this cute bear design fabric that I’ll use for this test. I hope that the test is good enough so I can wear my creation soon.

I will tell you how I get on shortly.

Thank you for reading.