Marfy 2009

The new Marfy catalog has been in my hand about 10 days now, and it has provided many happy hours of fun and fantasy.  It has also taken the full 10 days to get my Marfy order down to "manageable" proportions.  You see, when I first get the catalog I love huge numbers of patterns, and then as I look, I realize that many are but minor variations on things I already have, or they really won't work for some reason or another.  

 

 

It takes me a few days to come down from that first flush of Marfy fever before I can look at the catalog with a clear(er) eye.  The result of this study is that I have narrowed my choices down to about 6 or perhaps 7 patterns, which really isn't bad considering that this catalog is for the entire year and I am looking at Fall patterns as well as Spring. It also doesn't hurt that I actually like most of the "free" patterns that came with the price of the catalog, and would have actually paid money for them....oh wait, I did.

 

In the end this may be the only dress in my list (you will see what I mean later on).  There were several interesting dresses with interesting details and draping (see Liana's post) but which I liked more for the abstract fact of their existence, knowing full well I would never wear the resulting creation.

 

There are also a few that appeal to a kind of wishful, "I always wished I could wear that style" kind of mentality which is like sewing quicksand.  All of those patterns were best ignored.

 

But I kept coming back to this dress.  Although a high round neckline is not my best feature, I think this one is low enough to show a bit of collar bone, and that can always be adjusted anyway.  I just like the style and the detail and I would actually wear this dress.  I am also intrigued by the cut-on sleeves and the neckline draping.  To my mind, Vogue does cut on sleeves well, but I would have trouble with them because of the neckline draping -- vogue always makes the patterns too full in the center front/upper chest area for me.  I am intrigued to see how Marfy does this.  My recollection of Marfy patterns, and it has been a few years since I actually made one, is that the fit through the upper chest is smaller and better for me.

  Liana also posted about this jacket, which I fell in love with almost the instant I saw it.  It doesn't hurt that I also have at least one piece of fabric languishing in my stash that might be perfect for this jacket.  In fact I might have two.

 

Oh dear two fabrics waiting for this pattern.  This one is definitely a must buy.  

 

I love the gathers in the front along the front band, I love that the collar does not close completely at the neck, allowing a little more of the neckline to show without being too provocative, and I love that it is feminine but also kind of sporty, at  least to my eye.

I keep on following in Liana's footsteps, at least as far as my first couple of Marfy selections are concerned because I am also seriously considering this coat, although I was on the fence about it before Liana posted and still continue to argue back and forth with myself.  I like the style, I have a fabric in mind for it, another fabric which has been waiting for just the "right pattern" and yet I still pause just a little bit.  I think I will get it though.

 

I also spent several days just looking at the blouses.  I am a sucker for blouses, and although they came back briefly I think in many ways the knit top and the fine sweater are much more a part of modern life.  And yet I can't help loving blouses.  I think I need to make a few; after I have been collecting blouse patterns for some time now, and I would certainly enjoy wearing them.

 

There were several I was looking at but in the end decided that most of them were a little bit too much for me with just a few too many frills.  

 

But I love this one.  I could probably make it from another pattern and be perfectly happy.  But I won't.  So I might a well buy it.  It is a shame that the lace inset does not continue across the back, but that wouldn't really be a hard piece to add.  

Another pattern that I knew I had to have immediately, and which is still on the list is this jacket, which was also shown on the back cover of the catalog.

 

It is the shoulder and sleeve seam that attracts me.  It seems so "me", vague as that may be, and I am also fascinated by fitting this.  It is an area that is one of my most difficult areas to fit and this approach may well offer some advantages.  

 

I am also somewhat intrigued by the dress as well.  I have other dolman dress patterns.  I might even have something I could adapt this from, but I am intrigued by how Marfy fits this.  Again, the diagonal seams also add a fitting opportunity that I might well find interesting to explore.

The dress pattern would be a good base to explore some vague design ideas that are flitting around in the back of my head.  As the price for inspiration and education, it does not seem so bad.  The dress is that questionable 7th pattern, that keeps popping in and out of my calculations.

#6 on the list (I'm not counting the second dress yet, remember) is this fabulous jeans-style jacket with its hourglass shaped seams.  There is a jacket that will give heighten the illusion of a waist, enhancing the waist that is not as trim as it once was.

Most jean-style jackets are too short, or too boxy, and this is neither, but it is not matronly either even with its longer length.  Or at least that is what I want to tell myself.   The actuality on my far different proportions may prove to be something else entirely.  But I am going to buy into the illusion and buy this pattern.  I suspect that what will really make ti work for me is to wear it with something softer on the bottom, a flirty skirt, or softer pants, as it is usually that combination of soft and strict that works best for me.  Still I see the potential.

 

But wait.

 

I have another pattern on my list.  And this is how the pattern stash grows and grows and grows.

 

 

This pattern is vying with the coat for a place on the final order.

 

I do really like this jacket, but it is not that different from jacket patterns I already have.  And admittedly part of the appeal is the pocket, which I could do myself on any other pattern. the cuff ban, and the collar, again all easily copied on another pattern.

 

But why reinvent the wheel?

 

Truthfully the original six patterns were the ones listed above.  I have decided to get the coat.  The dress with the diagonal inset piece is still on the "maybe yes / maybe no" list, but I am leaning in toward it.  G really likes it too.

 

And I had eliminated this pattern, 1988, convincing myself that I didn't need it but could use the illustration as inspiration but G really likes it a lot and thinks I should just by the pattern and save myself the trouble.  Since he found the pattern without my having to point it out to him, I am inclined to follow his advice.  But then he doesn't truly comprehend the extent of my pattern stash.  Perhaps it remains better that he never know.

 

So here is the list.  I am not yet sure whether I am sending in an order for 6 patterns or am just going to go all the way and get 8.  I don't know why I fret about it so much. When Marfy patterns were first available, I would get 8 patterns from just one season.

 

And some of them are still waiting to be made.  Not that that worries me.  I have to have the patterns available, because when I sew, it is the fabric that always starts the process.  The fabric worms its way into my attention and tells me what it wants to be.  Hopefully I have just the right pattern in my collection.

 

I will finalize my decision this week.  Now that I have narrowed the list down this far, the only thing that will keep me from adding patterns back in is to actually place the order.  I am less likely to place a second order than I am to keep inflating the original order.  I will sit on this a couple of days, but then the final decision must be made.

Comments

[Sharon Richman]

I have never sewn a 'Marfy' before. Is it like most of the regular patterns? or is little attention to pattern markings that require guess work & prayers?
So far, coming back to sewing, I am sticking to the regular ones that I have grown up with & not verntured past See & Sew. Sharon

[gamze]

hepsi bırbrnden gusel marfynn zaten gerçktn çok hoş çizimler.bende stılıstlk we modelstlkle uğrşyrm kendmı gelştrmmm içn gerçktn çok hoş çzmler........hayatbuymusss@hotmail.com

[denise@thebluegardenia.com]

Wow! You sew Marfy. I am very impressed. I can't even do Sewing for Dummies! Cuz I'm a scaredy-cat. I love that coat.

[Kay Y]

Wow that dress (1824) is really really fabulous! I hope you make most of these so I can enjoy the lines of them in a real garment instead of on Marfy's crazy elongated ladies!