How a search for Indian Groceries yielded a pattern and what I learned

One day, when I still was under the influence of my cold, G and I took a trip down Route 9 to the lower part of our county.  We wanted to go check out a couple of Indian Groceries and see what they had in terms of fresh produce, as well as procure a few things that might become pantry staples.  Although I found a small selection of fresh vegetables, including a few things that I can't otherwise find at my regular markets, I did not find what I was looking for, namely fresh fenugreek greens.

After we left the last Indian Grocery, to which we will return, we realized we were only half a mile or so from the Middle Eastern market I used to frequent and so we thought we would stop in and see what was in stock.  Unfortunately the market was gone and a dentist's office now stood in their stead.   As we stood out front, remarking on the dearth of good ethnic markets in the area ever since the Thai grocery closed I realized that we were right next door to JoAnn Fabrics.

Now I don't usually shop at JoAnn.  I stopped shopping there after patterns were available on the web because this particular store never put the new patterns out on the sales floor until 4 or 5 weeks after they were released (although they were very prompt at pulling discontinued patterns), and the new patterns were never available during the sales.  But I was there.  I knew they had a sale on McCall's Patterns.  I knew there was a pattern I was interested in.  So we went in to look, and I bought a pattern.

 Now I really like the pattern, just as I really like the Michael Kors dress which obviously inspired it.

But I am having a few doubts.  My recent experience organizing the fabric stash has made me think about my tendency to buy things on a whim without really thinking about how much I actually have or what I actually need.

And I am having a few second thoughts.

McCalls is not my favorite pattern company from a fit standpoint.  They cut large.  The patterns are too broad through the back for me and usually the bust point is too wide as well, wider than either Vogue or Simplicity.  When I look at this pattern, according to the illustration the princess seams run outside the bust point.  This may be attractive on a slender young woman who is not particularly well endowed but it is a look that I personally find aging.  Given that this pattern line is usually to wide through the bust, and that the style is cut even wider, this pattern would need a fair amount of alteration to work for me and yield an attractive dress.  I am wondering if using this pattern would actually be more work than just altering one of the many princess seamed sheath dress patterns I already own.  

I am realizing that I need to stop acquiring the newest latest thing just because it is the newest latest thing, and think about what I have and what actually works for me.  I don't actually regret the purchase.  Even if all I get out of it is the realization that I need to think more about what works, it was a reasonable investment in education.  For about the price of trip to Starbucks I have turned a corner in my thinking about patterns.  I will probably compare this pattern to a sloper that fits, or another pattern and work from there.  I may or may not use it.  But I will make this dress, or a reasonable facsimile.

It seems to be about time that I actually start thinking, rather than just reacting.

Comments

[Carolyn]

This is an interesting post...because I've been thinking along the same lines. When the last ClubBMV sale went up (the $4.50 one) I resisted the urge to put things in the cart...instead taking the time to really think about the patterns I wanted to buy. I knew there would be another sale and of course there was...but this time I purchased a much edited list. I did buy this pattern...more because I want to read the instructions than to make one...I think I can learn something about the pattern draft so it is worth it to me for that fact alone.

[Towanda]

I second your comments. I don't fit the standard patterns. For the last two garments that I made, I used the design features that I wanted and added them to a similar pattern that I know already fits. I cut off the design feature and glued it to a pattern that I drafted.

I bought the same pattern just for the design features. I'll transfer those to a princess seam pattern that already fits. I need to lower the neckline so it looks better on me. Like you, I'm learning to think about what I want out of a pattern before I buy it.

[karent]

Good point. I knew I did this, but it wasn't so glaring until I decided to organize and file my patterns in some kind of order. All of them. They filled two four drawer filing cabinets completely full, and I suddenly realized that I have every single silhoutte, every possible combination of sleeve, collar, cuff, you name it, and I really should be able to just print out the pattern drawing and put it together. I'm trying very hard to stick to that, we'll see just how long it lasts.. K

[Linda SewingLibrarian]

What you are describing is what I think Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) does so well. I am trying to go this route as well.
Linda (SewingLibrarian)

[K-Line]

OK, I hear you, but I don't think you should be so critical of your choice. Sometimes, we just like a little impulse purchase, and on the scale of damage, this is negligible. I mean, maybe you won't use it. But maybe you will. And, it was on sale. If nothing else, you can gift it to someone whose body type might suit the pattern cut better?

I appreciate how you don't want to buy reflexively. That's totally smart. But you might have bought the dress itself which would have been a much more questionable impulse purchase :-)