Tired of Me Complaining About the Heat?

With an upcoming forecast of steady (low!) 70s, I'm hoping that means cooler temperatures will be on the horizon. The season of the pumpkin is nigh; I'm seeing (and walking into)  goddamn pumpkin spiders everywhere, pumpkin spice launches Tuesday, and Country Living has some dumb owl pumpkin thing on it's cover.

Fall to me means the re-embrace of layers, aka the best time of year. As I've mentioned before, I've been really enjoying sewing now that I'm actually able to use a table instead of my previous set up of using a chair as a table (don't do this), and am planning on doing a lot more this fall and winter. Once upon a time, I had three shelves worth of patterns and at least three plastic tubs of fabric, but multiple cross state moves and spider infestations have led me to donate or trash 90 percent of that stash, so I'm having to slowly build it back up. It sucks!

While doing some casual browsing through the online pattern catalogs for the big four companies, I made somewhat of a wishlist of things I'd like to make in the next few months! I think it's funny that "vintage" patterns have become the rage and that all four companies (Simplicity, Butterick, Vogue and McCall are who I mean when I refer to the "Big 4") have begun reissuing or whatever the hell McCall is doing here. I remember when Vogue introduced their Vintage Vogue line easily ten years ago, if not longer, quickly followed by Simplicity intermittently releasing reissues over the years.  I couldn't be happier, since they frequently go up to a higher size point than any actual vintage pattern I've ever found (I've never found a pattern older than mid Eighties in my size, and probably never will). It's great for people like me who don't have pattern grading or draping skills who still want to be able to make vintage and retro clothes. 

(simplicity)

This pattern always scared me off, thinking it wouldn't work on me, but thanks to several pattern reviews, it turns out it works on larger sizes. Plus, I think it's something I could use the loud and crazy Marimekko fabric I was fortunate to get as a gift!

(simplicity)

The matching coat/dress suit is kind of a holy grail. I found a set this past week at a Goodwill in my size, but it was pricey for Goodwill and had bad staining that I didn't want to try and possibly not be able to get out.

(simplicity)

I like this in maybe a hunter green?

(simplicity)

Typically, I would pass this by, but I think in the right fabric, it'd be great. Plus, pockets.

Butterick 5951

Both this and the following Butterick patterns are modern with strong 1940s details. I love them both!

Butterick 6090

Butterick 5030

This pattern looks super dated but I really like the 70s-style wrap dress, something that is surprisingly hard to find Ready to Wear in my size and not in an ugly print.

 

AND THEN THERE'S THIS

why