The Penelope pattern from Modkid Boutique is a pattern that has been around for a long time now but its one that I keep coming back to for a very quick to make and easy and comfortable to wear piece which has worked hard in my wardrobe. It can be made as a dress or a T-shirt so is a versatile pattern that I have used again and again.
I still frequently wear the green dress which I made from this pattern a few years ago and even though the knit fabric is starting to bobble now, I still received a couple of compliments on the dress last week. So I thought I would share my thoughts on the pattern in a quick blog post in case you wanted to try it out!
Fabric
Penelope is a pattern for knit fabrics with fabric recommendations of cotton interlock, jersey, double knits, stretch velvet and stretch lace. I have made all of my versions out of ponte roma fabric as its my favourite knit to sew with and in my opinion it works really well. It has enough structure to hold the shape of the grown on short sleeve and is thick enough not to make me feel self-conscious wearing it as a T-shirt. (Some lighter weight jerseys are too thin and clingy for my liking!). Ponte Roma is easy to work with on the sewing machine and is just an all round nice fabric …in my humble opinion! However, as I’m writing this blog post and refamiliarizing myself with the other fabric suggestions for this pattern, I’m thinking it would be nice to try it in something new like a stretch velvet for the Autumn / Winter.
Fitting
Fit wise there is very little to say about Penelope. There are five sizes ranging from extra small to extra large and my measurements fell into the small. (Although I can see on the Modkid website that there is now also a plus size version of this pattern too). The instructions only include finished garment measurements and not body measurements, so its easy to see which size you should be working with by just looking at your waist and hip measurements and deciding how much ease you would like in your garment. E.g. size XS has a waist finished measurement of 28” and a hip measurement of 36” – these are actually my exact body measurements, so I decided to go for the next size up which is a S so give myself my ease / additional room. (Size S is 30” waist and a 38” hip). All of my finished tops and my dress fit exactly as I like them to with no adjustments required. It’s a forgiving style in a knit fabric but it would be very easy to take it in or out at the side seams if you needed to.
Sewing
The Penelope pattern sews up extremely quickly. There are only seven main sewing steps with one additional one if you want to add the ruffle hem. The instructions come with handy diagrams and are all written very clearly. The booklet includes a section on knit fabric hemming options which I really liked and which can be used with other patterns too once you have learnt how to do them. E.g. a lettuce hem, a rolled hem, using a coverstitch and more. This is definitely a pattern which anyone new to sewing can tackle and would make a great introduction to sewing with knits. No complicated techniques to master and no need to finish your seams which is always a bonus!
Style
In terms of style Penelope comes with options for a dress or a top and has either short or three quarter length sleeves. You can also make it with a straight hem or add a ruffle so there are a few design elements that you can play around with. The V neckline is flattering and offers a good opportunity for doing some embellishment which I’ve done on a couple of my versions.
My only criticism would be that Penelope is not the most fashion focused of patterns and some of the pictures in the instruction book don’t really do it justice - I do think it looks better in a plain / solid colour fabric rather than a pattern but that’s just my own taste. I also like to add a belt to my dress version to give it some shape at the waist. However if you are looking for an easy going, comfortable, casual, every day top or dress pattern for knit fabrics, it might be just what you are looking for.
Comentarios