Made For Mermaids Mama Claire
12:08 PMToday's review is going to include an observation and confession. You might not even believe it when you read it. Ready for me to bare my soul?
Last week I posted on Capsule Wardrobe Sew Along asking why an outfit looked "ok" when in theory it shouldn't because I'm an inverted triangle. Someone chimed in and said, "You look very balanced to me". My immediate thought, "You are INSANE." I've been an inverted triangle for as long as I can remember. I had no butt. For as long as I can remember, my shoulders have been my focal point. My bust is HUGE (at least in my head and my bra size confirms at a 32GG). But I let that simmer in my head.
So of course, when I bought the Made for Mermaids Mama Claire, I thought I could only wear it with the crossover bodice in the front. Because inverted triangles can't wear high necklines. It gives WAY too much space for our bust and makes us look even heavier. :(
So when I got up this morning, I took my obligatory photos of the crossover in front. It was very slimming. I liked it. But I thought, ok, just for kicks, let's turn it around. So I did. I looked in the mirror... Hmm. This looks pretty good. But maybe I'm wrong. I took my photos (I don't look at them until I get to the computer).
And then I did something I don't normally do. I took out my measuring tape and remeasured. Overbust 35. Full bust 39. I'd been making empire waist dresses lately, so I knew those. high waist 31. WAIT. 31? that's an 8" difference? Full hip 38.5. Did I just turn into an hourglass? So apparently, somewhere I turned into an hourglass. I still have a bit of mom tummy to work on, but that is below my high waist. And apparently it doesn't matter with the right silhouette. What a great reminder that body shapes are not static. The way our bodies distribute body fat can really change the way we look. AND, it is possible to be 2 body types at the same time.
All that said, I'm not tossing my inverted triangle rules out the window. My shoulders are still 43" around and the wrong outfit can turn my shoulders into big pointy distractions. BUT, I can start blending my style ideas. I can consider a few new styles and try them to see how they work out.
On to the actual review. I am a Made For Mermaids "Mama patterns" Virgin. Don't judge me. They just didn't draft things that I needed. So this is my first time looking at their adult patterns. The patterns are no trim and went together perfectly. The instructions include some discussion on adjusting for height (not that I needed more instructions on that).
The Mama Claire is all and all a simple pattern. Dolman Top. Add in crossover bodice. You COULD self draft this from your favorite Dolman pattern if you have a french curve or are just good at drafting a nice smooth curved line. I'm too lazy for that sort of thing. I made the Size Blue blended to the size purple at the hip. I didn't bother with an FBA. I'm too lazy and I was cautiously hoping it would just work out. I removed 1" of length from the waist. I blended from the waist to the smaller hip size.
This is a rayon spandex knit. I used a cotton/lycra for the neckline binding. Partially because rayon spandex is so slippery and annoying and doesn't press well and partially because I felt it wouldn't pull the neckline together well enough. I LOVE the width of the sleeves. They're not a bat wing but not too tight either. VERY comfy. And you can get either a t-shirt or tunic based on which of the 2 waistbands you use. 3 sleeve lengths, which I'll be playing with shortly and in theory you could make 24 different tops. Same front/back with the higher neckline, same front/back cross over (like this tutorial here) OR different front/back which you could then wear forward or backward. Take those 4 variations and add in 2 different waistbands and you get 8 tops. Then 3 sleeve variations gets us to 24. Pretty versatile for something that at face value looks like it has very few options.
So basic break down. If you're an inverted triangle you need this. If you're an hourglass you need this. I can't speak for other body shapes since I only have 1 body, but pretty much everyone looks good in this, so buy it. ;)
1 comments
Great post!
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