I can finally reveal the main thing I’ve been working on for the past few months… our new pattern!
Please allow me to introduce the Yallingup dress/blouse!
This is a loose summery piece that can be made as either a regular item or alternatively as a nursing friendly version for nursing mothers… both versions appear superficially the same at a glance but of course are constructed quite differently on the inside!
The design features a scoop neckline, single breast pocket, and an overlaying wrap top that can be worn either loose or tied at the back… for the nursing version the wrap can also function as a modesty cloth for when you are feeding your baby… the dress version also has deep inseam side pockets, of course!
Cassie conceived the design after the delivery of her baby and then I converted the idea into a regular one for “not nursing” people too😁
So technically, the pattern has four views:
A, the regular blouse; B, the nursing friendly blouse; C, the regular dress and D, the nursing friendly dress… and because the construction method for the regular version and the nursing friendly version are quite different I ended up deciding to write two different instruction booklets, for the two different methods. I know, that sounds complicated but honestly it was nowhere near as complicated as when I had them combined in one single instruction booklet! Separating the two methods completely has simplified things considerably so I hope you’ll forgive the extra file that comes with it.
I’ve been making tonnes of these lately, for basically everyone in our family, including the new Mums … it’s super comfy and easy to wear and we hope you like it too!
The Yallingup pattern is available right now in our Etsy shop, here, or you can click the Yallingup illustration in my right hand side-bar over there ->
Pictured here are just a small sample of the Yallingup’s I have made:
btw; I opted to not go the call-out for tester route this time.. this is because there has been a bit of negativity around the “doing testing work for free” in the sewing community lately and I even ran into this a little bit during the testing for my last pattern, the Mundaring raincoat.
It’s funny because I personally love testing patterns and I’ve been doing it for many years for other pattern companies, happily, and with no expectation or even thought of getting paid. Nowadays a lot of sewing peeps feel like they should be paid. This is not necessarily a criticism by the way, just an observation into how attitudes are a-changing.
This time we did all the testing in-house and through personal contacts. I mean, I’ve always personally tested each and every size in all our patterns anyway, so I know they work as they should; and this time we did the same thing. I think maybe part of the pattern-testing negativity I mentioned earlier is because pattern testers feeling like they’re doing work for free and then being treated like free publicity for the pattern company; and so I decided I did not want to be associated with that perception of exploitation.
Re: pattern testing…I’ve pattern tested too, for a few different companies, & I think maybe part of the issue is that it really is work if you’re actually offering useful feedback. The last time I tested was in March, & aside from being directed to make a pattern view that wasn’t anything I’d ever wear, I also had to pay for my own fabric (though I was given a 40% discount), I had to spend the time sewing something I’d never wear, I had to evaluate the instructions & fit, I had to double-check to make sure the pattern pieces were properly annotated & trued, & I had to proofread the instructions. My garment was then used in promo photos…& I did all of this for free. I did get the finished pattern once it was corrected & released (plus three others from the line), but the fair market rate for that much work isn’t nothing, & it’s all different skill sets. I think there will always be a certain subset of people tripping over themselves to pattern test for free (because they’re friends with the patternmakers & just want to pitch in, or because they want free patterns), but you also have to ask if you’re getting the best, most useful feedback from unpaid testers, especially if they’re your friends. They may not be giving it their all, or they may not want to be critical for fear of hurting feelings. I was talking with another indie patternmaker just the other day (for whom I have not tested) who moved into paying testers for exactly that reason. She feels like she gets better, more useful feedback from people who are being paid.
I don’t know. I’d like to eventually run my own pattern line (I’m in fashion design school right now), & I imagine I will pay testers as just another cost of doing business.
Yes to everything you said! I’ve been pattern testing for many years so obviously I’m well aware already of all these things.
Good luck with making enough money to pay your testers though!
Haha! Right? The elusive dream…
It’s lovely! There really aren’t a lot of sewing patterns for maternity/nursing wear. I get why, but I’m also glad that you’ve made one. It seems well-suited to many different fabric weights.
It’s a lovely pattern you’ve designed!
Oh, it’s so reflective of your style – seemingly effortlessly classy and elegant, while also being cleverly constructed. I wonder how it would look in a drappy rayon . . . .
Re: Pattern testing, changes in – I’ve thought this for a bit now, but I think today’s sewing community is more of a marketplace than a community. Of course, marketplaces are a kind of community too, but they’re ones where the focus is very much on what each party gets out of the relationship. Whereas a community-community tends to be more focused on the community itself rather than the individual. People do things for free all the time without feeling cheated – they run in 5ks to raise awareness, or hand out food at food pantries, or coach for a local kids’ team, or make cookies for bake sales – and seemingly they do these things willingly because they feel it will make their community stronger. In some way, of course, it benefits them. But often the benefit is not directly obvious. Certainty they aren’t getting paid!
I think at first the atmosphere around indie pattern makers was very much one of “that’s so cool! How can we help?” But over the years (and it has been a number of them since indie pattern makers really started proliferating) that community aspect has faded away. Well, blogging in general is fading and I think that’s part of it. But also, when you’re running a full fledged shop it takes time and it changes your priorities (as do a lot of other life changes – think of all the blogs abandoned because of babies! Change isn’t necessarily bad). And too, the community’s population is ever changing, and newer blood might come in and not have that background of fraternity – they just see the shops and not the relationships that built them. And the community is really almost too large to feel inclusive now anyway. It’s big enough to have multiple circles, and you can run around in one or two of them without even being aware of all the others. When there is no feeling that you are feeding back into something – something bigger than you but including you – I think that’s when people (buyers and sellers) start wondering what they get out of it.
Whoops! Got a bit carried away there! #justmy200cents
this is the best comment! These are all thoughts that have been quietly bubbling up in my head for a little while too, but you expressed them perfectly. I found myself nodding my head along the whole time reading this. Thank you so much for this!
It’s great that you and Cassie are considering the needs of nursing moms in this! I struggled to find patterns for that when I was having my babies even just a few years ago, and it was quite frustrating to use my limited time and energy while I was sick from pregnancy to hack patterns for maternity/nursing and not have it work out. So it’s definitely a need.
This looks really lovely, especially as I’m going to need breastfeeding friendly tops in the near future!
Would love to see a bit more detail on the nursing version to see how low/wide the scoop on the underlay is.
That’s a very pretty pattern you’ve created. I like all the different iterations you show us. I’ll bet the nursing moms are so happy to have something really pretty and practical to put on.
This looks lovely, I just ordered it. Look forward to making it for our European summer. Best regards from a grey and rainy Basel Anita
What a beautiful pattern, taking a shell top/vest to another level.