Mara Blouse by Compagnie M
/I am so excited to see the world of PDF patterns grow with new designers and new styles. I love Working with wovens, but many of the patterns I own are a similar style. It makes me so happy to see many designers starting to mix things up with gorgeous little details that make sewing so fun. The Mara Blouse/Dress by Compagnie M is one such pattern. It has an adorable front bib with buttons and optional piping and then the variations: Blouse, Dress, Short sleeve, flutter sleeve, long sleeve, sleeveless.... phew - you could be making variations on this one for quite a while. And with a size range of 1yr-10y, you can do just that! Make sure to enter the rafflecopter below for a chance to win a copy of your own!!! And use the code: parev10off for 10% off through midnight October 27th (GMT +1).
- This review was completed by a 3rd party objective reviewer who received a complimentary copy of the pattern in order to complete the review. Neither Pattern Revolution nor the reviewer received any additional compensation for this review.
Now here are Crystal and Erica to share their different takes on this pattern!
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Hello again! I am Crystal from Stitched by Crystal, I'm a working mom of two who likes to sew in the wee hours of the morning before my kids get up. I am here today to share my review of the Mara Blouse by Compagnie M.
I am just going to start by saying I LOVE this shirt! I am so happy with how it turned out. It is totally my style and I am considering trying to size this pattern up to make one in my size.
This blouse pattern has so many options! There are patterns for the butterfly sleeves I chose as well as flutter sleeves, long sleeves, and a long sleeve/flutter sleeve combo.
There is also an option for a dress but no pattern pieces for that. Instead there is a tutorial for drafting the dress pieces from the blouse pieces using a dress your child already owns and some simple geometry. The downside of this is it takes a little extra time and would make things difficult if you didn't have a dress on hand that fits the girl you are sewing for. But on the other hand if you don't already know how to do this, you can learn a new trick you can use for making blouse patterns into a-line dresses that you can use over and over again for any blouse pattern.
The front of the blouse has a bib with optional piping and little pin tuck below it. It closes with three buttons, I was excited to find these three little wooden buttons in my stash that were just perfect for this shirt. The blouse is really easy to get on and off, which is an important feature when dressing a todlder.
The woman behind Compagnie M is a designer from Belgium. The pattern is done with metric measurements but she also provides conversions into inches. The only problem is that sometimes that means you end up with a number like 6.2" or 14.1". I rounded all my numbers to the nearest 1/4" and everything came out fine. She also provides the pattern with and without seam allowances.
This shirt took me a little over 2 hours to complete. That includes making bias tape and piping, and some time for seam ripping when I sewed my bib in a little wonky on the first try. The pattern has excellent photos for every step and the instructions are clear. I think anyone with advanced beginner sewing skills could make this blouse without any trouble.
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Hello sewing friends! I was lucky enough to get to review the wonderful Mara blouse pattern by Compagnie M. My name is Erica Hill and I have a small shop called Stripes and Ruffles.
The Mara pattern has a lot of options. It can be a tunic or dress, have a trim band or a ruffle,and about four sleeve choices. Do you want a pattern with seam allowances or no seam allowances? You can print the pieces you prefer. After some thought, I decided on a dress with this fox material, a red trim band, and red flutter sleeve. Piping has been on my learn to do list so I was excited to give it a go.
The piping and the multiple pleats in a button yoke were all new techniques to me. I have been sewing for several years now but I tend to stay inside my safety zone when buying patterns. There are several reasons I like testing and reviewing patterns. 1. A due date- I work when I know I have to have stuff done by a certain date and 2. Trying patterns I might normally skip over and avoid for many different reasons.
I called my mom when I finished and messaged her a picture. "Show Grandma, Mom. I used piping, and made pleats, are you showing her? There is a yoke, does she see it?" My grandma has always sewed and was my influence. I am always trying to show her the new things I am doing. I would say this pattern is for advanced beginners or intermediate sewers due to the different details involved. I love the way this dress turned out. Every detail and seam is thought out and finished neatly. It did take me some time to complete the dress. I worked slowly though since some what I was doing was new to me. It took longer to put together the pattern as a dress than it would just making the top because you have to draft the dress pieces from the top and back pieces. It probably took me an hour and a half to put the pattern together, trace the pieces, and cut the fabric. I would say it took me about two hours to put the dress together. The front bodice takes the most time but after that it comes together very easily.
The directions were very thorough and I had no problem figuring out how to do the pleats, add the yoke, or any of the other steps. If I could change anything, I would add that the dress pieces be drafted and included. I had a dress that I could measure the length from but if I was making the dress for someone else, I would need those measurements available. I am going to try to make this as a long sleeved top next. I can see myself using this as a base pattern to come back to often.
The piping and the multiple pleats in a button yoke were all new techniques to me. I have been sewing for several years now but I tend to stay inside my safety zone when buying patterns. There are several reasons I like testing and reviewing patterns. 1. A due date- I work when I know I have to have stuff done by a certain date and 2. Trying patterns I might normally skip over and avoid for many different reasons.
I called my mom when I finished and messaged her a picture. "Show Grandma, Mom. I used piping, and made pleats, are you showing her? There is a yoke, does she see it?" My grandma has always sewed and was my influence. I am always trying to show her the new things I am doing. I would say this pattern is for advanced beginners or intermediate sewers due to the different details involved. I love the way this dress turned out. Every detail and seam is thought out and finished neatly. It did take me some time to complete the dress. I worked slowly though since some what I was doing was new to me. It took longer to put together the pattern as a dress than it would just making the top because you have to draft the dress pieces from the top and back pieces. It probably took me an hour and a half to put the pattern together, trace the pieces, and cut the fabric. I would say it took me about two hours to put the dress together. The front bodice takes the most time but after that it comes together very easily.
The directions were very thorough and I had no problem figuring out how to do the pleats, add the yoke, or any of the other steps. If I could change anything, I would add that the dress pieces be drafted and included. I had a dress that I could measure the length from but if I was making the dress for someone else, I would need those measurements available. I am going to try to make this as a long sleeved top next. I can see myself using this as a base pattern to come back to often.
