Brijee Patterns Makes A Debut: The Linden Lady

Dear Readers,
         I have a rather exciting post for today. I have long aspired to participate in the various pattern testing opportunities that pop up every now and then throughout the sewing pattern world. I signed up for as many testing lists as I can find, and was nearly able to try a Jennifer Lauren pattern. Unfortunately, the list was filled up before I saw it. Imagine my delight when I saw that Brigid Boyer of the Boyer Family Singers was looking for testers! I signed up as quickly as I could and managed to squeak in at the very end. Hooray! I can unashamedly admit that I did a happy dance when I was accepted. Yes, my sister thought that I had thoroughly lost it. I did not care.

          Without further ado, allow me to introduce the lovely Linden Lady:

Here is the official description:

The Linden Lady is the first pattern in the Brijee pattern line. A 1930s inspired Palazzo pant, it comes with three waistline variations:

• View 1 has a faced waistband and lapped side zipper.
• View 2 has a high waistband with the lapped side zipper extending all the way up to the top of the high waistband.
• View 3 is a modified version of View 2, with bound buttonholes in the high waistband and the lapped side zipper extending up to the waistline.

The Linden Lady pattern was simple, easy, and actually quite enjoyable to sew. I used a sheet from Goodwill because I did not want to waste expensive fabric on something that might not fit, and I was too lazy make a muslin first. Instead, I made a wearable muslin.

 As you can see, the finished garment fits almost perfectly. The waistband might gape a little, but I can't remember right off the top of my head. If so, it is not the fault of the pattern, but rather the result of a scrawny torso. . .

Photographer Sister has worn them several times since I finished them, and I have not heard any complaints yet!

Details for the Avid Seamstress:

Fabric: Sheet from Goodwill

Pattern: Linden Lady from Brijee Patterns

Notions: Invisible zipper from stash.

Notes: As I said before, I am very pleased with how this pattern turned out. I found the instructions to be well written, and the illustrations to be quite clear. I sometimes struggle with deciphering the diagrams in patterns, but Brigid managed to make her drawings easy to understand; which is something I sincerely appreciate. It made my job much easier.

The one problem I had with this pattern was completely user error. When you print out the pdf, make sure that you check all of the printer settings. When I first printed out the pattern and tried to tape it all together, the lines were not matching up and it looked like I was missing bits off of the edges. I ended up having to reprint the entire pattern because my printer was set to not print within a certain distance of the edge of the paper. (I hope that makes sense!) I changed the settings to borderless 8.5" x 11" paper, and everything worked fantastic!

Thank you very much, Brigid, for letting me have the privilege of testing your pattern. I am happy to congratulate you on a job well done!

~Emily