I can’t believe it’s already over!
The Curvy Sewing Collective have had such a blast with the Curvy Colette: Plus Size Blog Tour and it’s been an overwhelming thumbs up from this set of curvy ladies to the new Moneta and Mabel designs. They’ve instantly become cosy TNT classics, so much so that several of us have already made multiple versions…
Here’s a little round up of all the looks:
The Monetas!
And here come the Mabels!
My textured panel black pencil skirt
I have to say that when I first brought up the idea of a plus size blog tour with Colette and invited the other ladies to join, I had no idea it would become so popular! We’ve heard from curvy women all around the world that they’re delighted to see patterns tested and modeled by women with bodies like theirs, and most touching of all, a few bloggers have even said that it’s given them confidence to get sewing and blogging again – I can’t think of a more amazing outcome.
This has ended up being Colette’s most successful pattern launch to date – they even sold out of their paper patterns! – and I hope that we’ve helped it along. I also hope we’ve helped kick off having more plus size and curvy women represented in the sewing blogosphere. One almost unbelievable thing is that if you google the pattern names, you now *mostly* see curvy ladies!
But this is not the end of the Curvy Sewing Collective – far from it! We are busying away behind the scenes, and will be back with incredibly exciting news very soon. The Collective will be an inclusive community, involving lots of different curvy sewists, so if you’d like to contribute, just get in touch through the comments below!
Have you enjoyed the Curvy Colette tour, readers? And are you enjoying your Monetas and Mabels as much as us?!
I’m working up my first Moneta this week, and I bought literally the exact same fabric as Mary D. used for her Mabel to humbly rip that one off too. 🙂 This tour has been fabulous, and I’ve loved every minute of it! I would love to play along / contribute in any way I can. Excellent work, Jenny!! 😀
I can’t wait to see your Moneta Susan! One of the joys of sewing is definitely being able to copy with love 🙂 Glad that you’ve enjoyed it, and we’ll let you know the opportunities to join in soon.
I second all of Susan’s thoughts… great minds and what not 😉
I would love to contribute, I think you guys are up to great things and I REALLY appreciate that you aren’t going to be exclusive (as so many internet things are). Seeing all you lovely ladies has inspired me to get motivated to blog again, starting with me-made-may.
That’s great Megan! I’m so glad you’re back to blogging – can’t wait to see what you wear and make in May. I would do it, but I’m going to be gone on vacation for 2.5 weeks cycling every day and I don’t have enough homemade sportswear!
Wow, these are all so gorgeous! Great job, ladies! I’ve so enjoyed this blog tour- keep up the good work!
Thanks Sonja!
This was such a great experience! I have heard from so many people out there and it seems like the CSC is a much needed part of the online sewing community. I just love everyone’s monetas and mabels! I will have a mabel eventually….. 🙂
*high five*
I agree with Tanya that the CSC is a much needed part of the online sewing community. I’m not a skirt or dress person, so I don’t see myself sewing either of these patterns, but I have loved seeing everyone’s creations in this blog tour and am very excited that Colette’s first foray into plus-size patterns have been their most successful patterns to date. As someone who is plus-sized, curvy, and new to sewing clothing for myself, I’m totally inspired by the work of everyone involved in the CSC. I’d also love to contribute in anyway that I can!
I’m so glad we’re inspiring you Anna! And we most definitely have some non-skirt/dress projects coming up soon 🙂
+1 that this is a really important contribution to the sewing community. With some nervousness, I re-started my blog a few months ago, hoping that it might be of use to other sewists with similar fitting issues. I’d also be happy to contribute or participate in the community in any way!
Thanks Michelle, appreciate that. We will be announcing ways to participate shortly and look forward to having you on board.
So glad to see fellow curvy ladies out there flaunting their mad sewing skills. Can’t wait to see what else you come up with!
Thanks! I can’t wait either 🙂
This is so great! I’m definitely in the camp that this has given a breath of fresh air to – seeing the whole lot of you gorgeously curvy sewists has shown me that my body type is more common than I thought and has given me the extra oomph I need to GET BLOGGING more about my sewing adventures. I’ve done so very little so far but am actually in the process of re-keying my blog to go more this direction.
As for contributing – PICK ME! I would love to be a part of whatever it is you ladies are doing!
Thanks Cadi! Isn’t it amazing how seeing lots of curvy bodies recalibrates your own body image? I’ve noticed it really considerably since I stopped reading women’s magazines and started following curvy fashion and sewing bloggers. Info on how to contribute will be coming soon.
I have loved the blog tour, its great seeing the patterns on fabulous ladies that reflect my body type and I love that you were so honest about the cling worries, I’ve yet to make my mabel or moneta but have some lovely coral neoprene waiting and looking forward to seeing what the CSC get up to next!
Thanks Kara! Coral neoprene would be *perfect* for the Mabel! I actually just got some crazy printed neoprene myself so hopefully you’ll be seeing something up here soon 🙂
That’s so funny–after my conservative black ponte Mabel turned out so well, I ordered a “deep fuscia” neoprene from FabricMart. Just waiting for it to arrive now.
I enjoyed seeing everyone’s creations and look forward to more!
Thanks Judi!
I have been thrilled to see everyone’s Monetas and Mabels. It has been very empowering to find that it is possible to get patterns big enough to fit me or at least to alter them until they are perfect for me. I would love to jump right in and contribute, but I, alas, am a rank beginner. I would love to help spread the word as I keep learning, if that would be a way to contribute.
Isn’t it fantastic to be able to just sew things straight from the pattern? Grading and altering isn’t *too* bad, but there’s something wonderful about feeling “hey, this was made for me”. Thanks for your ongoing support!
Ooh! Just wondered if some day we could do a link up and everyone share something they made. Would help us all to find more inspirational curvy blogs, maybe?
I think link ups would be a great idea! And inspirational curvy fashion bloggers and sewing bloggers are definitely on our list.
Thanks for the round up! And just reading the comments of this blog post is a good summary of the returns we all had.
Totally! Isn’t it great?
Thanks for the inspiration, CSC heroes! Just finished my first Mabel and planning #2-12.
Ha ha you will have a Mabel wardrobe in no time! I ordered a Japanese print to make my next one…
I’m so glad you started this tour! I’ve discovered tons of new plus-size sewing blogs, including yours! I also bought the Moneta and plan to sew it in the next month. I’m glad that the sold-out pattern proves that plus sizing is as lucrative, if not more, than straight sizing. I’m so happy Colette Patterns is doing that now. I’ve admired their patterns for a couple of years now and am glad to finally be supporting such a great company. 🙂 Thanks so much again.
So glad you’re reading along! And it’s fantastic that Colette had such a good response – there’s no going back now 🙂
How wonderful on the Google results! I’ve loved all the Collete creations all of you have sewn.
I try very hard to find pattern/sewing book reviews from curvier women so I’m very happy to have found all of your blogs. I’d love to contribute as I’m curvy myself and I’m having a blast reworking my wardrobe to include only things that I love rather than just whatever fits me 🙂
Thanks Tina! That’s fantastic that you’re reworking your whole wardrobe – I’m doing exactly the same thing. It’s amazing how much *better* we look when we wear clothes that fit, right?!
I have really enjoyed this blog tour. It is so refreshing to see us curvy women in something a bit more figure hugging instead of the bloody awful sacks they produce for plus-sizes and nice to connect to so many new curvy sewing bloggers.
Thanks! I agree that all the CSC ladies looked amazing, and just goes to prove that fashion and style don’t end at a size 10.
I’m so happy you guys did this tour! It’s awesome to see clothing modeled by someone larger than a small or x-small. As soon as my husband is done with finals week, I’m making some clothing to fit my size XL chest 🙂
Yay for size XL chests!
Thanks so much for this! This blog tour has really built up my sewing confidence, I hope to tackle the Moneta soon!
Oh Binki I’m so delighted to hear that! Our main mission is to try to help curvy sewists get more confidence 😀
I have loved seeing all these posts, and they introduced me to several new blogs, so yay! I’m a curvy sewist too, so I’d love to contribute in the future!