Weekend Review: Everyday Patterns by Lotta Jansdotter

Lotta Jansdotter Everyday patterns / Lotta Jansdotter
NY: Abrams, c2022.
144 p.

I picked this one up because I really enjoyed the first pattern book that Lotta Jansdotter created. This one has similar silhouettes and style, with lots of great photography. A real lifestyle book. 

This one has six garment patterns and a couple of accessories included. The title states that the pieces are mix & match, and they are -- a whole capsule wardrobe if you want it. The patterns are: 

Billie Top & Tunic

Rui Shirt & Shirt Dress

Maar Dress

Pym Pants

Kiko Jacket & Robe

Rickie Skirt 

Stina Everyday Tote Bag

Scarf

Headband 

As usual in her books there are a variety of models from her circle of friends and acquaintances. There are both young and old, male and female, although probably half of the model photos are of Lotta herself. She's really trying to make these patterns appeal to both men and women, but I'm not sure it it carries over fully. The styles are very much in her aesthetic, boxy fits and lots of cotton and linen. If you are a Lotta fan these will appeal to you, although these days I'd say there are many similar patterns out there from tons of indie designers. 

I liked this one for its visuals - great photos, nice cohesion to the wardrobe patterns, great fabric choices. But I can't give the book itself a perfect review because of the massive issues with pattern errors. There is an enormous list of pattern errata at the Abrams website, for nearly every pattern. And if you want to download and print the fixed patterns, they are all only available in copyshop format. So if you want to spend more than the book's price on getting all the patterns that were supposed to be included as traceable in the book itself on reprinting copyshop versions of the patterns, go for it. But I won't be doing that. A skilled sewist might be able to recognize the pattern issues and redraft, but why should someone who has bought this for the patterns have to do that? **ETA: a reader notes in the comments that it is indeed possible to tile these files in Adobe and print them yourself, if you want to try that. 

The patterns seem to mostly have sizing lines labelled incorrectly, with a few of the patterns having fully revised pattern sheets to download. I can't quite tell if that is because of the sizing marking issues, or further issues though, since I have not downloaded the new pattern sheets. 

So this was both beautiful to look at, and inspiring when thinking about simple sewing and a capsule wardrobe. But I feel badly for the author that the technical aspects of the publication lower the value overall. 

Linen Owyn Trousers

I made some trousers! I don't make pants as a rule; I hardly ever wear them. But after my recent success at making a pair of shorts for my husband I thought I should try a simple pair for myself.

I recently picked up a copy of Lotta Jansdotter's Everyday Style, which I have been wanting for a while, thanks to all the nice versions of the patterns in this book that I've seen on Instagram. So I traced out the elastic waist pull on pants in this book, the Owyn Trousers.

It's a simple style; flat front with elastic coming about 1/4 of the way across the front on each side. And the pattern is slightly cropped but I didn't realize that; I'm so short that the cropped look is ankle length on me anyhow!

I added some patch pockets to the front, and ended up folding the casing down by only 1/2 its width so I have a narrower elastic waist because otherwise I wouldn't like where they sit on my waistline. They fit okay, but I'll definitely need to increase the back height next time as I'd like them to sit higher, and I'd like to fold the casing down fully too.

I used some old navy linen in my stash and it's lightweight and comfortable for summer. If I can get the fit right on these I think they would be nice in a heavier weight fabric for work pants too. But they did remind me why I don't really make pants; the fit is so hard to get right, even for easy pull on styles, and I end up not wearing them very often anyhow. So I'm not sure if I'll tackle the fitting adjustments and make another pair of these soon, or wait until the fancy strikes again, probably in another year or two ;)