2009 Marfy Catalog

My Marfy catalog came Wednesday, and I've been carefully studying it ever since. I went through it once without marking anything, but taking note of the things that caught my eye, and why, and also of the major trends that seemed to appear. I then went through it again several times, marking likely pattern purchases as well as details to copy. I will probably whittle this list down a little bit yet, but so far this is what I'm thinking about ordering.

First are a couple of dresses that are very interesting, although they are what I'm most likely to skip ordering. They both are on my mind, though. The first one has an intriguing collar. There's also a blouse with this same effect, but on a smaller scale. I think this dress might be better with sleeves as a fall/winter dress, but this is what they are showing.

With the next dress, it's the pockets. The rest of it is fine, but I'm not sure it's really me, and without the pockets, I don't think I'd have looked twice at it, so I'm not sure I should now either, but it stays on my mind.


Of course I have to have a jacket, and I think this one is just darling with the gathering along the front, and the bands.


This duster is so charming, and I was surprised that it was the coat that caught my eye out of the whole catalog. I have quite a few coat patterns already, and even though there's a trench-style coat that I like very much, most of the coat styles aren't anything I feel I must have. I also think they have a new artist and he or she does several very odd coat collars/necklines, or else they have a lot of them that just are odd, which I doubt.


There are two skirts with similar pocket ideas. The one I don't show is more square, and would be easier to just make oneself, but this one is a little trickier. I love the way the pocket swoops on this, and it only has one seam, at CB. That reminds me of a Sandra Kelly skirt pattern I made over and over, and loved.


And finally, when I turned the page and saw this, I knew I had to have it. I've never been one to swoon over jeans-style jackets, but I love the shaped panels in this. I can see it in a pique or cotton brocade, with piping of course for a patterned fabric, or the details would be lost.

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2008 Marfy Catalog

As I mentioned, the 2008 Marfy catalog came Friday and I've spent some quality time with it. I like to turn down pages for things that catch my eye, then put it aside and when I return to it, see if I'm still pleased with my preliminary choices.

In general, I think this is a pretty good catalog. There are some nice styles, and a couple of must-haves for me. One thing I was interested in was all the lightweight jackets shown over dresses or separates. They're almost more of an overblouse or shirtjacket in weight I think, and although I don't have any of them on my buying list yet, there's one in the free patterns and I love wearing that kind of thing. There must be one with every variation of sleeve, hem shape, neckline, closure, etc., so there's no reason not to find one you like if that's a style that grabs you too.

Click on the Photo Link under any picture to go to a larger image for a detailed view.


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I'll start with a view of the free patterns, which I think are rather exceptional. The inclusion of a Chanel-style suit complete with top is very nice. The babydoll top and cropped pants don't do it for me, but the tunic shown (which could easily be a dress) is, I think, a step up from the Duro dress we saw so much of last year. The overblouse/shirtjacket on the right (which they call a tunic) is very much the style I was speaking of above. Cute pockets and sleeves on this. The little tank under it is a nice basic as well. The suit and the tunic and top all go to size 58 (bust47/hip49) as do many (perhaps most) of the patterns in the catalog. I know there's been some complaining that they needed to extend their size range, and perhaps they've been listening.


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I love this sundress. It's probably my favorite in the group just for its immediacy. I think the neckline is the cutest thing I've seen in a while. I'm not sure I'll do the cut-in shoulders, but it would be cute with a plain sleeveless shoulder too. It's one that would be really cute in lighter-weight denim, although I think a pique would be great, or does anyone else remember Trigger? The fabric, not the horse.... Something like that would be good too.



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I thought the closure on this vest was just so clever, and really cute. We're seeing so many little inset belts or half-belts that this could be cute on a jacket or even pants as well as a vest.


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I really like the lines of this suit, and the neckline is very much au courant without being too trendy. It's almost a basic, but the neckline gives it a nice update.


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This top is one that I immediately liked, but also thought that it wasn't really me. But, I kept coming back to it. I really like all the details, although I think you could leave off the underbust tabs and even the pockets and be just fine. It's the neckline treatment I like, and I'm not sure I couldn't just do that on a top I already have, as empire waists are not necessarily great on me. It wouldn't have to be really fitted though, and it might be quite darling in a sheer or very fine fabric.


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Finally, this coat caught my eye. It's very basic, but it's a really nice basic, and I'd like to have it because I know I'll want that style sooner or later, and there's nothing about it that I don't like. Since Marfy patterns seem to fit me so well, I've decided that I might as well use them for basics if I can.


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Beyond these, there are a couple of things I marked just for one or two details, including some cute pant details, like inset and cargo-style pockets with a hem slightly gathered with a cord through grommets. (Left) I think they could be really cute for summer, but I'll use my own TNT pant pattern instead of re-inventing the wheel.