Talk Back Thursday

Thank you so much to Elaina, Sarah, Mamafitz, Julia, Faye, Mary, Gwen, Gaylen, Claire, Cindy, Sarah, Becky and Uta for talking back to my confession last week! I asked if people have "tried and true" (TNT) patterns that they re-make over and over again.

So, do people have TNT patterns? We got the typical spread in responses - there were 7 definite “yeses”, 4 “kind-ofs”, and 2 “nos”. The main reasons for NOT using a single pattern over and over again were (a) the person I sew for (me or someone else) changes size too much and (b) I get bored easily.

The TNT patterns that were called out (many approximated as best as possible in the illustration above) included:
* women’s dresses (2)
* t-shirts (2)
* skirts (2)
* women’s lingerie (2)
* blouse (1)
* men’s underwear (1)
* children’s dresses (1)
* blue jeans pattern copied from RTW (1)

How often do you have to make a pattern before it becomes a TNT? Some call it a TNT after making it as few as 3 times, while others have made their TNT patterns as many as 20 times, and the average across all commenters (who gave numbers) is 10 times.

I didn’t specifically ask what makes a pattern a TNT, but nonetheless some themes emerged. Of course, some TNTs are for basic wardrobe staples (like underwear) – things that you can always use.

Beyond that, it sounds like TNT patterns are patterns with a particularly flattering fit, and that are easy to modify for different looks. For example, Cindy loved the fit of a pair of RTW jeans, so she copied the pattern and now makes them in a variety of styles - high-rise, low-rise, boot-leg, bell-bottom, etc. Each pair has the same excellent fit!

And Gwen’s TNT is a t-shirt pattern that she has used to make a t-shirt, a dress, a nightgown and a cardigan – changing the neckline, the sleeves, etc.

In other words, some people use their TNT pattern a little bit like a sloper. In fact, Sarah said that, instead of a TNT pattern, what she’d really like to have is a princess seam sloper.

Thanks, again, everyone! I loved reading about your TNT patterns and looking them up on the internet! :)