New(ish) Marfy

There've been new fall patterns coming out from several brands. This is just one of them, and they aren't really "new" per se; they're just newly listed on the Vogue and Marfy websites within the past couple of weeks. About Marfy

Currently, Marfy issues one catalogue per year. The 2014 catalogue has close to 200 pages of patterns; the first 70% or so is the spring/summer collection (including most of the eveningwear) and the rest is fall/winter. Much of it looks very formal compared to what I would say most Americans or Canadians wear. Part of that may be a reflection of what people want to spend their time and money sewing (or having sewn for them) but part of it may well be that Italians do tend to dress more formally in general. It did seem that way, the one chance I had to compare.

This year's catalogue includes 20 multi-sized patterns, which you can see on the Marfy website. I think this is a great idea on their part, because it provides more of a reason to buy the catalogue sight unseen, even if you never end up ordering any of the other patterns in it. It also gives people a chance to try out the sizing, which is important, as the other patterns you can order are single-size. (From the few patterns I've tried, I'd say for the same approximate body measurements, Marfy tends to use less ease than many of the American companies, and they also seem to design for a fairly tall, long-waisted, long-legged person, as I'd have expected from their size charts.)

The catalogue claims it is inspired by the 50s, 60s, and 80s, and that does come across in many of the designs.  In this latest collection I also noticed a lot of interesting dart placement and diagonal seaming: what I'd call a Y-dart here and here, a related but more complex set of crisscrossing darts, an H-dart (really a French dart with a crossing horizontal seam), and some pointed insets on this long jacket.

As it stands right now, I think there are two or three options for buying Marfy patterns from the U.S. or Canada. One is Marfy itself. The second is the Vogue website (AFAIK you can only order what's listed on the site; you can't request other patterns that are shown in the catalogues but not listed.) A third is, I think, Fashion Sewing Group. The only things I've ever tried, myself, are (a) ordering patterns from Vogue and having them shipped to the U.S., (b) ordering patterns from the Marfy site and having them shipped to Germany, and (c) ordering the catalogue from Vogue and having it shipped to Canada.

Which is most cost-effective source? Check the shipping and exchange rates. I think the Vogue site is a decent way to get the catalogue in Canada, especially since there is no extra shipping charge for it — if you find it on a newsstand in Europe it's 20 EUR, and Vogue charges $35 US plus whatever tax applies at the destination. In contrast, I saw it in one Chapters branch, once, for 70 CAD plus tax.