Today, I am going to be talking with you about waffle knits and the oversized trend.  And how it’s maybe kinda sorta growing on me but I’m just not quite there yet.  Even though I want to be because everyone looks so stinking cute in their oversized clothes and I desperately want to be cute too!  GAH!

I have a knee jerk reaction to my body image issues when I put on something oversized.  I go into it thinking I’m going to look all Instagram-worthy cute and then all I can see is a frumpy blob in the mirror.  Although I am full bodied (can we use this phrase for more than just wine and craft beer? haha) and you would typically think I’d prefer to hide my lumps and bumps, I find that oversized clothing adds more pounds to me.  I am always really careful about choosing fabrics that have a good drape to them, so nothing tents off my bust and I don’t lose my figure.  Because my curves are worth celebrating and hiding everything under big clothes never really makes me feel good.

I’m starting to ease myself into this style slowly and it helps a lot when I do it via pattern tests.  Because that means I will eventually end up needing to actually style myself and find a way that I find things flattering on my body, in order to feel comfortable in front of the camera.  This pattern test for the brand new Oversized Sweater from Patterns for Pirates is exactly one of those moments!

This oversized waffle knit is the January 2020 shipment of the Threads of the Month fabric subscription that I send out monthly.  I chose it specifically with this style trend in mind…and maybe also knowing that this pattern was in our lineup.  It’s cozy, has a pretty great drape, and I was super excited to pair it with this pattern.  In my mind, it was the perfect matchup.  I mean…both of them are called “oversized” for goodness sake.

And oversized it is!  I can’t remember the exact amount of ease, but there is a lot of wiggle room in this pattern!  It features a dropped shoulder and cuffed long sleeves for all options.  And then you can choose from three different necklines and three different hemlines.  This time around, I went with a curved hem and basic crew neck.  It just felt like those all needed to be together with this fabric.  And I think I was right because it’s darn cute.

The weather was full-blown craptastic when I wanted to take pictures, so I ended up deciding to do indoor photos and give it a cozy kinda look in a bedroom.  I don’t want to tell you how long it took me to decide which bottoms to pair with my Oversized Sweater for this shoot….and then I landed on black Peg Legs.  Black leggings, y’all.  Why didn’t I just start there?

Anyway, back to talk about this whole mental block I have with slouchy/oversized clothing.  I think the saving grace of this top and my body type is that I picked a fabric with drape.  And it drapes back to my body as much as it can, so I don’t feel like a huge circus tent running around my house.  In fact, I feel like I actually pulled off the intended style as it was meant to be.  Boom.  Take that inner dialogue!

Patterns: Oversized Sweater by Patterns for Pirates
Fabric: Thread + Grain’s January Threads of the Month [now P4P’s Fabric for Pirates]