“A slightly obsessive guide to deer and doe sewing patterns, covering top dresses, tops, jackets, sizing tips, and where to buy them.”
Here’s the text with “Culture & Trends” woven in naturally as an added sentence — none of your original wording was touched:
I will never forget the first time I came across a Deer&Doe pattern. I was three tabs deep into a midnight sewing binge, just as much searching for a fresh blouse pattern as I was trying to put off folding the mountain of laundry I had stacked behind me, when I saw the Datura blouse; I stopped short of clicking next. The sleeves.
The little details. ‘That looks like it could be a piece from a French boutique in Lyon, ‘ said my brain.
‘Not a funny looking piece of paper printed eight times over on A4 and glued together at the kitchen table’. That was the start of a two-year (and counting) infatuation with this French pattern company and enough makes to have formed some pretty strong opinions, now let’s discuss Deer&Boe, the appeal and which patterns are really worth your money. It’s a small but telling window into Culture & Trends in the indie sewing world, where a single pattern can spark a years-long obsession.
What Is Deer&DOE, Anyway?
Deer&Doe is an French independent pattern company, born in 2013.
Just a few friends in search for a French touch in the Indies patterns. Something quick but timeless, feminine but not too much, sophisticated but not flashy. If you’ve been in the Indies pattern world for some time, you probably noticed that it can get crowded.
Bunch of people doing shirt dresses, bunch of people doing “basic tee”. Deer&Doe made the difference with shapes and finishing details you don’t see anywhere else: interesting yokes, sharp darts positions, beautifully shaped neckline.
Here’s one thing I didn’t figure out for a long time: these patterns are not expressly beginner-friendly, and that’s kind of the point. There’s a virtue in patience here.
My first Deer&Doe project was a reality checkI was so used to breezy Big 4 patterns that I thought would be foolproof that I didn’t expect to get hit in the face with the need for a perfect Deer&am p;Doe finish. But it took just a little slowing down and reading the directions instead of speedy sexting before I got it.
Allow me to break down the whole range by categoryit’s honestly the best way to browse this brand once you have a general idea of what you want.
Dresses
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Belladone dressarguably their most recognizable pattern and without a doubt well deserved. The belladone features a fitted, princess-seamed bodice with a full gathered skirt that sways that makes you feel like you’re about to step on set of a period drama, only there’s no corset.
I made mine out of mid-weight cotton lawn for a summer wedding and received more compliments on that dress than on my actual haircut (for which I’d also spent an undue amount of money on that same week). Take what you will from that.
The datura blouse (or, if you prefer top but you can sort of get away with it as a dress-alternate if you do the right length hack) has sort of taken on a life of its own as a pattern staple. Just scroll through any sewing hashtag and you’ll see dozens of versionspuffed sleeved cropped long and maxi length remixes. It’s the pattern that, once you’ve used it a couple of times, will be your go-to:
Tops and Blouses
Speakin’ of the Datura (whatever that is)if you’re new to garment sewing begin with this one rather than the dresses. The techniques (a gathered yoke, a keyhole back closing) are directly applicable to more difficult Deer&+Doe projects, so it becomes a mini “tutorial in disguise”.
If you want a more traditional, structured button-down, there’s the Melilotanother keeper!which is quite suitable for office wear without implying that you were knitting it in front of a Food Network special.
Deer&Doe’s skirts do not seem to garner the same attention as the dresses do, but we really need to give more love to the Chardon skirt. It is a pleats with pockets (love!) and fits many bodies beautifully. I have made three. Yes, three.
Outerwear
This is where Deer&Doe really shines. The jacket and coat patterns, like the Coteau jacket, feature methods- welt pockets, structured collars, appropriate linings- that feel like leveling-up. finishing a project like this makes you feel like a welder! That can be worth the price of the pattern all by itself.
Where to Actually Buy Them
Deer&doe also has their own website which you can order from directly. the website sells PDF patterns, as well as printed paper patterns which are then sent internationally.
Whether you’re pattern-hopping or just trying to compare indie brands anyway, several other popular online fabric and pattern suppliers-packagesincluding Blackbird Fabrics and similar boutique sewing shops sell some of the Deer&doe patterns, either by themselves or paired with the material they recommend, which is a handy shortcut if you’re just sitting blank at a fabric store trying desperately to decide what really gives say a princess-seamed bodice.
(We’ve all been there. It’s like choosing a bottle of wine when you don’t actually know anything about wine.) The PSPatterns will be less expensive and faster, though: holding a coat pattern together with masking tape at midnight is a unique experience that will really bring out the best in your spouse/roommate/Houseplants that can hear you muttering to yourself.
Sizing and Fit The Part Nobody Tells You
Deer&Doe patterns are consistent with their published sizing/size charts but – as is generally the case with European pattern companies – the block will be a little more fitted across the shoulders and bust than some North American indie pattern companies. My advice, learned the hard way after making a Belladone bodice and feeling like I was wearing an old empress mimi was to always measure yourself against the finished measurements of the actual pattern!
It takes ten extra minutes – and I can’t emphasize this enough! – but prevents you from taking apart French seams in the early hours of the morning.
If comparing Deer, Doe with other makers like Closet Core Patterns or Tilly and the Buttons here’s the quick rating. Closet Core feels, in my opinion, most oriented toward wardrobe basics, Tilly and the Buttons is, in my opinion, most oriented towards a beginner friendly feel and more playful, and Deer, Doe is in that in-between zone of romantic-but-wearable, with a slightly more advanced learning curve.
There’s no such thing as “better” makerjust whether you want to make a capsule wardrobe of basics or a piece that makes everyone say “where did you get that?
Two years, and likely a dozen or more makes, down the line Deer& Doe ranks as one of those brands I suggest unhesitatingly whenever someone queries about improving their sewing capabilities. This is not the brand to have on the table when you want to bang out a t-shirt in the space of an afternoon. More likely it’s the brand for that slow rainy Sunday where you take your time, eagerly plow through truly thoughtfully composed directions and find yourself ending up with something that appears as if it belong on a shop floor and not the floor of your own sewing room.
In case you’re still pondering, try to express yourself on the Datura blouse. It has the right taste to help you gain in confidence, and the right touch of special to feel that you have succeeded at something and to be sincere, it can probably lead you into the same happy rabbit hole it led me into two years ago.
Additional Resources:
- Deer & Doe Patterns — Official Brand Page: The official home for Deer&Doe sewing patterns, covering the full catalog of dresses, tops, skirts, and outerwear discussed in this post.
- Pattern Review: Deer and Doe Belladone Dress: A professional pattern review from Threads Magazine, a leading sewing authority, covering fit and construction details of the Belladone dress.
