Welcome the Newest Visitors to Wadderville

I call them "visitors" because there may be hope.  Maybe.  For now, they both need lots and lots of time in Narnia - one step beyond the magic closet.

First up is the BWOF trench skirt (8-2009-107).  This has so much fail and it's all because of the fabric.  It's just too heavy for this pattern.  I am bummed about this too because I bought the fabric initially for a jacket.  I should have stuck with my original plan.  Oh well.

It looks horrible on me, so dress form pics are all I have.  The skirt is pinned to the form and so are the buttons.  

Given that I shortened the pattern 1", I probably should have repositioned the diagonal topstitching so that it was proportional.

The hem is turned under twice and topstitched.  With the fabric being so thick, I can't get the pleats to lie flat.  I could unpick the hem and lop some shit off, but I don't feel like it right now.

The instructions aren't that bad if you read them slowly and a few times.  The word maze sort of works itself out in the mind and it starts to actually make sense.

I'll definitely sew the skirt again, but in a much lighter-weight fabric.

Next is the very ambitious interlined eyelet button-front blouse, Simplicity 4077.  This pattern has been in and out of the rotation for...hmm...six years or so.  I made the FBA, but did not like how the darts looked.  So I converted both the front and back darts to princess seams and got the fit that I like.

Unfortunately, something is still off about this version.  Because the eyelets are rather big, I decided to underline each piece with a light-weight cotton batiste.  This thing feels like a suit of armor and I haven't even put in the sleeves or ruffles.  

Meh.  I have no motivation to finish it.

I had high hopes for both garments, but alas, it is not to be...for now at least.

I want to sew something, but my sewjo is on hiatus in the worst way.  I don't even feel like sewing a pair of jeans.  =/  

I'm in a funk inside and outside of the sewing room; I hope the tide will turn soon.

L

New Look 6407: Wearable Wadder?

I don't make wearable muslins.  A muslin is my chance at working on the fit and if I try to make it wearable, then I won't focus on getting the fit right.

But what about a wearable wadder?  Seems counter-intuitive.

The shirt is wearable because it's finished and fits - almost.  There is serious pulling at the center front which is weird because it's the same pattern that I used to make the first version - which I absolutely adore.

I think the purple shirt is a wadder because of the fabric.  I used a stretch-cotton poplin which may not be the best fabric for a structured blouse with lots of seams.  Taming the wrinkles is next to impossible and a bad press job is amplified.  I have a gravity feed iron that gets hella hot with lots of steam and the wrinkles act like the T-1000 from Terminator 2:  I walk away for 5 minutes and the wrinkles are back and with an attitude.

I am totally MEH about this blouse.  I am going to make a third version of the pattern out of a non-stretch fabric to see if my suspicions hold true.  In the meantime, I haven't decided if I will keep this one.  If I do, I will not wear it without a jacket or something to cover the awefulness.

The skirt in the photos is New Look 6053 and was sewn from stash fabric.  1.5 yards down, over 600 left to go.  Good grief.

I'll talk about that project in the next post. 

Have you ever worn a wadder?  What are your experiences with stretch cotton poplin?

L

Pictures (finally) and Fall Sewing

It's been a while, I know.  I seem to say "a lot has been going on" often:  it's true.  I'm taking it one day at a time and trying to stay positive.  Gotta think happy thoughts.

I finished the jacket and blouse over a week ago and took some pictures this morning.  Temperatures have fallen quickly here and I wore them both to work today.  The shirt fits very nicely and I can see making a couple more in the future.  Y'all know I love me some Jalie 2559, so it was a breeze to sew this jacket for the fourth time.  I heart TNT patterns, but I want to try other jacket patterns since there are so many different styles available.  

 

close up

 

 paired with in-progress McCall's 5523

The jacket color reminds me of strained peas - not really a look I was going for.  It's rather bright for fall, but I like it so who cares? =)

I likely will not wear the jacket and skirt together...too much green.

These four garments (including the dark grey pants I'm wearing) are part of my fall mini wardrobe plan.  The inspiration was this floral knit print I picked up from...um...I don't remember.

When I started digging around my stash, I found quite a few fabrics that coordinated with this print.

top to bottom:  sweater knit, rayon knit, striped cotton shirting, 

solid cotton shirting, wool sweater knit, wool twill

The patterns for these fabrics are yet to be finalized.  What I wanted to sew was quickly squashed when I realized I didn't have enough fabric.  Oops!

I haven't sewn much of anything in the last couple of weeks.  I hope to get some sewing done this weekend.  Until next time, peace.

L

Converting Big Honkin' Darts Into Shoulder Princess Seams (long & pic heavy post)

Anyone of ample boob size who's had to make an FBA dreads the inevitable BIG HONKIN' DART (haha thanks Debbie) that results; well, at least I do.  I make anywhere between a 1 and 2" FBA just to get the centers front almost close.  The result of this adjustment is usually a large dart that is next to impossible to sew or keep neat.  I got so frustrated with the BHD that I stopped buying patterns that had darted fronts. 

Having had recent success with fitting shoulder princess seams and converting back bodice darts to princess seams, I decided to attempt to do the same with the front.

I'm going to describe how I got New Look 6407 to fit reasonably well by doing an FBA, tackling the big honkin' dart, and changing the front and back to have shoulder princess seams.

The pictures below are my second attempt at the process and are not the pattern pieces I used to construct the actual shirt.  I was so engrossed in the process the first time around, I neglected to take any pictures!  Oops.  I'll explain the differences between the two versions as I go along.

One caveat:  I am by no means an expert.  I did what I thought made sense.  I tried searching the interwebs for guidance, but I am terrible at doing that.

FBA then conversion to princess seams
I couldn't find any information on which to do first, so I tried it both ways.

1.  I started with a traced version of the pattern.  I only had one copy and wanted to preserve the original in case I messed up.  Before you start to do anything, copy the grainline somewhere in the area that will eventually become the side front.  I always forget to do this and have to backtrack to figure out where the grain is.

2.  The horizontal bust dart looked a little high, so I redrew it to point closer to the vertical waist dart.

 

3.  Next I used the slash-n-spread method to make a 2" FBA.  In the first version, I only made a 1.25" FBA because I thought I would have enough room based on the finished garment measurements.  I ended up having to add 1" seam allowances at the bust area

Notice to keep an even width down the front, a super large dart is needed.  My dart measured 4.5" (11.4 cm) at the widest point.

4.  To re-establish the vertical dart, I kept the right dart leg and copied the left leg from the original pattern.

I don't know if this is right or not, but I realize that redrawing the dart like this takes away some of the additional width that's added by the FBA.  The additional is taken away at and below bust level. I'd have to think about it more should I attempt to do this again.

5.  To find the shoulder princess line, I measured the width of the shoulder, minus seam allowances and divided the result in half.

 

6.  Next I drew a straight line from the middle mark to the top of the vertical dart.  Then I used a curved ruler to soften this line so that the seam curves gently over the upper chest.

7.  Before doing any cutting, make hash marks for notches above and below the bust curve.  Again, this is something I forget to do until after the fact.  I end up having to "walk the seam" to find decent match points.  Things are much easier if you identify these points now!

I cut along the curved line, stopping at the top of the vertical dart.  Then I cut the bottom leg of the horizontal dart also stopping at the top of the vertical dart.  Doing this turns the top of the vertical dart into a pivot point.

8.  Next, I closed and taped the horizontal dart.  This created a shoulder dart and the shoulder princess seamline.

 9.  To separate the panels, I continued cutting along the vertical dart.

Notice that the side front panel has an unsightly point at the bust.  I used a curved ruler to round the area.

Here are the side front and front pattern pieces:

I marked "Add SA" everywhere along these seams as a reminder to...um...add seam allowances. =)

In Threads #170, Connie Crawford suggests adding 1/2" of ease at bust level on the side front panel only.  I didn't do that on my first version, but did so on the second version.  I haven't sewn a muslin of the second attempt, so I don't know if this extra ease is needed. 

Below is a picture of the first and second versions.  Doing a 2" FBA as opposed to a 1.25" FBA appeared to not create that much more bust space.  I find that very odd.

(first attempt on top)

Notice how angled the armhole is on the second version.  Hmm.

Using the pattern pieces from the first attempt, 1" seam allowances at the bust, and 1/2" seam allowances everywhere else, here's how the blouse fits:

 

These are pictures of my for-real fabric.  I liked the muslin enough to proceed with cutting out my fashion fabric.  Not too bad, eh? I could probably use some more tweaking somewhere.

Princess seam conversion then FBA

Doing it this way was less successful, in my opinion.  The resulting armhole on the side front panel was so skewed it looked almost alien-like. 

The process is pretty much the same:

• find the shoulder princess mark on the shoulder 
• draw the princess seam line from this mark to the top of the vertical dart
• cut along this line and along one of the horizontal dart legs
• close the horizontal dart
• separate the panels by cutting along the vertical dart

Pictures:

I made a 2" FBA again using the slash-n-spread method:

For comparison, the first attempt (FBA then conversion) is on top of the third attempt (conversion then FBA).  As you can see, I definitely have enough room at bust level, however look at the angle of the armhole - that just does not look right. Additionally, the front panel is much longer than on the first two attempts. 

 

Conclusion

I think doing the FBA first and then converting the result to princess seams is the way to go.  Even though I had to add an extra wide seam allowance, I was able to get the top to fit reasonably well.  As such, I am a bit more motivated to try darted fronts now knowing that I can make this conversion.  I'm not going to go searching for darted fronts because working with already-established shoulder princess seams is so much easier.  However, if I find a design that I like, I am not afraid to tackle it.

I hope this was helpful!  If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.

Up next:  I need to finish the blouse!  My iron started smoking and going crazy yesterday, so sewing is stalled until I get another one and/or setup my gravity feed iron.  Did I mention I bought a gravity feed iron? =)

L

Look Ma, it Fits! (Part I)

I think I got it! For my next few blog posts, I am going to chronicle my journey to finally getting a woven blouse to fit. First, let me start with some background history.

For the past two years, I have been working tirelessly on trying to get a woven blouse pattern to fit. You see, I am small framed with a big chest - not quite Dolly Parton big, but big enough to have significant issues with woven blouses and jackets.

I have tried to fit a number of blouse patterns:

as well as a few now out-of-print jacket patterns:

• Simplicity 4698
• Butterick 4463
• Simplicity 4954.

With each try, came several muslins, intense frustration, and a shot to my sewjo that would take weeks to heal. I even took a class from a certified Palmer-Pletsch fit instructor in Richland, MI (about 2 hours west of me). The purpose of the class was to take the McCall's basic fitting shell pattern and fit it to me. The class was spread over two days for six hours each day. I won't say that the class was a waste of time and money, but I already knew most of what we covered and had already tried some of the techniques many times on my own. I did learn that I have narrow and forward shoulders, a slight high round back, and a swayback - issues, said the instructor, that will most likely require adjustment in every pattern. I'll comment more about these revelations in a later part of my series of posts.

Selecting the right pattern size has been somewhat of a problem with me. In almost every fit book I read (and I read a lot of them), it was always recommended that one purchase patterns according to the high-bust measurement. This way, you can ensure proper fit in the neck and shoulder area. The problem with that is the full bust area is so small, that I end up needing a substantial adjustment to accommodate my chest. Conversely when I tried to fit both a jacket and blouse pattern according to my full bust measurement, I found that the neck, shoulder, and armhole were too big.

Previous attempts at altering the pattern using a full bust adjustment created a number of challenges:

1. massive darts that were next to impossible to reconcile,
2. insufficient width at bust level despite the huge dart,
   
3. too much newly-added length in the high-bust area,
4. too much newly-added width in the waist area.

Below are some examples of two separate fittings of McCall's 5471. The first two photos show a muslin made in November 2008. I cut a size 14 (D cup) and adjusted from there. As you can see, there is too much length in the HB area and too much width in the waist area. Plus, the shoulder line looks too long.

The next muslin was made in April 2008. Here, I cut a size 18 (D cup) and adjusted from there. There is pulling at bust level and bunched fabric at the nape of my neck. Plus, the collar is larger than perhaps it should be.

As I study these pictures again, it occurs to me that the November muslin was made after having taken the fit class in October 2008. The April muslin was made long before I took the fit class and executed with knowledge learned on my own. Despite the pulling at bust level, the April version appears to fit much better. How about that? Based on these pictures, it looks as if multi-cup patterns should be selected according to the FB measurement in the chest area and perhaps a smaller size in the armhole, shoulder, and neck area.

Following now are some photos of my attempts to fit Simplicity 4077. This is the pattern that I attempted to fit as part of the class I took in October.



I started with a size 14 and altered from there. As you can see, some of the fitting challenges I mentioned earlier are everywhere. In no way is this pattern even close to looking half-way decent! I mean really, this thing is just awful!

Needless to say, after having several defeats with the fit demon, I gave up. Wait! I am a quitter. I just know when I've had enough. I took some time away from the blouse and sewed some pillowcases, pants, and a skirt. I made several knit tops and started working on my bedroom curtains.

Once I had time to reflect and refocus my energy, I forged ahead with another attempt at fitting. This time, I tried Kwik Sew 3620. This fitting wasn't as bad as the first...few. For this pattern, I cut a size medium in the neck, shoulder, armhole and morphed out to a large at the bust, waist, and hips. I did an unconventional 5/8" FBA. Instead of slashing and spreading a la Palmer-Pletsch, I drew a box around the dart and moved that portion of the pattern out 5/8". I did this so as to avoid the additional waist fabric created with regular FBAs. This method did not work at all. The shoulder area was just all wrong and poorly fitting.

As you can see, despite the attempt at fitting the centers front still don't meet. SIGH. What's a girl to do?!

Be on the look out for Part II!

L~

KwikSew 3620 & SWAP Update

KS3620 Update:

On Saturday, I made some changes to the KS3620 pattern. As stated before, I decided to try to add width to the bust area only by drawing a big box around the bust dart (including some of the armscye) and moved it out 5/8" to add the necessary 1 1/4" across the bust. Here is a picture of the pattern after the adjustment:



The good thing is that the centers front now meet. The bad thing is the extra width added more fabric under the arm:



Here are some thoughts:

o The pattern only has 1/4" seams. Since I only set one of the sleeves, I could set the other sleeve with a larger seam allowance and see if that eats of some of the extra fabric.
o I could try to dart out the extra fabric on the bodice front in the armscye.
o I could take off some of the armhole length and taper to nothing at the dart (drawn on the pattern piece in the first picture).
o I could...um...hmm...I don't know. What else could I do?

What do you think?

Capsule Update:

I've made some changes/additions to the plan.

o Instead of sewing Burda 7745, I am going to make Burda 8280. I think this pattern lends itself more to the dark chocolate microsuede that I want to use. The fabric is not terribly stiff, but it doesn't drape too well.

o I would still like to use V8120, but I think it is better suited for the light chocolate wool solid. I can envision piping along the seams too.

o I am planning to add Burda 7892 in a soft rayon/lycra jersey knit.

I'll update the storyboard...one day. =)

Lynnelle