Wadder, wadder everywhere...

Sigh...

This has just not been my week for sewing.  On Friday, I tried to finish a pair of jeans (desperately needed jeans, I might add), but ended up with a wadder due to a fisheye dart adjustment I couldn't make without re-cutting the back.  Then yesterday I started sewing McCall's 6153 for my daughter (after spending 40 minutes altering the pattern pieces first), but because I was rushing, I ended up making numerous boneheaded errors, the most egregious of which was stretching the lower fronts/backs to fit the yokes above, instead of gathering them.  The fabric didn't recover after i had finished stitching, so it was completely stretched out of shape.  It's currently in the washer in the hope that it will return to its original shape (it's a teeny, tiny hope).

Next (because I am apparently a glutton for punishment) I got out one of my Unique Patterns patterns, 9024U0, and some fairly heavy tan stretch twill fabric. I figured that I wouldn't have to line the dress since it was such a substantial fabric. Before I started laying out the pattern pieces, I took out my thoroughly-tweaked-to-fit McCall's 2818 pattern pieces and checked the Unique Pattern against it.  The bust points lined up PERFECTLY, so I was encouraged that the rest of the custom drafted pattern would fit well, too.

Turns out the stretch twill was stretchy in both the crosswise AND lengthwise grain.  As a result, the front and back pieces stretched vertically, enough that the dart placement (which had been perfect on the pattern pieces) was completely off.  I tried to salvage the dress by taking out some of the excess fabric at the shoulder seams, and that helped somewhat.  But I still had drag lines at the bust, indicating that I needed a deeper dart.  I am assuming that this is related at least in part to the stretchy fabric as well, but I won't know for sure until I cut it out again in a non-stretch fabric. (Cha-ching!)

Things I learned from all this unproductive sewing:

• I love my new tailor's chalk; it made marking my darts a breeze.

• I have several pairs of pants in my closet that I thought fit well, but I now realize need the fisheye dart adjustment as well.  (Guess I've been too preoccupied with my FBAs to pay much attention to what's going on in the back.)
• Even an "easy" pattern, like McCall's 6153, shouldn't be rushed.
• The next time I use a knit/stretch fabric, I will check the length when it's resting on the table, and again when hanging (as it will be when worn), then adjust the pattern accordingly if it seems likely to "grow" on my body.

I'm not sure what to work on next.  I still have DD's (now TNT) third and fourth skorts to finish (maybe the reason they're still unfinished is that I NEED to have a challenge?). Or perhaps a little knitting will help me get out of my slump. Tune in tomorrow, dearies, and find out.

The Perfectly Fitting Shirt - Part II

The first draft of the pattern with the modifications I talked about in my previous post is done, and I have some good news and some bad news.  The good news is that the shoulder seams now follow my shoulder line perfectly, the sleeves are a better length, and the pointy darts don't seem to be that much of a problem.

The bad news is that the bust darts ended up WAY too low on this second attempt. When I drafted the new front pattern piece, I lowered the dart by first tracing the CF, neckline, shoulder and armhole, then I slid the tracing paper up 5/8". Next, I traced the bust dart, using the endpoint of the size L dart, and connecting to the ends of the M dart legs at the side seam. On the original pattern, the L and XL darts ended quite a bit further away from the bust point than the XS-S-M darts did.  (This made absolutely no sense to me, as I was working with a D/DD cup front piece - all of those smaller sizes should have had their darts end further away from the bust point based on the cup size.) When I tried on the second muslin, I could immediately see that the darts were too low. I pinned out about an inch on each of the shoulder seam allowances, which moved the darts up to where they should be, and also made me realize...that I really needed to petite the upper back.  Sigh.

So what I need to do for Version 3 (god, but that's depressing to write) is take a 7/8" tuck in the upper front and upper back pattern pieces, then lower the armhole by about 7/16" (I want a slightly closer fitting armhole), re-draft the front neckline edge and, finally, re-draft the sleeve to take out some of the now excess sleeve cap ease. (I'm thinking of folding a long vertical dart in the center of the sleeve so the cap height remains more or less the same.)

Also, I noticed an error on the original pattern when I measured the sleeve width at the bicep while I was drafting the new, longer sleeve.  Although the width printed on the pattern for the size M said 16 1/4", my measurement (through the crosshatch mark and not including the 5/8" seam allowances) was only 15 3/4".  To me, a half inch difference is a significant one, and something that should have been caught during the drafting process.
 
So I'm back to the drawing (drafting) board this afternoon, and on to muslin #3...stay tuned!

The Perfectly Fitting Shirt - Part I

As I do this time each year, I went through my closets and drawers to identify what I have and what I need to complete my fall wardrobe.  I have pants and skirts galore (OK, more like eight to 10 of them), and several dresses, but very few shirts (and even fewer shirts that fit me well).  I have decided that my priority for sewing has to be developing a TNT blouse pattern so I can whip up a half dozen or so new shirts for the fall (which officially starts tomorrow, BTW, so I'd better get cracking).

After reading several reviews (in particular, Debbie Cook's - you're fabulous!), I have decided to use Butterick 5300 as my starting point:

Like Debbie, I find the Connie Crawford patterns rather "blah" at first glance.  The sketches really don't do her designs any favors. I was looking at some of her patterns on her website yesterday, and I was really impressed with the photos of live models, particularly the ones that show the same design on two different size women.  I think Connie really has a gift for plus size designing - the clothes look just as wonderful on "fluffier" women as they do on the more slender gals.

For my first attempt, I used a lightweight, taupe-colored linen (or maybe linen-look, I can't tell) fabric from my stash.  I figured if I really got lucky, I'd end up with a "wearable muslin" (sorry, Ann!).  In any event, it wasn't doing anything just sitting there in my stash, so I figured it might as well be used for something.  I chose View C, which has a faced V-neckline and 3/4 length sleeves with slits at the hem, and started with the D/DD front pattern piece.

I have to say that it fit pretty darn well right out of the envelope compared to most Big 4 patterns, and had I made no adjustments, it would probably fit as well as or better than most of the RTW shirts in my closet.  However, since my quest is for the Perfectly Fitting Shirt™, I started tweaking it.

I had a bit of a problem with the front neckline gaping (which I plan to address in more detail in another post).  It was particularly noticeable on the right front, because my right shoulder is lower than my left (thank you, scoliosis!).  To correct this, I'm going to take a little wedge out at the shoulder seam, tapering to nothing at the shoulder point, which falls exactly where it should be.  Additionally, I noticed that the shoulder seams are clearly visible from the front - they need to be moved towards the back, which means adding length to the back and back facings, and removing length from the front and front facings.  Again, since the shoulder point is in the correct location, I need to add/remove wedge-shaped pieces of fabric, about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch (for left and right fronts, respectively).  Since I am planning to use this pattern again, I'm going to draft separate left and right fronts (and left and right front facings) so I don't have to fiddle with the right side adjustments each time I use it.

The bust darts are a little too high, and too close to the bust apex.  I need to shorten them by about 5/8" and lower them by the same amount. I'm a little nervous about shortening the darts - they already end in a rather sharp point, but I was able to press the point into a smooth curve on the linen fabric.  I'm concerned that shortening it will increase the angle of the dart, and depending on the fabric I use, it may be harder to press into a smooth, curved shape.  (Does anyone have a suggestion as to how to handle this?)

I should have taken Debbie's advice about the fisheye darts on the front pattern piece right from the start - they were indeed far too close to the CF.  Both the front and back fisheye darts need to have the widest point (waistline) raised about 5/8 - 3/4".  The total length of the darts seems OK, but the pattern's waistline is lower than my narrowest point.  I haven't quite decided if I need to petite the pattern through the upper back as well.  I  like the length of the unhemmed shirt, so I'll need to add another inch to the fronts and backs for hemming.

Finally, the sleeves could be longer.  I usually need to add an inch (or two) to full-length sleeves, and the 3/4 length ones were no different.  I made the mistake of taking out 1.5 inches in the width of the sleeve the first time I cut them out because the finished biceps measurement printed on the pattern was 2.75" larger than my arm measurement, and I thought that would be too much ease.  I generally prefer closer-fitted sleeves, but after trying the sleeves on, I realized that my arms really need the total amount of ease for movement.  I thought the amount of ease in the sleeve cap was reasonable, and the sleeves were fairly easy to set in to the armhole, even though the pattern has you sew the underarm seam first and set them in "in the round".

I'm going to re-draft the pattern this afternoon and take another swing at it in a different (non-muslin) fabric.  Wish me luck!