A Curious Question

With the exception of the front band that I mentioned on Friday and of which the problem was entirely my own fault for not measuring correctly, the cardigan came together wonderfully. That being the case, you can imagine how perplexed I was to try it on and see this upward angle toward the back. The center front is longer than the center back. What?




At first, I thought it was an issue with the way the pattern was drafted since the hemline angled on both me and my dress form meaning that it wasn't just my body or my posture. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized Simplicity couldn't have been that far off or someone would have mentioned it in a review. It had to be something that I had or hadn't done. That led me to think about the angle of center back and center front to the hemline compared to the angle of the side seams to the hemline.




Above is what happened when I matched the side seams. If they were hanging down straight at the side of the body, this is how the garment sections would be pushed. As you can see, the back piece is shorter than the front one. The difference seemed connected to the fact that I added more width to the back hips than the front hips. I'd never noticed this before. It's new learning although - to be fair - the fact that I'm not even front to back is also new learning so not knowing how that affected center back is somewhat understandable.

To check if this difference had happened before without me noticing it, I matched the side seams on the front and back pieces of the Simplicity 2892 top sewn last week. Even with a center back extension, the center back length was shorter than the center front length. This is the same issue only not so obvious since I'd supposedly added a center back extension. Supposedly and luckily or it would have ended up looking like the cardigan with that ski slope back. A gold in sewing Olympics this is not.




Before Christmas, I sewed the above t-shirt. The line of the side seams gradated from a size 14 at the underarm to a size 16 at the hips. It fits fairly good but not as comfortably as another made shortly after.

On the second version, I moved the side seam forward so that more of the garment circumference went around the back and less around the front. On it, the side seams are a size 18 on the back and gradate from a size 10 to a size 14 on the front piece. It's VERY comfortable. It's the grey/blue/black one if you remember. I wear it all the time.

On Saturday, I sewed the adapted pattern again using remnants of the pink fabric. This version has a V-neck. It too is very comfortable. The only difference between the two pink t-shirts (other than the neckline) is the position of the side seam. By moving that seam forward, the fabric isn't being eaten into the armhole causing it to feel and fit entirely different. When I matched the side seams of these pattern pieces, the hemline and center back and center front align correctly. The back is not shorter than the front. Why?

With the first pink t-shirt, adequate width through the hips was achieved by gradating to the appropriate size. With the second pink t-shirt, hip width was not altered. Only the position of the side seam was adjusted by adding width to the back and eliminating it from the front. This was similar to taking a rectangle off the front and moving it to the back. With the blouse and the cardigan, a fan shaped wedge was inserted into both pieces with a wider wedge added to the back than to the front. Both changes created sufficient hip ease. One was successful. The other was not. Why?

Wedges of different sizes have different angles that will affect the hem and the center line differently. Interestingly, the difference in alterations was - in both cases - also the same amount that the center back was too high.

With the cardigan for example, center back was 1 1/2" too high after 4 1/4" was added to the back and 2 3/4" to the front. That's interesting info. At first, I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I wondered if I should have cut on different size lines as I did with the t-shirt or if I should always align the side seams and add that wedge to the bottom as with the cardigan. I'm still thinking about it. It's a curious question however...

... the answer appears to be yes and yes. I should gradate between sizes when that option is available and match the side seams, check alignment, and add that wedge as needed when it's not, and double check in both situations. This is good learning. Have you ever noticed/done anything similar?

Last week was a less than successful sewing week. Even when it appeared to be going well, there were these surprises which is why I was thrilled to sew the pink t-shirt on Saturday using a pattern that I knew would work and a fabric that I loved. I wore the t-shirt to church yesterday along with the denim skirt and fuchsia shoes. Perfect.

And now, some ideas are tickling for adapting the t-shirt pattern to a cardigan with self ribbing made using a double needle. I still want a grey sweater as part of my SWAP. Refashioning this "ski slope" version will be another fun challenge.

What curious question are you working on?

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - After making yet still another batch of glue balls, it appears that these failures in baking are not entirely my fault and that the thermostat on our oven is gone. Because our stove is so old, the parts were either unavailable or exceedingly expensive. It was cheaper to get a new one. We did. It comes next Saturday. Once it arrives, I am ever hopeful of yummy scones, biscuits, and muffins.

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Personal Growth - Last night, I was sitting in the curl-up chair contemplating how this past week went. Not good. It's becoming apparent that I need some sort of outline or structure in my life - a project, a focus - as I'm becoming too bored and self absorbed and spending way too much time by myself in mostly one room of my house. This is not a good.

In the past, I've had the creative conversation of teaching or I've written a book or a workshop or I've produced the pieces for an exhibit. Teaching is exhilirating both from a sharing perspective and from the give and take of energy that exists within a classroom whether that is in person or online. Writing is organized, challenging, and absorbing in a different but similar way to creating a body of work. Right now, teaching is not an option and neither writing nor creating makes sense from a business or financial point of view which makes it difficult for me to approach them from a personal point of view. Instead, I've been thinking about taking a course of study or at least some individual classes online.

My oldest son suggested cooking classes. LOL - that's likely to make me more depressed! My youngest son suggested electronics. Huh? Then the older one suggested psychology as he said I'm always doing that self help thing and the younger one suggested business management. Actually, both of those sound interesting. I thought I'd poll my friends and see what direction they think I might enjoy going in.

Meanwhile, I've been reading the outline for an online course called e-Telestia: Courses in Fashion & Clothing. If nothing else - LOL - the module on blouses would resolve my what to do about my hips question. Does anyone have any experience with this company? Please let me know what you think.