Down With Darts

Do you cut out the pattern tissue or... ? I used to back when I sewed straight out of the envelope. This time around, I trace the design onto table paper first so that I can make any necessary adjustments - and there are always necessary adjustments - and write notes all over the pattern so that - hopefully - the next time I sew it, I know what I did or wanted to do next. I take a lot of notes. AND... if I screw up... I haven't wasted the pattern. They're expensive.




Last November, I sewed Vogue 8598. It's a gorgeous blouse. The princess seams make it easy to fit and it has a crisp, tailored appearance. The adjustments included shortening the center back length, adding overall length, narrowing the shoulder width, raising the armhole, a high hip, and less sleeve ease. These are pretty standard for me and yet they seemed insurmountable yesterday when I pulled out the pattern to trace a new version in a smaller size. I am - to be completely honest - VERY frustrated.

For years and Years and YEARS, I tried to lose weight. No such luck. I should have sewn back then when my size was stable. Now, when I have the time and the fabric, the energy and the desire, my size keeps changing. Since November, I've lost 3" on my waist, 2" on my hips, an inch on my full bust and 2" on my upper bust and have shifted from a C to a D cup. Three months later, that blouse is way too big.

It seems that every garment I sew is basically in the moment. It'll fit now and a month from now, it'll be too big. There's only so much taking in of the seams that I can do and - frankly - altering is just not fun. I'm also hesitant to make complicated projects. By the time I finish them, they might not fit and even if they do, I might not be able to wear them for long. That happened with a sweater I made this summer. SO...

... yesterday, I decided down with darts. My preference is for fitted clothing. Oh well. It's time to get over that. I can keep sewing fitted garments if I want to keep being frustrated. Otherwise, some transitional styles that are fitted through the shoulders with extra ease in the bust would be a better choice for now. I'm not sure I can handle that. I might feel frumpy or prissy and need a knit top for balance however... it's not forever. Once my weight stabilizes, I can be more fitted and complicated again. Until then, I need to keep it simple or I'll be abandoning a lot of projects like the New Look and Simplicity blouses from this week.

Another source of frustration is my pattern stash. I have a LOT of patterns and they are mostly too big. Grading isn't always possible especially when the size up or down is in a different envelope. I'm leery of investing too much money in new patterns until I know what size range to purchase. I bought a few (less expensive) New Look patterns yesterday and looked through my stash to see what I had that went smaller or had separate pieces for different cup sizes. Not much.




For the SWAP (sewing with a plan), I want to make at least one blouse because the focus is on showcasing our skills. Simplicity 3789 has clean lines, princess seams, and separate pieces for B, C, and D cup sizes. I'm thinking the yellow view bottom right with three quarter sleeves. The reviews are all over the place from highly recommended to not recommended. I need to pay attention to the instructions for choosing cup size and measure the flat pattern.

The shoulders on New Look 6868 appear fitted with a pretty scooped neckline and pleats. Nix the tie. The sleeves look like they need to be narrowed otherwise, view A in blue looks promising with a purchased belt. I need to be careful that this doesn't end up looking frumpy and - according to the reviews - really watch the ease. One person took out 8". WOW! Several recommended adding shaping to the side seams.

New Look 6895 has the look of a t-shirt and is made from a woven. The neckline gathers could be replaced with tucks. I'd like the view photographed with three quarter sleeves. I'm not a huge fan of sleeveless - at least on me. This pattern had mostly good reviews.

New Look 6941 had no reviews. I'm not sure if it's a new issue or an unloved one. View D, bottom right in pink, looks promising. With the yoke and princess seams, it would be easy to get it narrow enough through the shoulders while wide enough through the bust as well as fitted through the hips. It's more work than the others but still somewhat transitional and a good showcase for skills. This might be a good blouse for SWAP.




Simplicity 2599 comes with pieces for different cup sizes and has sufficient ease around the hip to eliminate a lot of altering... all of which gives it the potential to be shapeless even with those two bust darts. IF I sewed it, I'd make view F with the waist elastic although I think this one is too much work with all those ruffles for limited wearing.




The yoke gathers on Simplicity 2982 definitely are too much work. Quite a few of the reviews talked about how labour intensive they are. I'd either make view B shown in yellow or view C below it with the waistband since these have a bit more shape.

I've liked Butterick 5328 for quite a while. The reviews note that it's quite low and that modifications are needed for the gathering. That's not too much - except that's in addition to what I already alter for my body. I'm not sure I want to do the work for one or two wearings. Again.




The reviews of Vogue 8534 note that it's not as roomy as they expected. That's good information because it looks like it would fit big. Tops like these worn with a belt would give me more shape without the difficulty of fitting darts. I really like the curved hemline.

I have some choices and along with these patterns, there are a few more in stash that could work but they either need a full bust adjustments or have more fitted design lines and I'm just not willing to go there until I'm more confident about my size. Healthwise, I can't lose beyond twenty more pounds but that's at least two dress sizes so....

With each change, some of my adjustments change too. It feels like I'm always sort of floundering and it sounds like I'm being temperamental but basically I've been sewing a garment, wearing it for a month, and then outshrinking it and that's getting old. Even the knit ModCloth knock off is now too loose but luckily still wearable - hopefully until the end of March otherwise, I'm not sure I'll be able to finish the photography for the SWAP. It might look like I'm playing dress-up instead of show casing my skills - VBG.

I'd hoped to start on a garment yesterday and went pattern shopping instead and then spent a LONG time making a big pot of soup and most of the evening at a basketball game. I did learn that New Look patterns are on sale today so I might go back again. Most likely Simplicity is as well although I didn't check that. A few more transitional patterns would be great although really I have enough, I'm just not super excited about lots of ease. I wish I could take my laptop and check reviews BEFORE buying - LOL. PatternReview.com is an amazing resource. I'm thankful to Deepika who runs it and to everyone who writes a review. They are so helpful.

On a different note, I've been really good with my goal to buy less and use what I have in stash. These patterns are the only purchase in two weeks and made due to a lack of smaller sizes in stash. I bought them along with some of this boiled wool that I've been watching since it was a new arrival last fall. Yesterday, it was on sale 70% off, which is probably as low as it'll go. I bought two meters - just enough for a short jacket. It would be beautiful as a winter coat only the pattern I liked called for 6.5 meters and, even on sale, that's a lot. I wasn't ready to invest that much money right now. Two meters of 60" wide will make a lovely short coat when I'm ready.

Today, I plan to sew - most likely one of the above patterns - most likely Simplicity 2892. It's a slower day. I'm going to really enjoy that. Tomorrow, there is a 50th birthday party to go to and early Sunday morning Howard gets home. He flies into Vancouver late tomorrow night where he'll being picked up and driven home by his travel partner's son. LOL - hmm... he left his keys with me. Wonder how he's planning to get into the house. Guess I'll be getting up in the middle of the night.

Have a great weekend - Myrna

Grateful - although the sizing is frustrating, I can still sew and there are still choices

P.S. - 12:56 p.m. - On the way home from Fabricland, I stopped at one of my favourite dress shops and tried on some less fitted, new to me, styles like the patterns above. One had a similar neckline to the Simplicity 2829. They looked pretty good even with that extra ease - surprise, surprise. YES YES!

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Personal Growth - I didn't get back in to do this section yesterday. After I'd finished some errands and made a quick trip to Fabricland, it felt like the day was slipping away and I wanted - hopefully - time to sew. Didn't happen. Today.

Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on, everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all purpose garment. Never be without it. - Colossians 3

It's so easy to lose focus and become consumed by things that are fleeting and irrelevant, to become whining and complaining about "stuff" that's just "stuff". Sewing fashions is important to me. Having a fun, flirty, fitting wardrobe is important to me but it's not ME. It's not what life is really all about. It's not ALL that life is. What I'm wearing and how I'm wearing it is not nearly as important as how I move through life, how I behave, how I treat other people, how I support and encourage, how I love. The ability to create art and to sew fashions is a gift I've been given to use in an expressive way and not one to be overcome by. What a good reminder. I can become way too obsessive compulsive and get off track. Been there, done that, before.