That Doesn't Make Sense

Sunday was another day of mixed weather. Luckily, it was warmer in the morning before church when we took this photo. I wore the new McCall's 6035 blouse with the plaid skirt I made earlier. The linen was already wrinkled two minutes after I put it on - LOL.




The fit of the front is only okay due to the stretching of the armhole. I want to fine tune the shape even more. In the back, the fit from the waist down looks great. I'm not so thrilled with how it looks through the underarms and upper back. It seems too wide rather than fitted. This observation...




... started a quest. For most of the weekend, I sewed blouse muslins. My goal is to find the shape of armhole and sleeve cap that will give me a consistently wonderful sleeve like the one in the pink jacket. You'd think it would be a simple matter of copying. Apparently not. I tried that.

Last week, I made a comment that doesn't make sense. I said that I buy my patterns to fit through the shoulder and adjust from there if necessary except that I almost always have to narrow the shoulders because the patterns are too wide. Hmm... then I'm not buying for the shoulders am I? That made me wonder what size are my shoulders?




Look at the armhole on this graded pattern. Did you notice that the shoulder length is basically the same? The smallest size is an 8 and the largest is a 14. There's no more than 1/4" difference in length. I typically sew a size 14 with a 1" petite adjustment through the armhole PLUS narrowing the shoulders between 3/4" and 1" for a set in sleeve.




Most of the fitting books tell you to narrow the shoulder by first drawing the original armhole as shown above. I've traced the size 14. The dotted lines represent the curves of the other sizes.




Next you pivot the shape of the armhole in the amount that you need to narrow the shoulder. This is represented by the green line in the image above. Do you see how it is raised at the underarm and yet it goes through the same curve point as the size 14?

The reason for this tracing method is to maintain the shape of the armhole so that the sleeve will still fit. It does fit however, just because it fits doesn't mean it looks good or feels comfortable. When I sewed the armhole above, it cut through the front underarm. You can see why in the diagram. There's a lot of pressure on that "pivot" point when in reality one of those other lines is MY scoop line. Which one?

The same thing happens in the back only it's worse on me because my back narrows and moves down pretty straight from the shoulders. This muslin from July 2007 shows what I mean. When I look at it, I want to take that extra fold on the back of the sleeve and pin it over on to the back of the body creating a smoother line without all that extra fabric.

And these have been my questions. Once the front is narrowed, which scoop should I follow? Once the back is narrowed, for how far down should I draw a straighter line before scooping into the underarm. Once the armhole is perfected, by how much do I adjust the sleeve cap's height and width to make it sit nicely into the new shape of my armhole. My goal is that the sleeve will flow over the curve of the shoulder and hang straight. I have more thoughts on that but we'd end up with a book about sleeves so I'll share more in another posting. For now...

... I've decided to do what I did before when I ended up with this question. The muslin from 2007 was sewn back in the days when I was trying to juggle my career with figuring out Pattern Master Boutique software. I didn't have a lot of time. Eventually, I had a fitting shell professionally fitted, transferred that info to the software, printed out basic shapes, and used Lynda Maynard's Demystifying Fit to transfer the shapes to whichever pattern I was making. Lynda's book and her method are THE BEST THING I've ever discovered. They made the "click" for me about how important it is to understand MY shape as opposed to pattern shape however...

... when I lost thirty pounds, I lost the ability to use that fitted sloper because the shape of me changed. I've decided to work on a new sloper for comparison purposes and to eliminate copious muslin creating. I can go back to the one that fit thirty pounds ago and make the weight changes. Hopefully it'll be a shorter journey AND... a new question that occurred to me this weekend and one that I need to follow up IS...

... when I take the size 14 and make the petite adjustment, the depth of my armhole is shallower however, the neck is still the size and shape of a 14. Perhaps those diagonal wrinkles from shoulder to neck point are not just due to the forward shoulder but are - in part - due to excess neck width? I find that interesting.

I know that for many your eyes have glazed over and you stopped reading paragraphs ago. Others totally understand what I'm working on. I never used to sew like this. I'm not sure I always understand the change but I do know that it's about the process not the product and that it's not about perfection. Every garment has its issues. It's about knowing I can do better and then following up those curious - how can I and what if - questions. And once I answer them, all my armholes from then on will benefit.

I wish I'd gone straight back to the sloper on Friday instead of spending the weekend perfecting a commercial pattern. It would have made a lot more sense to find ME and then compare it to the pattern as opposed to comparing the pattern to me. Oh well. Live and learn.




For Mother's Day, Howard gave me three meters of an absolutely gorgeous fabric. It's soft and shimmers. I've been watching it for months but at $34 a meter - even if it is three fabrics layered and stitched together - that's way too much for my budget. Last week, it went on sale at 70% off which is $10.20 a meter and still a bit too much. When he asked me what I wanted, I thought THAT FABRIC. I'm not fond of practical gifts. It's not a good idea to give me kitchen gadgets. On the other hand, I love luxury gifts, things that I want and can't buy for myself. The fabric looks jacket or coat-ish. I'll want the perfect sleeve for that - VBG.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - I'm not feeling particularly grateful this morning. I'd rather grumble and complain and that won't do. There are ALWAYS many many things to be thankful for. The sun is shining. I'm alive, I'm healthy, I'm interactive, learning, growing, developing. I live in an amazing country with great personal freedom. There is food in my pantry. I am supported, cared for, and loved. I have my (clean) house completely to myself today and I can spend my time following up curious questions. Life is very good.