OH OH - that comment triggered a whole train of thought and possibilities. Since, I really admire both the woman who wrote this email and her sewing skills, I have great confidence in her advice. Her garments fit her like a dream. Behind her name, she added the tag - ... who delights in finding perfection. YES YES - me too!
Wrinkles like this one on my shoulder have been driving me crazy for quite a while now. I've tried all sorts of solutions from a forward shoulder to a fleshy back adjustment and I can't seem to find the answer. Along with the suggestion, the writer offered the solution of dropping the shoulder point 1/4" to create a greater angle to the shoulder seam.
While I was running errands yesterday, I thought about how to accomplish that adjustment in the software and what it would mean? If I shorten the front and back shoulder slopes - the distance from the shoulder point across the body to the waist - the shoulder point will be pulled down, the armhole dropped, and the angle of the shoulder increased. Hmm.... interesting... how much?
This is probably not the most scientific of methods but I stood in front of a piece of paper and used a felt pen to draw the slope of my shoulder as accurately as possible. That's the brown line. The red line is the square angle of the shoulder seam on my sloper pattern. You can see how a narrow shoulder would fit well but the longer it was and the closer it came to the neck, the more issues there would be. Exactly. As soon as I try to sew a collared shirt, they show up but in a wide necked t-shirt, there's no problem.
The adjustment is going to be somewhere around 1/4 - 3/8". Above are the results of a 1/4" adjustment to the front and back slopes using the PMB software. The red line is the previous version and the green line is the new one. What fun. I'm so glad I received that email only...
... I don't have time to test this right now. Possibly next week. My husband has been working incredibly long hours and he can't take days off next weekend - which is a long weekend in Canada - so he's taking two extra days this weekend. We're going to be in and out of the house between until Monday night, spending time together, doing some painting and some gardening and some fun things like a picnic tomorrow. I'm looking forward to our time together.
Maybe next week I'll sew the new sloper just to see and possibly some jeans. I tried all four pairs on again yesterday morning and all four pairs are going back. None of them fit right enough to keep. They are a size 8, 10, 11, and 11 and fit similarly. Sizing means nothing. ALL of them have too much fabric at the back waist and not enough back crotch length. I'd rather fit better and bag quicker so... I'll be getting to that jeans pattern sooner than I thought - LOL.
Have a great weekend - Myrna
Gratitude - extra time with my husband this weekend.
Have fun with your hubby this weekend!!
ReplyDeleteI am also glad to read about your current success with PMB - I remember your struggles with it on the forum. Enjoy your weekend with family.
ReplyDeleteLois K
I had to make an adjustment like this for Grant's shirts. I stole a method from the Threads DVD fitting guide. First of all, I stuck a piece of butchers paper on the wall and traced his shoulder outline. I marked the centreline. I laid the pattern over the shoulder outline and cut an L shape so that whole armscye could move. I slid it down until it hit Grant's shoulder curve and then I redrew the shoulder line from neck to shoulder point and trued up the side. It fixed it instantly. Hope this makes sense!
ReplyDeleteYou can pinch out the extra "wrinkle" in your sloper and find an estimate of how much you need to adjust the shoulder slope. In your case drop it at the armscye. You will need to drop the armscye at the underarm side seam the same amount and redraw the curve. This keeps the circumference of the armscye the same. I checked and Betzina explains it in Fast Fit the same way a learned it in flat pattern class an ion ago. She did point out that if you make this adjustment you will have to make a corresponding adjustment to the collar to make it lay correctly at the shoulder. Hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteThe two primary causes of wrinkling in fabrics are water moisture and heat. Heat and moisture can remove wrinkles. Anyway, you have shared very nice idea. Thanks!!
ReplyDelete