The Morning Sweater

While at the Design Outside The Lines workshop in June, a few people came to mind who would really enjoy a similar experience.  Shams was one of them. And now she's there and blogging about it and I can feel all the energy in her words that I felt in the workshop. It's been three months and I'm still vibrating. My mind still swirls. Ideas are lined up waiting to emerge and be explored. I can hardly wait to go again. It was a fabulous hands on, fully engaged, experience and that's the way I work best. I'm a see and touch and feel and pour over kind of girl.

Last Friday, when I was driving back from Calgary, I stopped in Salmon Arm for lunch, fabric, and a visit to my favourite shop Crazy River Clothing. A while back I mentioned that I almost never buy fashion magazines. I almost never buy fabric on-line either. I've realized with both that I want to feel the fabric and with fashions, I want to see the details up close and figure out how they did that. A picture doesn't work for me.

Unfortunately, when I was in the shop, the two staff members didn't seem to understand that I just wanted to look and did not want to be interrupted every two minutes with their opinion. When my polite replies didn't work, I left rather than be rude. There's another shop in Vernon that I really like within walking distance of my friend Lorraine's house. I'm hoping to visit it end of October and touch more details.

Yesterday was a move slow, do very little, kind of day. I cleaned. I knit. I traced and cut out a pattern. I didn't sew. In the afternoon, Lyn, my realtor, dropped by. She hadn't received my earlier messages and didn't know that her bag was ready. As soon as she heard, she came right away. While we visited, I customized the strap length and - as you can tell - she likes it!

The pattern I traced is Vogue 8780 - the longer version. It's not well fitted so I didn't bother with the full bust adjustment but I did make the narrow back adjustment and shortened center back and center front length. It's a test of sorts to see what I think of the armhole at the end. I also added 2" to the bicep because...

... the pattern calls for moderate stretch knits only and I'm using a soft woven. When I Googled exchanging one for the other, there were several patterns that interchanged them so it seemed possible and other than the sleeve, the pattern is not close fitting. The sleeve is very slim hence the bicep adjustment.

The fabric is an orange and black check that I picked up in the bargain center for $3.00 a meter. If I remember correctly, it was closer to $30.00 on the floor. Technically the brighter side is the right side. I'm going to use the darker one with the brighter side folded back at the collar and visible underneath. This piece was bought in town but I saw the same fabric in several colors in the two bargain centers in Calgary. The expensive fabric often ends up in the bargain center because no one is willing to pay those prices. Works for me. I'm willing to pay the bargain price. The pattern takes 2.5 meters so the cardigan is under $7.50 if it works out and no great loss if it doesn't.

Speaking of cardigans.... my neighbour gave me this one. She was out working in her garden when I went to get the mail and when I asked if she had knit her sweater,  we got into a discussion of old sweaters that last forever and are too comfortable to throw out. When I commented that I prefer a comfy sweater to a housecoat and that I was looking for a replacement for the one I absolutely could not keep any longer, she went into the house and brought this out - my new morning sweater. It's very cozy.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - a break from t-shirts

The Best And The Worst Of Questions

My almost perfect t-shirt didn't pass the wear test. Although wearable, it wasn't completely comfortable. There were two issues. The first was to move the bust darts down an inch because the fabric kept walking upward and bunching under the arms. Constantly tugging down your top is not pretty.

 

The second was pulling on the front of the armhole. This turned out to be a significant observation. It was annoying me so much that I took chalk into the bathroom and was making marks, drawing the line that I thought would eliminate the pulling, when I noticed that I kept drawing the line lower. That made me wonder why I was making a petite adjustment when I always seem to want the armhole lower which in turn led to wondering what if which is the best and the worst of questions.

It's the best because it's how discoveries happen. It's the worst because if you think you've already figured out the problem - and the solution - you just might be about to discover that you were completely wrong. What if I've been making a petite adjustment through the armhole when all I really needed was a narrow back adjustment? That's a significant question. Remember when I said everything affects everything?

There was just enough muslin material left for one more. I cut on the size fourteen merging at the side seam from a 14 at the underarm to an 18 at the hip. In the back, I made a 1/2" narrow back adjustment, a 1" sway back adjustment, and shortened center back length by 1". In the front, I made a 1" FBA, moved the bust point down 1/2" because the FBA had already moved it down 1/2", and shortened center front length by 1". On the sleeve, I made a 1/2" narrow back adjustment. And then I sewed the muslin and other than the sleeve hem which is too tight, it's my best one ever with the least amount of adjustments. That was worth another muslin.

While tracing the pattern, I noticed some things that made sense based on my drafting and alteration knowledge. The pattern's back armhole was drafted wide but after the narrow back adjustment, I used the French curve to get the correct line. While blending the lines of the sleeve cap, the back was shaved slightly narrower and the front slightly wider which is exactly how Sandra Betzina describes a tipped shoulder adjustment in her book Fast Fit and is a LOT less work than what I was doing before. In fact...

... this whole version was a lot less work than what I've been doing before. I'm sure there's a moral to this story and I'll let you figure out what it is. What I will say is don't stop asking what if and don't stop questioning what affects what because even though it might be the day after the perfect t-shirt posting - and you're super tired of making muslins - and you're going to contradict everything you just claimed was absolute truth for the past three weeks - and you're not sure if what you're experiencing is near depression or sheer delight - you may have finally hit on the right adjustment - and it may make life a whole lot easier with a bonus. I feel a lot less deformed. For the next version, the only changes to make are to shorten center front and center back length by another 1/2" and to widen the sleeve hem. That's it. Done. On to sewing the good stuff.

Speaking of the good stuff from now on I am going to make every attempt to buy knits with two-way, crosswise stretch. I find them more comfortable and more flattering to wear. On me, at least. I also wore the black t-shirt for a few hours yesterday and even though the two are the exact same pattern and the exact same ease amount and have virtually the same crosswise stretch, the black fabric also has lengthwise stretch. As a result, the weight of the fabric creates downward stretch which means it pulls in and not so lovingly hugs every curve in a way that has me forever pulling it away from my body because it feels too tight and too fattening while the blue one with crosswise stretch only doesn't bother me at all even with the walking dart. Good learning.

 

While I was in Calgary last week, I had dinner and a catch-up with a friend I met when we were both part of the same textile art group. During our visit, she gave me four books. Three of them were written by Lois Ericson and one by Lois and Diane. The last is subtitled a workbook for creative clothing and of the four, it's my favourite and chock full of ideas to explore.

While I enjoy questions like what is the correct shape of the armhole and how can I achieve that look, when you're the kind to follow those thoughts up, you can spend weeks exploring the question and sew a lot of muslins with nothing to actually wear. Something to wear is something I badly need. The bonus of developing a T & T is its blank canvas potential allowing you to interpret it in so many ways - which is good - because I have a pile of muslin remnants to play with.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - workmen FINALLY working on the front yard

The Perfect T-Shirt - Almost!

The thought occurred yesterday that sewing success goes in waves. We're doing well and then we're not and then we're doing well again. Perhaps learning and forgetting and re-learning is also wave action. Some of the conclusions I came to along this t-shirt perfecting journey were oh, I remember now kind of conclusions made before while developing my moulage and then forgotten while erroneously believing I had a handle on things and all was well. All was not well. Apparently, I needed to be reminded. Perhaps this time I should write a list.

To recap, I used a simple t-shirt pattern - the shortened lining of Vogue 1314 - and the same stable knit muslin material and worked step-by-step to confirm alterations and results by sewing many, many muslins. It's a rather tedious process that gets discouraging at times but was worth the work. It resulted in the perfect t-shirt - almost!

After all those black muslins, I enjoyed working with real fabric for a change. This blue knit is one of the remnants picked up during my brief career at Fabricland. It's a lightweight cotton lycra blend. The quality isn't the greatest and there was a flaw to work around but the color and design are gorgeous - IMO anyway.  It sewed and pressed beautifully and has great retention. It's just that the back is white and the puncture marks show. Oh well!

The cap of the sleeve meets the shoulder seam at a point ever so slightly outward from my shoulder point. The line of the armscye moves directly forward in a straight line before curving under the armhole. The curve does not look sucked into the underarm. The bicep has enough room and the sleeve width and height do not appear strained.

It's in the back where things are better but not perfect. The center back seam provides more shaping as does the sway back adjustment. There appears to be slightly too much center back length and I don't like...

 ... the look of back fat which I can do nothing about or the look of this wrinkle just under the armhole which I can do something about. It seemed that the problem was one adjustment because it runs from the body of the garment into the sleeve. To find the answer, I read through Fast Fit by Sandra Betzina until I came to an alteration that affected those two areas - the narrow back adjustment.

To make the adjustment, an equal amount of width and length are taken out of the back and across the back of the sleeve cap. This was the ah ha reminder. Quite often, I need to take in the center back seam on a garment and before when I was working on the Vogue fitting shell, I remember pinning a tuck across the upper back. I'd forgotten.

Sandra makes the adjustment by pinning a horizontal tuck into the shoulder and a vertical tuck into the back armhole and then says to ease the back shoulder to the front when stitching together. Easing the back shoulder in essence creates a dart curving toward the shoulder blades however, I didn't like the idea of making an alteration that affected shoulder length because too short of a shoulder length is not flattering. The way that Connie Crawford makes the adjustment hinges the back shoulder leaving the shoulder length intact. Both make the vertical tuck parallel to center back. Because my pattern has a center back seam, I incorporated the tuck into the seam.

Connie notes that princess lines are especially nice for women who need this adjustment. And they're also nice for women with curves and who are pear shaped and... and... and... apparently they are the perfect seams for me. Princess Myrna.

This black version is the t-shirt sewn with the 96% cotton 4% lycra that I bought at Fabricland yesterday. My husband says the back is attractive and shapely. My eyes go straight to the bumps. Perhaps if I post this picture in my studio it'll be motivating. I've put on a few pounds recently and not that losing them would make those bumps disappear completely but it could move in a positive direction OTHERWISE, the sleeve is improved at the back... somewhat...

If I'd had more of the blue fabric, it would have been a better comparison. After the adjustment, there isn't a big tuck into the armhole. The dimple that is there appears to be for wearing ease. Supposedly we need to move! That said, I will experiment with adding some width to the back sleeve to see if it'll hang slightly better. First, I'll walk the armscye seam and and see if it matches well or if another 3/8" would create a better line. Either way, both of these t-shirts are wearable.

The black knit is a heavier weight than the blue although it has more and both crosswise and lengthwise stretch. It would have been better sewn with a smaller seam allowance for more ease. That's opposite to what I would have thought using a fabric with more stretch and another point in favour of Peggy's method of wrapping the fabric around you to determine sizing. Thickness and stretch both matter.

And now, I am VERY tired of t-shirts and in particular of black t-shirts and it's time to work on something different except... I need some t-shirts. Perhaps I'll sew one a week on Tuesdays and call it T-shirt Tuesday - LOL. We'll see. That's not really my style but it would get the job done. First, I'm going to make good copies of the pattern pieces and write some notes to tuck into the pattern envelope PLUS... now that I've done all the work with the lining... I could sew the Vogue 1314 dress. I thought it would be perfect for the Christmas party only Howard said last night that there's no dancing - just gambling. YUCK.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - two weeks ago my knitting group phoned to ask where are you and last night when I finally showed up after a few months hiatus, there was a chorus of hello and we missed you. That was very nice. Even though I knit but am not a knitter, knit night is good for me. It gets me out of the house and simple knitting is good and enough.

Will That Work For Me?

After stretching my way through my entire fabric stash yesterday, I concluded that I didn't have a black knit that was going to make the kind of t-shirts I want to make. Besides a deep black color, I wanted a stable knit with crosswise stretch. So I went to Fabricland. And came home a 96% cotton, 4% lycra knit that has slight lengthwise stretch as well. Hopefully it'll work. I love cotton knits.

While the sales associate was cutting my fabric, she commented that when she was learning to sew the instructor had told the class that they were never to sew for themselves and only to sew for other people because it's too hard to sew for yourself. The idea was that each student would sew for someone else and someone would sew for them. Since she immigrated to Canada, perhaps that was a European concept at that time. I'm not sure but no matter where it originated, I disagree.

Even without help, it is possible to sew well fitted garments for yourself. It takes trial and error, a cushion full of pins and persistence but it can be done. If you are lucky enough to have a good instructor locally, that's a bonus but not all towns have local instructors and not all local instructors are good seamstresses. More important - in my opinion - is developing an attitude of constant awareness that notes and evaluates possibilities and asks will that work for me?

It was a random comment in an article that set me to exploring the narrow chest adjustment because I knew that the shape of my armhole was not correct and I knew that I wanted it to come down from the shoulder and closer to center front before curving under the armhole. That was the start of my armhole journey and for several weeks I've been making muslins using the same pattern and the same fabric to test one theory after another. It was time well invested. I've figured out what I wanted to know.

To start, I traced and sewed the pattern as is and checked that I was sewing the correct size before evaluating if each of my typical adjustments was truly needed or not. This can be a good approach to take when attempting to find an answer to a fitting issue because every adjustment made affects more than one area. For example, changing the angle of the front shoulder seam will affect the position of the bust point and the pull on the top of the sleeve cap.

One of the alterations confirmed is that I do need to make a petite adjustment above the armhole of roughly 1". I've been doing that for years but didn't realize how much the way in which I might make that adjustment could affect other things. Because it's easier, I've been making the adjustment on the narrowest part of the shoulder above the neckline. That appears to have been a mistake.

Above is the traced front of Vogue 1314. The dotted line is the angle of the armscye seam for my correct size. The two horizontal lines are the 1" petite adjustment. They are made right at the level of the notch because as you can see below, making the adjustment right there maintains the shape of the seamline coming down straight from the shoulder before curving under the armhole just as I was hoping.

Previously, I'd been exploring the narrow chest adjustment. If done correctly, this adjustment also makes a narrow shoulder adjustment. If done incorrectly by folding a dart toward the shoulder as I was exploring, the change scoops the bottom and moves the armscye seam slightly toward center but not enough to create the shape above with the petite adjustment made at the notch level. Because of the way it curved at the armhole, the narrow chest adjustment appeared to be the answer but wasn't really HOWEVER...

... what I learned from the adjustment is that a corresponding amount needs to be added to the side seams of the sleeve. For example, if a 3/4" narrow chest adjustment is made front and back than 3/4" is added to the front and back side seam of the sleeve which also increases bicep width. That was good to know because I typically need bicep width. Without this extra width, the sleeve will pull when set into the armhole distorting the shape while not hanging correctly.

A random comment in an article led me to consider the narrow chest adjustment. Learning how to make the adjustment taught me to add to the side seams of the sleeves. Making the adjustment above resulted in too tight of a sleeve. Looking at the changes to the armhole, I could see that I had lengthened that distance from sideseam to notches and when I slit the sleeve on the muslin up the center to see how much the fabric separated, I was able to determine how much to add to each side seam because the adjustment I made performs a similar function to the narrow chest adjustment. I connected the dots. The longer you sew, the more experience you have, the easier it is to work in this way.

Ideas for improving our sewing are everywhere. Some are adjustments. Some are techniques. Some are tips. One tip I picked up from - I believe - Marcy Tilton was to stitch the dart on a knit t-shirt with tissue paper underneath. It makes a HUGE difference. Useful tips can make all the difference with sewing.  Now-a-days, they are most often found on personal blogs or in discussion groups.

Another tip I learned years ago was about neckbands. I think it was in a DVD and I heard it, tried it, and adjusted it to work for me. With most ready-to-wear t-shirts, the neckband is applied with one shoulder seam sewn and then the second seam is stitched across the neckband which means you're stitching that seam at a curved point on the neckline. The two sides don't always look identical.

Because my t-shirts fit better with a center back seam and because the top of that seam intersects at a straight line, I leave the center back seam open, sew both shoulder seams, apply the neckband, and then sew the center back seam closed. It's neater and more accurate. Just because "they" say to do something a certain way or just because ready-to-wear does it that way, does not mean we have to do it that way. Better to do it the way that works for us.

Another thing I learned from reading about the narrow chest adjustment was the importance of truing the sleeve so that the grain line hangs straight from the shoulder to the hemline. The information I read indicated that this often requires taking some of the width off the back sleeve seam. Although it was for a different adjustment, that process solved an issue I've been having for several years with my sleeves - slight twisting. After thirty-eight years of sewing, it taught me the proper way to place a sleeve on grain. It came from Sandra Betzina's book Fast Fit. I have a huge respect for Sandra's abilities and consult her book and Pati Palmer's Fit For Real People all the time.

A while ago, I referred to a comment made on one of Peggy Sager's webcasts. She said to wrap the knit fabric around your body until it fits the way you want, mark where the fabric meets, measure the distance between, and sew that corresponding size. That's incredibly valuable information because the stretch in knit fabric is the variable that makes sewing with knits difficult. That's why all the muslins I have sewn to correct the shape of the armhole have been in the same fabric and that's why the difference in stretch between the muslin fabric and the fashion fabric I choose to use next will affect the fit of the garment. I need to know that and have a plan to work with stretch.

If the fabric has more stretch, I would need to go down a size. If the fabric has less stretch, I would need to go up a size. Going up a size is not so difficult when using a T & T pattern because you can simply sew the seam allowances smaller. If going down a size means using a smaller pattern size, that can work quite well too BUT... if going down a size means taking the side seam and the underarm seam in tighter, that affects all kinds of things - like the shape of the armhole that I've just spend considerable time working out. That awareness has me considering drafting T & T patterns for different degrees of stretch and/or drawing an armhole template much like my crotch template.

The image above is from a Threads article talking about how the length of a crotch seam can be the same on two women and yet have vastly different shapes. I read the same comment in a Threads article about the shape of the armhole. Information like this is a transferable ah ha.

In the Vogue 1003 pant fitting pattern is the comment Generally, the longer the crotch seam, the lower it will fall on your body. A few years ago I studied pant fitting with Pati Palmer and Marta Alto at which time I learned what they referred to as scooping out the crotch. If you have one of their pant patterns, there will be information on this adjustment on the pattern pieces and in the instructions.

This past weekend I watched two videos on pant fitting, one of which was adamantly opposed to scooping the crotch and said that any adjustments to back crotch length could be done at the waist. In the same video, there was a discussion of grainline and it was noted that the grainline on pants is perpendicular to crotch level which is parallel to the floor. Those two things are important to know. That the crotch level is parallel to the floor and that the grainline is perpendicular to the crotch level. All adjustments must keep those lines true.

The diagram above is from Pants For Real People by Palmer/Pletsch. Both the maker of the video and Pati Palmer are recognized sewing experts and yet they are giving conflicting advice. That will always happen and it's up to us individually to merge together what we know about our bodies, about sewing, and about pattern drafting to come up with the answer that works for us. Some of what works will come from taking workshops, some will come from reading articles and blogs, some will come from books, some will come from random comments in articles on unrelated subjects. All will need to be tried and tested. What's most important, is that we're aware.

I evaluated the information in the video against what I already knew to be true for my body and decided that as well respected as that instructor was, the advice was not appropriate for me. And that's not a random judgement. Several years ago, when I was exploring pant fitting, I fit my body using the Vogue fitting shell pattern and drew the level crotch lines on the muslin. When I tried the pants on, the line pulled downward in a V toward center. That's indicative of not enough crotch length.

Just as I discovered where to make the petite adjustment with my armhole, back then I discovered where to make the length adjustment to my back crotch because in order to maintain the grain, the crotch level needs to remain parallel to the floor. With my body, adding above is not going to do that. That length needs to be added below the crotch level. That's why my crotch is shaped just like the illustration above which I've referred to as scooping but perhaps it isn't referred to in that way at all. No matter, my derriere is lower than crotch level in the back and higher than crotch level in the front. I wrote a posting about that discovery a few years ago called High Front Low Back Oddity which is how it is labelled in Pants For Real People.  

Making and confirming discoveries is part of the sewing experience. Another comment made on the video was that the side seam is a random position, that there is no designated side to the body, and therefore no need to cut different sizes for the front and back of the garment (although it was also noted that a smaller front is slimming). That contradicted something I heard a few years ago but it was also advice I'd recently explored.

I have been cutting different sizes front and back for a few years which made buying patterns, tracing and cutting out, and merging seam lines quite complicated which had to have affected results. The more complicated things are, the more that happens. Prior to going to Calgary, I'd discovered that yes, I was a size fourteen through the shoulder and underarm but no, I did not need two different sizes through the hips, one bigger in the back and one smaller in the front. I could draw the side seam using a pivot and slide method from the 14 underarm to the 18 hip front and back and the garment fits with plenty of room. YEAH. I'll now try that idea on several other garments and see if the results are better - or not - than what I've been doing previously.

In this post, I've been talking about my discoveries. The point is to encourage you to always be aware, to question what you think is truth about the adjustments you're currently making, to determine if they need to be made and if so to consider how the adjustment is made and what else that might affect and if there is a better way, and to evaluate expert advice based on what you know about your own body and make your best choice from there. Try it and see. It's only fabric.

Tomorrow - my close to perfect t-shirt. LOVE it!

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - today is my youngest son's 19th birthday and we're going for lunch to celebrate. I am thrilled to have three children all of whom I both like and love and all of whom appear to both like and love me. It's absolutely wonderful.

The Consolation Prize

The trip to Calgary went well. My daughter and son-in-law have a freshly painted apartment which is, in my opinion, the best way to wash the walls and clean off years of dirt. Painting gets into all the cracks and crevices and there were some that may not have been investigated since the last renovation which - based on the cupboards and color - appears to have been in the eighties. It was time.

Just down the street is My Sewing Room. It's predominately a quilt shop which doesn't interest me at all - however - they have a fabulous selection of buttons. I picked up another fuchsia triangle to replace the one used on the lime purse as well as three purple buttons. They're quite large - 2 3/4" on the longest edge - and more purple than they appear in this picture. They should go well with some boiled wool in stash.

There are four Fabriclands in Calgary, two of which are within a few blocks of the apartment. Since fabric is my favourite souvenir, I checked out the bargain centers. Above is a black and metallic silver stripe which is much darker on the reverse side. I like stripes for bias especially. The paisley-ish print is a knit. The plaid is a brushed cotton. And the fuchsia is a polyester pant or skirt weight.

I've sewn with these two fabrics before and they're fabulous which made buying more yardage very easy. I previously bought the sweater knit in grey and have this exact grey of the wrinkled cotton polyester blend which means I can make something requiring greater yardage. It presses and drapes like a dream.

These two pieces are the consolation prize. They're a flocked velvet and a lace that are both regularly $42.00 a meter and were significantly marked down but still more expensive than what I normally pay. I went shopping right after spending two hours cleaning paint out of the carpet. As I was making my way down the hallway to paint the final three bits of trim around the edge of the main door frame, the thought occurred that I was tired and that perhaps lifting the ladder over the stack of drop cloths with the paint can on top was not a good choice. Too late. The leg of the ladder hit the pile and the can toppled forward spilling paint down my face, neck, and arms, and through my clothing from bust to knees before tipping the other way and spilling down the ladder, over the pile of not spread out to protect the floor like they should have been drop cloths, through the box of paint supplies, and onto the wall leaving two thirds of the can to pool on the carpet. No fun. Totally deserving of fabric.

I hadn't planned to go to Calgary until sometime next year, possibly in May, definitely before the DOL workshop next June, and now I'm planning several trips. This time, I took twelve receiving blankets. In March, I'll go back to paint the nursery and at the end of April to snuggle the baby. Our daughter and son-in-law are expecting. LOL - I've bought a "few" baby patterns on the latest BMV sales.

It looks like I'm finished making muslins and ready to make a t-shirt. Vogue 1314 was a good choice for a basic t-shirt pattern. There have been some (pleasant) surprises that I wasn't expecting along the way. More about that tomorrow.  First, I plan to go through my stash and find a fabric with the exact stretch of the muslin material and then stitch a real t-shirt and we'll see how that goes. Hopefully amazingly well.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - babies and safe travel

Back In A Week

Every garment is a mix of how the pattern was drafted, the alterations made, and the fabric factor. Sometimes you can't see the results of one (alteration) because of the other (fabric factor) which is what happened yesterday. There was no more lace knit so I used a grey that felt similar and it wasn't. It was too stretchy. As many constant variables as possible seemed like a good idea SO...

... in-between grocery shopping and a coffee date, I hit the bargain center at Fabricland and bought a major amount of an incredibly stable knit that I've used in the past and knew that - luckily - they had more of. It's now washed and labelled as my muslin knit. And then I searched through my pattern stash looking for the simplest t-shirt pattern possible which turned out to be the top half of the lining of this Vogue 1314 dress. The front and back are cut on fold, the front has a dart for fitting, and the sleeve cap is drafted high which is turning out to be a factor of good fit for me.

A few years ago, I spent considerable time developing a moulage using Lynda Maynard's book DeMystifying Fit which teaches how to place the moulage under the commercial pattern and adjust it to fit your body. If I had to point back to a significant event in my sewing history, using this book was one of the biggest ah ha moments ever. What I learned in that process changed how I sew and illustrated how all patterns are simply a starting point. They all need work to make them work for me - some more than others.

As lovely as it was to cut on a size eight with that one pattern, it was simply that that pattern is drafted wide through the shoulders. I chose the eight because it most closely matched the width of my moulage when almost always it's a fourteen that matches through the shoulder and ribcage to waist. But, just to confirm, I checked the moulage against several patterns in my stash and the closest match was again the fourteen. That's a relief since the majority of my patterns have been collected for that size. 

Having used the moulage for several years, I know that I always reduce the depth of the armhole. As wonderful as it would be not to have to do that all the time, it turned out to be a fluke of that pattern as well. Sigh. At least I know how. It would be so easy to use shoulder pads Carol only I don't have sloped shoulders, I'm petite, so I need to take out across the entire chest area front and back.

I would have preferred to show a perfectly developed muslin except that by the time I'd done everything else that needed to be done, there was only time for this one which I think is one step away from perfect. Realizing that I could take more off but couldn't put it back on, I made a 5/8" narrow chest adjustment instead of the 1 1/2" with the previous pattern. It's very close. What I've learned is that I will need to make a NCA but the amount may vary which is true with almost all adjustments in length or width. With the armhole depth, I most often lower the shoulder 1" but depending on the pattern it could be 3/4" or 1 1/4". Again, that's where the moulage helps. I use it to compare the shoulder and underarm points and keep the distance between consistent.

The one part of the moulage that wasn't fine tuned the way I wanted it to be was the shape of the armhole. Now that I've learned about the narrow chest adjustment, I can work on that again - tenaciously - like a hound dog after a rabbit. That made me laugh. Thanks Corinne. It is so true. I get an incredible amount of energy and excitement from working on and resolving a problem like this. LOVE it!

Along with simplifying the pattern choice, I decided to simplify the potential fitting issues and work my way down the body to developing a good T & T. That's why the sleeves are above elbow length and why the side seams are only sewn to the waist. I'm avoiding other curves that will need to be negotiated and will work on them one by one. As you can see in the back image, a sway back adjustment will to be necessary and I'll add a center back seam for better fit.

It's intriguing to me how a random line in an article resonated so strongly and has become the answer to something that has been driving me crazy for years. When I thought about what I wanted to accomplish in the front of the armhole and the results of the narrow upper chest adjustment and about the fact that I am often taking garments in at center back, I decided to try the same adjustment in the back. Again, it was not enough but it is definitely going in the correct direction. The wrinkles illustrate the need for a larger adjustment and increased bicep width which - luckily - the adjustment does.

The horizontal fold in the picture above is the adjustment to armhole depth. The vertical fold is the narrow upper chest adjustment. To make it, draw a line from center front to the underarm and a second line from the first one to the middle of the shoulder. Cut on the lines around the armhole. Slide the armhole forward the degree of the adjustment and tape the pieces back together. Going straight across will narrow the shoulder as well. Since I didn't need to do that, I slide the bottom only leaving the shoulder length intact while changing the shape of the armhole. AND THEN...

... add the same amount to the side of the sleeve. For this muslin, I made a 5/8" narrow chest adjustment to the front and the back so I extended the sleeve by 5/8" front and back which increased the bicep width by 1 1/4". Check to make sure that the sleeve is still on grain. Adding to both sides made it easy to maintain. Adding to only one side, or adding more width to one side than the other, might require fine tuning to maintain grain so the sleeve will hang straight.

The narrow chest adjustment is going to be another big AH HA in my sewing history. The impact is tremendous and is going to take the look of my garments up a significant notch. I have every confidence that when I make a larger adjustment front and back, the armhole will have the correct look and shape, the cap will hug my arm smoothly, the bicep will have enough ease, and the sleeve will hang straight. YES. A whole lot of issues resolved with one adjustment.

Yesterday, I went for coffee with a neighbour. In the getting to know you stage, she asked what I was working on and when I told her I really loved to sew and was working on better fit with the armholes, she said oh, I used to sew but I'm lucky enough to buy off the rack. With a quick glance I could see that she too needed a narrow chest adjustment and that the shoulder width on her t-shirt was too wide and hanging off and that it needed a full bust adjustment. What I've realized with sewing is that you can never go back. I now live in mortal fear of dying not only in a beige room but in an ill fitting garment because I couldn't sew anymore and had to make do with RTW. Please God no!

Pivot and slide is a bit difficult to describe. It'd be so much easier with a video but I haven't advanced to that stage yet so... I'll use the side seam as an example. On the back, at the top of the underarm I am a size 14 but at the hip I am a size 22. I make a mark on the tracing paper at the top fourteen point and then at the bottom 22 point and then I pivot the bottom of the paper forward around the 14 point until the 22 point is on the 14 line. I then trace the line from the 14 to the 22 point maintaining the drafted shape of the line over the size change. This is pivot and slide.

When I'm doing an adjustment like moving the bust point down, I use the lengthen/shorten lines and the grainline as guides tracing those onto the paper first and then marking the side seam above and below the bust dart. Next, I draw a line below the lengthen/shorten line equal to the distance I want to move the dart. I slide the paper up until that new line is on the lengthen/shorten line while keeping the grainlines aligned. I then trace the shape of the bust dart and true the side seams. This is slide no pivot.

I was up sniffling and sneezing in the night so I hope I'm not getting a cold. If so, I won't be going but otherwise bright and early tomorrow morning I'm heading to Calgary for a week of painting at my daughter and SIL's. Since there's only so much you can say about painting, it's highly unlikely I'll be blogging. I need to clean house and pack and a few other things but - if by some miracle - I get another muslin done before I go, I'll post those results. Otherwise, see you in a week.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - AH HA moments

P.S. You can buy Lynda's book part way down this page on Kenneth King's website. It's worth every penny.

Paper Mache & Sewing

When you work with paper mache, you have more success using smaller pieces of paper. The smaller the pieces, the easier they are to smooth over a curved surface - typically a balloon. In attempting to fit my figure, it occurred to me that paper mache over a balloon has similarities to fitting clothing over a curvy figure. The more seams, the smaller the pieces, the higher the success rate.

The narrow shoulder adjustment is definitely a step in the right direction. As you can see, the line of the armhole seam is "normal" and far more attractive. The sleeve is twisted. I'm working on that.

Looking at the back, it's possible I'll be doing more work there in the future. Maybe. I'm taking it one step at a time so as not to overwhelm myself and because everything affects everything. Once the front is where I want it to be, I'll be able to assess if the back does or does not need work. This muslin was drafted with the regular depth of armhole. I was hopeful that would work but it was a long shot considering that I've been petite-ing and buying petite clothing for years. It didn't. Work that is. There was a lot of bulk and wrinkling under the arm - much worse than the picture seems to show.

The fit is better once the shoulder seam is pinned in an inch. It's significant enough to conclude that I need both petite sizing and a narrow chest adjustment. What's interesting is that if you draw a line 1" down from the size fourteen shoulder, you'll be drawing on the size eight. The armhole width I traced for this muslin front and back was also the size eight. I've been sewing a fourteen up until now and I chose the size eight because it most closely matched my T & T width which means it could just be this pattern so I'm not going to jump to conclusions but it did lead me to wonder what is the best way to make the least number of alterations with the highest success rate? Questions like that are dangerous. They send me off in the direction of endless experimenting except... I like following up  ideas so much so that I got up early today to make sure I'd finish the next muslin before heading out to do errands. 

This discovery really made me think. The side seam closest to the top of the picture is the size fourteen and the lower one is the difference in the line when I slide the pattern to take out 1" in armhole depth. As much as possible, I used a slide and pivot method to trace the lines of the pattern and avoid drafting errors. These results were a huge eye opener. In the past, I would have folded out an inch and then blended the lines. I can see now that that method distorted seam lines.

I'm not going to bore or confuse you with all the steps I've been working through while experimenting. I sewed several muslins yesterday - just quick and dirty - to try different starting sizes and the corresponding adjustments. The goal is to get to a decision I can use consistently. This morning, I'm sewing an eight with changes. If it works out, this choice has the least amount of adjustments to the pattern. Hopefully, it's the one, something I'd love to have happen before the weekend. On Saturday, I'm going to my daughter and SIL's in Calgary for a week to paint their apartment. Success before I leave would let me ponder the possibilities while I'm gone.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - While I was working yesterday, I kept thinking oh, I need to share that with the blog or won't the blog be excited to hear about this. All of you who are collectively the blog have become an important part of my life. It's wonderful to have this outlet for sharing discoveries and talking sewing. Thanks for being a part of my story.

Narrow Upper Chest Adjustment

A few days ago, I was researching how to determine the correct length to hem a sleeve. Surprisingly, almost all the information available refers to men's shirts and jackets. I found one useful article on women's sleeves and on some page, somewhere, I read that wrinkles running into the armhole can indicate that the garment is too wide in the chest and requires a narrow upper chest adjustment. That was off topic but useful information. And new.

Up until then, I'd been operating with the belief that wrinkles through the armhole meant that my armhole was too low. This new information could mean that it wasn't the length of the armhole at all but the width of my upper chest.

I know it's a drawing and not real but I want the seam of my sleeves to look like this illustration in The Stretch & Sew Guide To Sewing On Knits by Ann Person. That's my goal.

Working with Vogue 8691, after sewing the body together to re-check the fit across the shoulders and at the neckline, bust point, waist, and hips, I sewed in the sleeves. Instead of substituting my T & T sleeve, I used the sleeve that came with the pattern. It fits beautifully into the armhole and is really well drafted.

On one side, the armhole remained at the original depth of the pattern and on the other side, I raised it 3/4" for a petite adjustment. The sleeves were adjusted - or not - accordingly and sewn into the corresponding armhole. In the end, BOTH armholes had wrinkles into the underarm and BOTH armhole seams pulled outward in that way that irritates me. I concluded that it was not the sleeve or the shape of the armhole or the petite adjustment that was the problem.

At this point, it seemed that the narrow upper chest adjustment might actually be the answer. To determine what changes would create the look I wanted, I pinned the sleeve to the bodice in the desired shape. If you look at the first picture again, you'll see a fold on the front of the sleeve cap as well as wrinkles on the bodice. I pinned the edge of the fold to the bodice and the armhole that looked the best was the one WITHOUT the petite adjustment.

In her book Fast Fit, on page 182, in the section about Narrow Upper Chest, Sandra Betzina writes put on the finished garment that's too large in the upper front chest, but fits otherwise, and stand in front of the mirror. On one side of the garment pin a vertical fold from shoulder to bust point that pulls the shoulder seam into proper position at the top of the arm. Remove the garment and measure the width of the fold, which usually ranges from 1/2" to 1 1/2". This is the right amount to reduce the upper chest.

Since this garment has a princess seam, as a double check, I pinned along the princess seam to get the look I wanted. At the widest point it is 1 1/2" which doesn't surprise me in retrospect because - after the fact - I finally pulled out my measuring tape and measured across my front chest and then across my back chest and the difference is 3". I am 3" narrower across the front. Curvy has now taken on even further dimensions.

The black sample is made from a lace knit that I picked up in the bargain center for a couple bucks a meter but won't be sewing into any wearable garment because it snags like crazy. I chose it for that reason and because I had enough to sew a second garment to test the changes I'll make based on this experiment. If what appears to be true turns out to truly be true, that means I will no longer be making a petite adjustment through the armhole and then moving the bust point. Instead, I'll alter the center front length below the bust point and make a narrow upper chest adjustment. But let me test the theory first. Hopefully good news and beautiful sleeves tomorrow.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - coffee dates, time to explore theories, phone calls from friends, sunny days

Less Frumpy Bumpy

Last night, I sat on the couch and read a book and ate illegal cheesies (because of the corn not the calories) while watching storms roll through the valley with intermittent rain and wind and lightening. It's not so much that I was enjoying the storm or the book as much as I was avoiding my studio. I'm in grave danger of haring off in wild directions while attempting to find the perfect armhole shape and corresponding sleeve cap. I've been at it for a week now and I still don't know what the right answer is but I'm getting closer.

Like this green t-shirt from a few years ago, all my current t-shirts have a weird armhole shape. The garment fits nicely through the shoulders but the shape of the armhole veers off under the arm while showing the flab on the front of my underarm. It's comfortable to wear even as it looks like the sleeve is being sucked into the armhole. In a print, you barely notice. In a solid, it's not a good look and has had me pinning and measuring and researching what to do differently to get the look I want which is something far more flattering and less frumpy bumpy.

When I measure the pattern and compare it to the drafting instructions in Patternmaking For Fashion Design, the draft is correct so there is some choice that I am making that is not working for me. I've been researching am I actually a petite, do I have a narrow chest and back, should I be making my narrow shoulder adjustment differently and - oh - about a gazillion other questions. If I hadn't read on the couch last night, I'm sure I'd have tried five hundred new solutions, none of which would have worked because I'm at that overwhelm point when you can forget what you did and how you got where you're going. It was time for a break. 

Yvonne wrote - Perspectives are interesting. I much prefer the black/purple/grey top on you than the lighter print one. They are both lovely, but the purple/grey/black one looks so elegant on you. Could be in person I'd change my mind, though :)

Thanks for your comment Yvonne. I agree that the leopard print is a wonderful color on me. It's the scale of the print that I think is not as flattering. The picture above shows equal portions of two fabrics. Both are black, white, grey, and another color and the two other colors are the same value meaning that the only difference between the two prints is the scale of the print, the boldness of the lines, and the spacing between motifs. Looking at them side by side, my eye is pulled to the left toward the leopard print. I have to work hard to stay focused on the turquoise print. Below is a comparison of garments that is not as good as it would have been had the pictures been taken on the same day with the same hair and make-up instead of on a sunny day with hair and make-up and a rainy day without make-up BUT...

The same thing happens when I look at myself in this top. My eyes keep going to the top and then fighting to get back to my face. When they do get to my face, the colors are complimentary to my skin tones, I just can't keep my eyes there where as...

... with this turquoise print top, I see the fabric and the colors and then my eyes go to my face and even though I wish my hair was done and I had make-up on, my eyes want to stay there and it's actually harder work to look back to the print. It's not about the colors. It's about the scale of the print in relation to the scale of my facial features. It seems like a small subtle thing and yet is the reason why we can so easily make incorrect choices - or at least the reason why I can. I get seduced by the colors and I love drama and contrast. It just doesn't love me.

Edited 9:18 - there still isn't as much light and it's still a different day different hairstyle but now that I'm dressed I've switched out the no hair no make-up picture for one with it done. Vanity!

When I was sewing the leopard print, I took care to interface the neckline, armholes, and shoulders to stabilize the seams. I've tried this on a few t-shirts now and it has worked out quite well so I labelled two jars for interfacing strips that are either straight or stretch so I'm not wasting any little bits because I have nowhere to put them. 

Right now I'm doing a comparison of Vogue 8817 above and Vogue 8691 below - both of which are designed by Katherine Tilton and both of which have princess seams and yet 8817 makes me look frumpy and 8691 is incredibly flattering. I've sewn it three times already, twice with three-quarter sleeves and once with elbow length.

Like the prints, it's subtle differences that have huge impact. The similarities between the patterns might make me think that I'm getting virtually the same thing but in the details, they are vastly different. The lines of 8691 are far more complimentary on me, hugging the side of the body through the underarm and waist and then flaring out over the hips. I can pin out the flare for a "regular" t-shirt and it's still flattering with very little work. This pattern is about to become my new T & T - LOL - as soon as I perfect the armhole shape.

With 8817, to get flattering fit, I'd need to take in the front at the sides but not the back and would need to move a dart of fabric into the princess seam. 

Here it is pinned in at the waist and you can see it's improved even on Millicent. You can also see the issue with the armhole. This is my second not so wearable muslin of this top although I think it's adjustable and saveable. On me, this pattern is a lot of work even though it's getting Highly Recommend ratings on PatternReview but then so does 8691 and I do Highly Recommend it. Bodies and desired fit differ.

What's interesting to me is that I basically cut on the lines with Vogue 8691 and made an adjustment for length above the waist and an adjustment for width over the back hips. Vogue 8817 required a sway back adjustment (noted on PatternReview.com by several reviewers), my usual petite adjustment to the armhole, some length out between the waist and underarm, and an adjustment for width over the back hips. If I lay the adjusted patterns on top of each other, they are virtually identical in width and length. It's the style lines that differ and in particular the shaping through the side seam and princess seams.  You can see how much shaping is built into the side seam in this image above. The center back and princess seams have equal shaping. It's a pattern that's fabulous for curvy figures.

In the section of Arianna's book - On Becoming Fearless In Life, Love And Work - that I read last night, she talked about having the courage to speak up when you change your beliefs. One thing I realized with writing was that what I wrote in 1989 stayed in print even though in 2012 I might not "believe" in that technique anymore. I'm still growing. I learn new things. I change my mind. I speak up when I do.

After I'd seen enough storm and read enough book, I did sneak back into the studio for a few minutes and took the elbow length sleeves out of the grey V8691 and then looked at it to determine what would need to be done to make it sleeveless. First off, lower the armhole. The fabric was bending out under my arm more than the remaining seam allowance. And change the angle around the front of the arm as there was too much fabric moving over onto the top of the arm. If I need to do that for a sleeveless version, I need to do it and and a little lower for a sleeved version which tells me the answer may be that I've been over petite-ing myself.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful -  we did our own investigative work and discovered the problem in the front yard and it's finally getting some attention. The humidity in the studio has dropped significantly already. This is good. Humidity and hot flashes are not a great combo. Thankfully the hot flashes are getting fewer as well.