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.