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