Getting to a super-duper adjusted pattern

My first toile

Warning: this got stuck in my Drafts for too long. I'm posting it now because I want to refer to this project. So here goes, you've been warned!

I did a one-on-one fitting session with a lovely sewing teacher in February 2018 (Fit2Sew). Mandy uses the Palmer Pletsch method of first tissue fitting followed by adjustments to the paper pattern.

It was fantastic!

I learned so much and I am so grateful.

My FBA was okay with darted tops but I didn't know the last step for a princess line pattern: you make the FBA adjustment only in the side piece (got it) and slashing towards the centre you close the dart you opened. The slash allows more space on the side towards the centre front where it is needed. Makes total sense.  Now I really don't know what I was trying to do instead. This shall remain a mystery.

I also found that my shape requires a horizontal slash and spread for my rounded upper back instead of the vertical adjustment attempts that I was monkeying around with (yikes!). At least I had a fairly good idea how to do the swayback adjustment but it was still pretty great to go over this adjustment...

Best of all, because I had no idea: I need to rotate the shoulder seam forward by a good centimentre which is completely obvious when it finally dawned on me that carrying my shoulders forward has a heck of a lot to do with my rounded upper back. Oh right! Yes those two things do seem connected, don't they?  I don't seem capable of an upright posture where you keep your shoulders back - just wishing for something doesn't make it true so I better go with what I'm dealing with.
Yep: there needs to be more fabric in the back pattern piece at the shoulder and a little less in front - and the answer is: Rotate shoulder seam forward!  Well darn it, that was obvious!  Better late than never methinks.

The session really brought home a decisive principle of pattern drafting.

Whenever you make any adjustment: you have to look at whether this pattern piece gets stitched to another. When you make one edge longer, the joining piece will be too short. You may be able to ease some pieces in, sleeves into armholes are a good example, but that only works for small differences and with some fabrics. It is better to adjust the edge of the other piece as well. They won't sew up well if not!  Whatever change you make on one side of a seam you need to make on the other side too. Undeniable logic.

McCall's Palmer Pletsch pattern M7352

So I have my lovely flare dress pattern all adjusted (I hadn't consciously planned to bring the Palmer Pletsch pattern M7352 for this class, but I had it so that felt like divine sewing intervention!).

After soaking up so much information on all the different adjustments I sank onto the sofa at home utterly exhausted - so knackered that I was only able to cut out the main pieces in a turquoise stash fabric the following weekend, and I've only got round to sewing it up this week (remember, this was all back in 2018).

I still need to do the neck facing, the hem and also cut out and sew in the sleeves. I want to do short sleeves (this cotton fabric wouldn't be great for long sleeves) but I haven't completely made my mind up if I'll go with the pattern piece from this design or do something else.

I considered a tulip sleeve that I fancied for ages but this stiff fabric isn't ideal for overlapped layers.  I could also slash and spread the piece for a flutter-type sleeve or one that could have an inverted pleat at the lower edge. May not be good ideas, I need to take the fabric into account.

I have yet another idea: a split short sleeve with the normal seam at the underarm position but also slashed vertically in half (adding seam allowances) for an open slit that runs from the shoulder seam at the top of the sleeve all the way down to the hem. Decide later if I want to leave the two pieces loose or sew together at the very bottom. I came up with this idea because I think it would make the sleeves easier to iron.  I might go for that.

It would be a nice challenge and if it doesn't work out I could still swap it with a standard sleeve. I have enough fabric for two lots of short sleeves.

Watch this space!


PS: The split sleeve idea didn't turn out well. Wrong fabric. Blog post to come.

Spiral flounces!

Oh dear, I haven't posted in too long. I have been crafting but just not blogged about it. Still, there's lots ot catch up on then!

Just to show you what I'm working on right now, i.e. a little taster:

Spiral flounces!

I already pinned the two layers together. The outside curve is not perfect in so far as the distance between them meanders in and out rather a bit but I don't care.

I reckon they're pretty good for a first attempt. And it wasn't even as difficult as I feared:

This is what spiral ruffles look like when you straighten them out:

The top part will follow the curve of the neckline to begin with, starting from the shoulder yoke:

And the bottom part will then run alongside the blouse's button band:

 

I wasn't able to straighten this out completely for the photo, but you get the idea.

This is traced off the Oxfam blouse that I bought and liked a lot, expect for its pasty light blue colour and the fact that it is rather baggy under the arms. That the bust darts didn't point in quite the right direction didn't help either - all issues I can solve in a traced off pattern!

I will re-visit the paper pattern pieces and check about the outside curve. I hadn't thought to superimpose them to check how they would look one on top of the other. Now that I think about it, that would have been the obvious course of action! But you live and you learn.

I'll adjust the pattern pieces for the event that I want to make this again in another fabric.

I must say that I really adore the shapes that this spiral ruffles make. I wonder how big you could go? Must try that.

Project massive blouse 6 January 2017

Even more progress.  I closed most seams though I feel a bit weird saying this, surely these aren't all the seams just yet?  I'll have to check but I do think so.

More photos:

Burda 6230 muslin, in muslin

This shows how thin the fabric is. The back

You can also see the seams on the other side. Cuff in place

Slightly better details

I "just" need to do the buttonholes and sew on buttons.  Once I know what buttons I want to use.  On the other hand I don't have a lot of sewing thread left, do I perhaps want some kind of snap or other closure instead?  I'll need to think that over a bit first.

The other thing I'll have to do before thinking about the proper project is to get photos of me wearing this.  I'll be able to tell how much shorter I want the white blouse to be.

I have the white fabric right here to use but I'm reluctant to jump into carrying on.  I feel that I need to take a little time to consider how I want the white blouse to be. The sleeves do drag a bit funny and seem to twist a little, luckily they are about the right length.  The cuffs fold back on top of them instead of lengthening the sleeves as I thought, but they're still a good length on me.

The cuved baby hems turned out really well, I'm happy I did them.  I also really enjoy how much I could practice my 'accurate' sewing. Looking quite good in most places!

The standing up collar seems a bit tall - it comes up too high and that make me feel a bit 'wedged in', like the collar is some kind of restraining device framing my head.

Problem: I'm not sure that I've got the collar right - it doesn't at all extend to the button bands. That's the complete opposite of the photo on the pattern envelope: the collar extends all the way to their edge at centre front.  How very odd.

There are no notches on the collar to show where it is supposed to hit any specific points, like the shoulder, so no help there.  I did sew the buttonbands on correctly: the instructions show a normal seam allowance, it's not like they mean for you to completely encase the front edges.  The width across also works on the finished article but for some reason the neckline seams too big for the length of the collar.  I might just redraft it and stop worrying about it.  But it is odd when something like that happens.

This is an old Burda pattern where you have to add seam allowance, the pattern pieces do not include them.  I realised when double-checking the pattern pieces: they needed to butt up against each other to fit.  I consulted the instructions (and highlighted that bit!) to make sure.  Newer Burda patterns follow industry standard of including the allowance, but they didn't used to.

I even went a step further than just highlighting the instructions - I even scrawled 'Add Seam Allowance!' in big, fat marker on a few of the bigger pieces so I'd remember when I use this pattern again.  I know how easy it is to forget and just cut out as normal.

I am please with how far I've got.  Now I need photos of me modelling it because the mirror only shows a static view and restricted angles.  Then I'll do some more thinking.

I will want to do more sewing now, to keep my momentum going, who knows I might just carry on with WIP!  Wouldn't that be a novel thing?

Day 4 on Project No 1!

Oh yes! This is brilliant: I made more progress sewing my first project of the year, a muslin of Burda 6230.  This is consecutively the fourth day that I've been sewing and even on the same project - I am making real progress.

I am so pleased about that. Perseverance has never exactly been a strength of mine.

I will update this post with a photo because it looks like I'm making a dress rather than a big blouse!  I am posting this without photo for now because I want to 'document' the date, just for my own satisfaction.  I can't quite believe I am keeping going on this.

Here are the photos:

Massive, isn't it?

Shows the seam and cuff details well

The back is also pieced together like the front

Not a huge lot each day, but enough.  I must say I've been almost anxious about the amount of sewing I have to do on this blouse, which is weird, right?  I mean if it gets too much then I'll just stop automatically, won't I?  It's not like the stitching is going to bite me for being a lot.

There are a few seams and I also have to do them twice: I am using welt seams (yay, first time!) on the piecing together seams, and French seams for the silhouette seams (don't know if they're called that: I mean the top seam from shoulder into top of the sleeve, and also the side seams).  The seams at button bands and collar get caught up so they are the normal thing.

I did overlock the bottom edge because it is a huge curve that won't come out right with either bias binding or double-folding over.  Bias binding would make it way too stiff, and a double folder over curved hem only becomes a mess of puckering.  And also being too stiff.  I'm back to my old favourite: baby hems.  Overlock, fold over once, edge stitch, done.

The black overlocking thread will be visible but this is only a muslin - I want to use white on the real thing.

I guess the amount of sewing felt a bit overwhelming.  Like I didn't really have a good idea of the big picture in terms of how far I got and was feeling adrift instead.  That does have the advantage that you feel like you got quite far all of a sudden, but it's a bit stressful when you're treading water, so to speak.

My anxiety also came from the fear that it wouldn't go well, that I would start messing up and then not be able to regroup enough to get back to a half way acceptable sewing standard.  I wouldn't mind on a toile but a) I want to practice becoming a more accurate sewer, and b) sewing very much stops being fun when it goes messy and wrong and doesn't seem to get back on an even keel.  That would just make me feel even more anxious. A point c) would be that this would reinforce old fears that I really want to get away from: I can improve a skill and I don't have to stick with make-do and oh-well-better-luck-next-time.  I am just so fed up with that.

Which means that I really appreciate and enjoy my progress. A few things could have gone a touch better (I'll know for the actual project: the sleeve pieces apparently not being quite long enough because they wouldn't meet everywhere exactly) but in a blouse this big the corrections of trimming won't be obvious at all.

I mean look at the dimensions: this is not a big blouse but a huge dress. It'll probably end somewhere below my knees!  I'll be able to chop off quite a lot for the sort of blouse that will look okay on me.  I also don't want to sit on the too long back and then have trouble getting back onto my feet.  I mean, come on.

Progress!  Job satisfaction!  Learning is being done!

New year, new project

I am incredibly pleased that I started to cut out my first project of the new year on the second day of the year.  That's an auspicious start of something I want to do a lot of: to sew and use up more of my fabrics.

I hadn't made up my mind yet about which size I was going to use, the largest might be something like XXXL (size 52).  For some reason I had left all the different sizes on the paper pieces but then didn't notice.  So I needed to change the sleeve curves that had come out a bit too 'curvy'.  It worked though.

The following day I cut out some more pieces and did a first few seams.

The pattern is one that I had to buy again because I cannot lay my hands on the tissue pattern, I have only the photo and instructions left in the envelope.  I checked in currently available patterns (as many as I could bear to look through) but I couldn't find a similar style: Burda 6230 is a very loose shirt, or what I call an 'over blouse' - a shirt you can wear over a heck of a lot because it is so over-sized.

What I like about it is that you piece together the front and the back: there is a horizontal seam line from the yoke that extends into the cut-on sleeves, and they have a diagonal seamline between the lower sleeve and the front/back so you don't have to use extra wide fabric.  See the black and white drawing on the pattern envelope shown above.

The yoke piece that extends into the sleeves ends near the cuffs in a sharp point. I thought that looked very clever.  Not so great for shortening the sleeves: I can't wear the oringal length sleeves, they're 10 cm too long!

My first 2017 project is a muslin of this pattern because I want to check that I shortened the sleeves correctly (that yoke piece needs to be sewn to the united front/back piece and the lower sleeve piece. I can't know if it's right until I've sewn that seam). And I also want to see what the length is like on me. It'll probably drown me!

But seeing how long this is as an actual garment is better for deciding how much I want to shorten it by once I use my actual fabric.  I want to use a white fabric with white machine stitching on it that I bought in a shop clearance sale just before Atlantic Silk in Electric Avenue, Brixton closed its doors for good. Shame, this was a good fabric shop, particularly the back area.  At least Simply Fabrics is still around.

I don't want to cut into this beautiful fabric and mess it up.  I have not seen another fabric like it in all the years in which I amassed my fabric stash - so I've seen a few.  It is pretty thin and looks quite crisp but I haven't washed it yet. It's just so much easier to sew with a fabric that still has that sizing layer on it and I reckon the pattern is loose enough that it can't shrink too much if it even does.

I still haven't decided if size 52 is right for me.  I didn't exactly chose to use that size because I blindly followed the outlines. Oh oops.

But I am sewing! And that's the main thing.  Very pleased.

PS: On the third day of sewing (4 January) I've assembled the front and the back and sewed them together at the shoulder/top of sleeve seams. The button bands are not attached on the inside yet but they are on the outside. I cut and interfaced the colour and will probably attach it next.

PS: I forgot that I blogged twice about this pattern, both in July 2016: That 'over blouse' pattern I've long been looking for and also: What did I do today?

Simplicity 8523 changed to bias cut

This was a very interesting learning exercise: you can change a simple top from a straight fabric grain line (as intended by the pattern company) to one cut out on the bias.

It actually works!

I happened to come across an intriguing YouTube video (by Kair Bjordahl at National Sewing Circle) that discussed this, and even suggested Simplicity 8523 as an example. Which reminded me that I own this pattern and could go and have a look.

I did, I found it, and I had a go!  Nothing better than taking advantage of the sudden urge to sew. You have to go with the momentum of your sewing mojo. It would be criminal not to.

I did a full bust adjustment so it's interesting that the bias cut fabric does drag a bit at the bust. I reckon I used the wrong fabric: a polycotton that's a bit thicker than the usual thin polycottons.  I also didn't prewash the fabric so I have yet to see how the top looks after the first wash.

There is also a whole lot of bunching going on at the front of the upper arms: there are drag lines towards the apex. I often get this with pretty much everything I wear: whether shop bought or made myself. I have a feeling that I need a second dart.

I also want to see what difference another type of fabric makes.

I often have problems sewing the sleeves in. I managed a bit of puckering on the sleeve on the right.

Modern fabrics are not truly evenly woven so warp and weft behave slightly differently.  That's the reason why a bias-cut garment will not hang and drape completely symetrically. You can see this in the photo above.

Because of this bias-cut patterns often suggest a centre front and back seam, but you use up lots more fabric that way because the two pieces need to be laid so they form a V or chevron shape. That produces lots of fabric remnants in awkward shapes. You might be able to use them in applique or for patchwork.

I may also have cut the sleeve from the lower fabric layer at not quite the correct 45 degree angle. I have a feeling it may have shifted a bit. I really need to watch this more closely next time.  I lenghtened them by an inch to avoid that chicken wing look that I hate, but now realise that I could have gone with the original length.

I also had to adjust the point of the V-neck a little bit, it looked off by around 7-8 millimeter or so (just under a centimeter).  That was no problem because the pattern's V-neck was a little high and I wanted this to be lower.

The back doesn't look too bad but it is also slightly asymetrical.  I may want to cinch in the waist a touch more. I graded this out to a bigger size according to my measurements but think I overdid it a bit.

Oops, all bunched up

This was supposed to be a muslin to try this out and I will probably not wear it a lot because of the colour. I bought the fabric online with the intention of using it for patchwork but the colour is lots lighter than I expected.

This top is quite comfortbale despite the issues I described, so who knows.

I did not expect this pattern to fit me without adjustments but I had hoped it would be closer to a better fit. I knew that I might need a swayback adjustment but didn't want to bother at this stage.  It was an extremely useful learning exercise and I am pleased this fits as well as it does, even though that fit is not great.

Next time I want to use my own body block pattern to try another bias-cut top. In another fabric, hopefully something more drapey (it depends on my fabric stash: I have to use up what I've got as much as I can). And slightly shorter sleeves than these.

I will report my findings!

Vogue 1324 Donna Karan skirt

I did this in a heavy-ish jersey fabric I picked up from Ridley Road market, a couple of years ago.
I was surprised that this sewed quite well - and that's saying something because I've got a total hate-hate-hate relationship with jersey fabrics. I don't like them, and they certainly don't like me, and I usually make a completely mess out of jersey projects.

Oh well.

I love the Donna Karan skirt design. It is really interesting in so far as there is no vertical side seam: the panels that cover the side wrap round from the front towards the back for a bit. Not quite parabolic arches, but part of that shape.

Here's a photo to try and show the side "seam" area:

It's a bit difficult to see the seams, here is another photo of not quite the same area:

The front of the skirt is on the right-hand side of the above photo, and the back at the left-hand side (obviously).

I had huge problems with the waistband: the part that starts to one side of the front centre panel where there is no waist band, and wraps all around the back, - it gets folded over and forms the inner facing that I stitched down.

Where the centre panel was stitched to the sides of the waistband, the waistband extended way beyond this seam - I had so much left over that I laid it down towards the front centre: they didn't reach right to the middle so I just stitched them down. I had ironed some stretch interfacing to the top of the central panel to reinforce because it is a single layer right in the middle. Where I stitched those too long sides down I got three layers.

So something isn't right with this but it is probably me. I can't remember when I even started this so I may just have cut this strip too long. Or not long enough as the case may be. Who knows.

I decided to try this Vogue pattern in a jersey as a wearable toile. I could eliminate the back seam and the zip. I only stitched down the bottom of the inner facing in a few places so the fabric stretches enough for me to put it on. That works okay.

Not a great photo, but here's the whole thing. The front darts are interesting too, sat at an angle (as are the back darts):

The whole skirt is not fantastic (I mean my execution of it) but I may wear this around the house. Or if I am having a scruffy day then maybe to the pub, maybe one that isn't terribly well lit, if you know what I mean...

I like the fabric so I may try to sew with a heavier stretch fabric again. Maybe. I just have that difficult relationship with jerseys: I hate them and they hate me right back. They completely misbehave for me and I usually have a huge struggle on my hands with them. I am not a fan.

I like the design enough to want to make this in a woven fabric (as intended) but I am worried that I might run into fitting issues because of those side "seams". I don't know how a woven fabric would behave in the hip area.

It took me ages to get this finished but I am very pleased that I didn't abandon this. This is huge progress for me!