Sunday, September 19, 2010

Save My Shirt & My Sanity

This is the next installment of posts where I give a desperate cry for help! This is for KS3740. It's a knit top with no center back seam.

Issue #1:  Do I have a round back? I know you can't see me, but the pattern falls away from my neck. I do have rounded shoulders. There's also a gap at the back armhole.

























I know this is gonna sound crazy, but could my butt (ha ha) and sway back be part of the problem?  Could the curve from the top of my rear to my waist be so severe that it causes the pattern to hang differently at the neckline?  I realized my dress form needs some work because the top is much shorter on me.  Anyhoo. Can you kinda see how the top stands away from Ruby's rear? By the way, she is wearing my Burda 8629 muslin. This twill is now a muslin because I didn't realize there wasn't a nap layout. Live and learn.


Okay. Does it really take this many tucks for my sway back or am I doing something wrong?


How on earth am I going to true this (Issue #2)? Seriously. How do you suggest I true it? Do you see the new grainline in green? Next to the original, it looks like a dart! The wonky center back I'm sure contributes to the issue at the neckline, but I have that problem when I try on unaltered tissue.

The top is supposed to be close fitting. Do I have it pinned too tight?

Back to the truing. the vertical green line you see at the neckline is what hangs over the ruler when I compare the top edge of the pattern to the bottom edge. (I think I measured it right.) When I fold the pattern under along that line, the pattern sits flat against my back.

Please help.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The alteration you did for the high round back should take care of the gap at the back armhole. However I'm not that familiar with sway back adjustments, but I'm presuming you tuck out the excess, as you have done. Have you thought about putting in a CB seam? It's a lot easier to fit and you can contour it to your body measurements? Is the garment going to be made out of a knit or a woven? If a knit, then the pattern doesn't need to meet the CB, it can be up to 1" away depending on stretch in the fabric. If in a woven then it will need to meet the CB and you will also have to factor in some ease. I think I've seen your name on Perfect Sew & Fit? Sorry if I'm wrong but if so, do you remember Patricia saying, when you fit a tissue, you only put one pin under the arm to hold the tissue, adjust the back and fronts and then add the extra tissue for the sides, if you need to. I've found tissue fitting to be hard, but once you understand how the adjustments are affected by your unique body you can make the same adjustments over and over to start - eg high round or broad back or sway back. Good luck!!

Sheila said...

I have never been able to do a tissue fit and normally tweak the garment after baste stitching and trying it on. If the garment stands away from my neck I do vertical darts on either side of back neckline. If I have gapping at the armhole, I do a bust dart or remove excess from the shoulder seam. too avoid gapping at the lower back I customarily go with a center back seam. I hope this help.