A Quick Note on Curves

I spent four+ hours fitting the coat yesterday.  They were a leisurely four hours, but I could have been putting up my Christmas tree with that time. I realized that the sway back adjustment I made to the pattern was no where close to being right. So I spent hours pinning and re-pining the garment on me to try and fix it.  I used my dress form to pin the side seams. Finally, I basted the new stitching lines and ... it was a total disaster. The side seams were fine but the center back wasn't even close.

Here's one of the pinning attempts. Now that I look at it, I probably should have stitched this one.

Then I had a late stroke of brilliance - use a flexible curve to get the shape of my back. By this time I was tired and frustrated so I did an initial tracing of the curve and drowned my sorrows in DVDs for the rest of the evening.

Here's what I got this morning:

I'm now adjusting the padding on Ruby so that she matches perfectly. I'm thinking that while I'm at it, I should probably add my forward shoulders to the dress form too.

So, no I still don't have a completed project, but I'm moving further in understanding sway back, which is really what's driving my desire to sew. I wish I would have thought of using a flexible curve when I padded my dress form last year.  I've decided I want a flexible ruler. The curve is nice, but I want the ruler markings.

Well, time to get ready for church. I was a member of Bedside Baptist last Sunday, so I need to get it gear this morning!