You Give Me Butterflies -- and Not in a Good Way

Pure adrenaline and novice enthusiasm must have helped me get that first sleeve in. On the second sleeve, I had a lot of trouble just pinning from the underarm to the first notch in the front. I steamed it again. I did some hand gathering stitches. That area is supposed to be 1:1. There was at least an extra 1/2" there now. What happened?

Of course the culprits were the lovely changes I made to the armscye.  The pink line is the original sleeve seam line. The aqua line is the armscye seam line after all my alterations. Aren't these supposed to match from underarm to the notch? Well, they did on the back, so I figured they should do so on the front too. The sleeve from underarm to notch was 3/4" longer than the armscye! So much for 1:1.  

                                        

I had a feeling this would happen. I'd even started a secret board on Pinterest for sleeve alterations. However, my eyes glaze over whenever I read the articles. One day, this will make perfect sense. Right now, it's all Greek to me. I was really hoping that Craftsy would come through and put the sleeve-drafting class on sale, but no luck. I think I'll ask them. Pastor always says that you have not because you ask not :-)

So with great trepidation, I attempted to draw a new curve. Whenever I do this, I always feel like I should have paid more attention in geometry. My pattern alterations make me so nervous because the altered pieces look, at least to me, weird compared to the originals. I guess if they didn't, I wouldn't need the alteration. I'll take some comfort in that thought.

So here's where I ended up.

                                       

I am so nervous that I had to blog before cutting it out of fabric! This dress has to be finished by next Tuesday and I haven't even gotten to the skirt. Butterflies be gone! I've got work to do.

Wish me luck!

A Bodice!

                         

People, I have a bodice! It took seven muslins. I am so unbelievably excited. If I hadn't already planned my days off for the rest of the year, I would have stayed home to work on the sleeves. I think that's funny because I didn't do any sewing this weekend. However, I was on it at 4:30 Monday morning.

Check out the back.

                           

The back neckline is a wee bit loose, but I can deal with it. I want to see what the cowl does before I make any more changes to it. I'm hoping the fix will be simple like snugging it up with clear elastic.

Here's the pattern -- a true testament to the number of alts. The aqua line is the final dart. From the previous muslin, it's 1/2 longer and 1/4" shallower.

                                     

                                     

So about darts. I'm so thankful for Craftsy's Couture Dressmaking Techniques. I now start sewing at the point! Takes a lot of the stress out of sewing darts.

Now about that dart. The one on the right came out great. I messed up the left one when I stitched the side seam. It's a basted muslin, so no big deal. However. After extremely careful pressing, the dart only lays flat when I tug on the bodice. Otherwise, it looks like this:

                               

See that weird thing below the pinned dart? That's a stitched and pressed dart. Is it the bulk? Is it the length? Should I slash the dart? I'm working with a Ponteroma Knit from Hancock Fabrics. Do you slash darts in knits?

I'll figure it out eventually. Right now, nothing is bringing down my bodice high!

More Progress

I was so busy sewing and not sewing, I forgot to blog this weekend's progress. To recap, I gotten the shoulder seams closer to where they belong, did the FBA and realized I had a back problem.

Yuck! Here's where I landed. It's not perfect, but I can deal with it for now. There's a seam down the back that will stay for this first dress. 

Next up is the armhole. The girls are wreaking havoc on it.

The fix is to pin an armhole dart and rote it to the side seam.

It looks so funny.

                                         

Transferred it to the pattern.

I don't have a lot of shots of the magic, but the steps are here. The shorter dart in pencil was the final dart.

                                                

  

I made another muslin and I wasn't completely happy with the dart. I'm tweaking it and I think I'll have a finished bodice by the weekend.

Staying the Course

I just couldn't seem to shake whatever bug I caught Christmas Day, so there has been a little progress on the dress.

Here's the current state of the front bodice pattern piece with a Y-dart FBA. The Y-dart FBA is for those of us who need to add a significant amount to the pattern piece. You divide the amount you need to add to the pattern in half and add it in two places. Here's a better view of one.

                               

As I'm writing this, I realize I didn't tissue-fit the alt. Oh well, I've cut the muslin. That brings me to the point of this post:  the work needed to keep things from stretching out of shape. I did directional staystitching on the seamlines.

Questions for you on staystitching: where do you staystitch -- on the seam line or 1/8" from the seam line? When do you staystitch? I staystitch each piece after cutting. I noticed some pattern instructions have you staystich after you've started constructing. Lastly, do you do directional staystitching or, for example, do you staystitch the whole neckline in one pass?

Don't get tripped up by the white thread; this is a muslin.

                         

Next, there's stay tape. I love fusible stay tapes. My only problem is, I can't see the stitching line after fusing it to the garment. You can feel the stitching line if you've staystitched it. So, do you have to both staystitch and use a stay tape?

                         

I redrew part of the darts and the armhole dots onto the stay tape.

                         

Last question:  which seams do you tape? I did the whole bodice. I might do the skirt's waist.

                                     

Here's the bodice with the darts in place. I stitched the shoulder darts with a longer stitch length, just in case they needed tweaking. I am determined to get better at sewing darts this year! I had to try the one on the left three times before I actually got the point right. I kept stopping short of the point for some reason.The one on the right is a little crooked.

                             

I pinned the bust darts because I'm sure they will need adjusting. Last question: I am asymmetrical and I want to fit my right side.  How exactly do I try on the muslin for fitting, right side out or wrong side out (darts pinned on outside either way)? 

Let's see what happens this weekend :-)

New Year, New Determination

Where was I in 2013? Apparently not sewing. Oh well. No use in crying over spilled milk. I have been watching a lot of Craftsy.com. I mean really devouring the courses. There are some great classes that are really helping me understand fit.

I don't think I'm going to set any sewing goals for the year, I just want to finish stuff. OK, well I do want to make some pants this year. It is really impossible to find lined pants! I also want some flirty, girly dresses.

Here's what I've been working on and what I hope will be my first finished project in 2014, B5523.

I thought this would be the dress I would wear to a funeral. The diagnosis changed (God is so good), but now I have a much more pressing need for it -- work clothes! Let's see how disciplined I can be in terms of working on this every day.

This easy dress has presented a few challenges so far. the process has been slow, because I am aiming for perfection, which means multiple muslins. The first is the neckline. It thought it was wide, so I made some adjustments. Ignore the wrinkles. I had to dig that piece out. I've been concentrating on the back bodice.

Next up was the shoulder fit. I knew I had square shoulders, but I think they may be narrow too. I may need to shorten them a bit more. Then came the back. I cut a 16 based on my upper bust, but I'm using a double knit with less stretch than the pattern requires. It was snug to say the least. I added 1/2" to the upper back and a dart to take in the excess at the shoulder.

I like this method of alteration. I got it from Craftsy's Custom Fitting:  Back, Neck & Shoulders with Kathleen Cheetham. I like that it gives me a sharper angle at the side seam.

So glad I added an inch to the side seams. I need every bit of it. My next task is to sew re-sew the side seams on the muslin using a 3/8" seam allowance. Hopefully that will allow it to skim over the rolls and then I can move on to the bust.

I' hoping this dress will become a closet staple. I want it in double knit and stretch velvet. Here are my fabric options ;-)

Stretch velvet from Fabric.com


Ponteroma knit from Hancock.