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.

Bustin' Out

Still working on this dress. I need to hurry up and finish it :-)That brings me to the next challenge -- the armhole. But first, let me recap what I'm happy with:

• Shoulders -- seam placement and length. Although please tell me if my narrow shoulder adjustment was too much or too little. It's amazing how confused I get.
• FBA and side bust dart. Crafty's Adjust the Bust really helped me get the dart placement right. It ends a whopping 5.25" away from the bust point.  
• Sidebar: I have discovered the Butterfly Bra from Ashley Stewart. If your girls are ... let's say substantial and you have an issue with bulging under your back bra band, this is the bra for you! It's the only bra I'll consider wearing with close-fitting knits. I have two only complaints -- the amount of padding in the cup; it adds inches compared to my old bras. The second complaint is the colors. There's nothing in white or beige.

                                     

As you can see above, I needed to add a lot of length during the FBA and I wasn't quite sure how to true it with the side seam. It's still a work in progress.

I wasted time with the broad back adjustment; I didn't need it. I forgot that knits are supposed to be a bit snug. The good news is that without that adjustment, the shoulder seams match. This is a relief because I couldn't seem to draft a back shoulder dart and my gathering technique still needs a little work. I can't seem to keep the presser foot from crushing them and making them uneven.

Now we come to the next challenge: Gaping front armhole. I've read that the larger the bust, the bigger the gaping. Thanks Butterfly Bra for the extra inches. Anyhoo, here's me trying to pin out the excess. Not bad huh? 

                

The side view might be a different story, but I will chalk this up to trying to fit myself as I wear the garment.

                           

So today task is rotating that dart to the side seam. I have a couple of resources:

• Subtleties in Drafting Sleeves
• Add Side Dart to Fix Gaping Armhole

Wish me luck.