Sewing for fit

Making clothes that fit is one of my major reasons for sewing. But most of what I've sewn over the years has been out of knit fabric, or it's loose fitting, or pajamas - not much call for fit. I did make this Burda jacket/cardigan thingy, which was my first attempt at doing a full bust adjustment (FBA) on a pattern. It sort of worked but wasn't perfect.

My latest project is a tunic top from the May 2016 Knipmode (second project out that issue!). I'm using an embroidered fabric I bought a long time ago from Gorgeous Fabrics, and since I really like the fabric and brought it from my stash in the US all the way to Germany in my suitcase, I want this top to be wearable. So I'm making a muslin first so that I can make corrections for fit before I cut into the fabric.

First, let me say that tracing Knipmode patterns is a real challenge. Some time last year they started publishing every pattern in every size, from 34 to 54. I love that there no longer is a plus range - just sizes and women large and small can sew the same cute clothes. But, the downside to this is that eleven sizes are crammed onto the pattern sheet. Needless to say the lines can get a bit crazy to follow. First I study the pattern lines, making sure I know what each piece looks like and the location of any notches or marks, and then I put down sticky notes to help guide me. But it's still hard to find the lines under the tracing paper.

The first and only thing I've made from Knipmode so far was the knit top from this same issue. For that top I went by my measurements and traced and cut a size 44 with no changes (and no muslin). It came out a bit big in the upper chest, something I've had happen with Burda patterns as well. So for this tunic top I traced a 42 in the upper chest, a 44 in the mid region and blended to a 46 in the hip. Then I cut out a muslin of the front and back and quickly sewed it together, anxious to see how a 42-44-46 combo worked for me straight off the pattern. I've always heard "the drag lines point to the problem" and it's true - they were like an arrow to my "boobs". No surprise that I needed an FBA. I also needed to lower the bust dart and take in the center back seam in the upper back. You can see some of my messy adjustments on the pattern.

I did cut out one sleeve in muslin - I didn't want to waste any more of my muslin (expensive to buy here) so I only cut one. But it's important to check the fit with a sleeve because the extra weight on the shoulder can change the way the neck and chest fit.

I'm pretty satisfied with the fit now, so I think I'll proceed with cutting into my good fabric...but tomorrow because it's super hot today and hotter in the afternoon.

Oh, and there's another good reason for making a muslin first: catching stupid mistakes. When I traced the pattern, I assumed there was a center front seam and added seam allowances to the center front. I cut out the muslin assuming a center front seam but then I looked at the pattern layout in the magazine and saw that it was supposed to be cut on the fold. Instead of looking at my pattern and seeing that I had added seam allowances, I thought I'd made a huge mistake and cut at the fold line. To correct my "error" I needlessly sewed an extra strip to the front pattern pieces to make up for the "missing" seam allowance. Still not realizing the error, I made the adjustments to the pattern for the FBA (even with the erroneously added fabric at center front, I still needed one). Then I cut out a new muslin of the front piece - with the fold at the cut edge - still not seeing the seam allowances I'd added at center front! I blame the heat. Thankfully I finally caught the mistake. I stitched out the seam allowance on the muslin and the top fits better without that extra 1 1/4 inches. Imagine that.

So I think I'm good to go. No more mistakes...I hope.

Fear of Finishing

An analytical look at my sewing lately ('cause I'm an engineer)

 

 

Why does it take me a week to hem a garment? For the same reason I have sweater pieces that are knitted but not assembled. I have a fear of finishing because I fear that when the item is done I will perhaps see that it doesn't live up to my expectations. Yes, I'm too hard on myself. It's just sewing (or knitting) and it's not like anyone is grading me, judging me, or paying me for what I make. And yes, I know I learn from my experiences and mistakes.

Every sewer has wadders. Plenty of knitters have ripped out entire sweaters that didn't work out. I've made lots of things I wore once - mostly dresses for weddings or special occasions - but never were worn again because they didn't quite fit right or the style was all wrong for me. Even if another event comes up I chose to make (or buy) something rather than be uncomfortable wearing one of those previous dresses. Yet those dresses stay for a long time in my closet because I made them. Call me sentimental. Or a perfectionist. Or a bit of a hoarder. I'm all three. But I don't like being uncomfortable...or settling for "just ok."

The "just ok" projects may even be worse than the ones that don't work out. At least with a failure there's often a clear reason: doesn't fit, wrong choice of fabric. The tough ones are when I put on what I made, stand in front of the mirror and doubt that I'd buy the same thing off a clothing rack. I think too often the image I had of me wearing it does not fit reality. In my head I know the picture of the dress/pants/jacket/blouse on the pattern envelope or magazine page size-2 model is not really how it will look on me, but there's often not much else to go by.

So you can probably guess where I'm going with this blog post (or maybe you can't and I'm rambling). Progress on the Burda cardigan was going pretty well and after a few days it was basically done except for the hems on the sleeves and the front ties. This was my 90% point. It was finished enough for me to try on and this is where I got stuck. Although I'd made a sample to test out the fit of my FBA, the fit of the cardigan didn't quite measure up. It's actually a little too large.

Rule #1 in making a muslin (I made this up, I don't know if this is really the number one rule, but it sounds good to me) - use a similar fabric. My fabric is a polyester mystery-weave knit. I didn't have a lot of it so I couldn't use it to sample, therefore, I made a sample using a rayon jersey knit. The rayon knit is heavier feeling whereas the polyester is light and airy. The rayon is also 4-way but the poly is 2-way stretch. I don't know that using a different sample fabric was the main culprit though.

Rule #2 - don't skimp on the sample. I cut out only one front and one back for my sample, so I didn't really see how the finished piece would hang in the front or off my shoulders. Lesson learned (and learned and learned and apparently not sunk in yet) - in Burda patterns, I need to go down a size for my upper chest and shoulders.

Today I pushed past the 90% and finished the hems and made the ties. Tomorrow, weather and time permitting, I might get a picture of me wearing it. At the very least I'll snap a picture on my dressform, although my dressform is less busty than I am at the moment, further emphasizing the fitting issue.

Fitting around the curves

One reason I haven't been sewing much is my fear of fitting. I don't think I'm alone with this fear either. It's one thing to try clothes on in a store and assess if they fit or not and it's entirely another to sew something yourself to fit your body. It's very frustrating to sew something and not have it fit, and feel you've wasted your time and money (although if you can learn something, then it's not all a waste).

I'm fortunate to not have too much of a problem with fit. In the past I have gotten away with making only minor modifications to patterns - mostly cutting a larger size for the bottom than the top. Sometimes I also make an adjustment to sleeves to fit my middle-aged-flabby arms. I sew a lot with knits, which can be very forgiving, but even in a knit I'm not always happy with the resulting fit. The area of most of my woes these days is the bust, which has gotten more full over time. I have noticed a lot on the sewing boards and blogs about sewers making an FBA - full bust adjust - to their patterns. I think it's time I acknowledge that I'm not the B-cup the patterns are cut for - I'm more like a D.

I tried a small FBA on my last project, a simple long sleeve t-shirt, but it didn't really make a difference. I did a "vertical FBA", which is just a way of adding more fabric to the front so that there is more to go over your bust - the excess is eased in at the sides without adding a dart. I didn't add enough to the front, so there wasn't much excess.

My next project is this piece (#122) from Burda Style 3/2012:

I had a suspicion that the bodice would need to be lengthened and/or make an FBA and I was right. When I placed the pattern piece against me, the seam line for the skirt hit way to high under my bust. This was a wadder in the making unless I made some adjustments.

Here is the resulting pattern piece after I made the FBA and lengthened the front. I made a muslin in a  knit scrap (yay for saving knit scraps!) and confirmed that it will work.

For the FBA (in red) I used some wonderful instructions from the Petite Plus Patterns site: click here for the link. The pattern included the bottom dart, which I redrew, and I added the side dart. 

To add length, I cut along a line perpendicular to the bottom dart line and added an inch (green lines). I did the same for the back piece, which also has a dart.

So now, I am confident to proceed with cutting the fabric. Stay tuned for the results!