Sew Distracted

Sloper beginnings

A little late here despite my best intentions.

Beginnings of a sloper.  This is what scoliosis does, rendered in two dimensions.  And I am extremely grateful for it.  The alternatives, in my case, had I never had surgery, would be far far worse.

 

When Liana was here at the beginning of March, we made a cling wrap sloper.  We were both a little out of practice, and I could have purchased something more clingy, but it was a good start. I had every intention of transferring the fragile plastic to paper and then making a muslin immediately.

 

Life took a different turn.

 

This is not a surprise.  I made one of these before, when I lived in New York, and it was phenomenally helpful with fitting and pattern alterations.  I knew already that I was not symmetrical.  And yet looking at a flat paper version of oneself is somehow still disconcerting.  None of us are perfectly symmetrical.  None of us are without flaws.  None of us is truly comfortable seeing any part of ourselves as we truly are.

 

A certain balance will be achieved when I trace off the fronts.  This means that if the left back is smaller than the right back, the left front will be larger than the right front.  As I said I already knew this.  I haven't cut pattern pieces double, or even on a fold, for years.  In terms of ready to wear, it explains why separates, and simple, loosely fitting garments are easier for me to wear, than more fitted options.

Here is another picture.

You can see not only the difference in size, but also the difference in torque or angle.  I find this rather exciting and I am looking forward to the process of exploration and discovery that is about to begin.

 

Alas April and May are phenomenally busy and I have some non-clothing sewing that must be done in the immediate future.  Although I am pretty desperate for summer clothing, I am also not interested in rushing.  I am hoping that as I can get to sewing, I can also start with simple, less fitted garments, which may be my preference once the heat and humidity arrive, and expand my options as time and energy allow. Whereas my younger self would have found this frustrating, now I am patiently content.  Time and energy may not be in great supply at the moment, but that too will change, and anticipation is, in and of itself a gift.

 

 

Shift Left: Creating new pattern pieces for the princess shirt

It seems that I was rather unrealistic in my sewing plans.  I thought that it would be no problem to finish up my muslin and make two pairs of pants and a shirt before going off to Knoxville for the Christmas holiday.  At this point this looks completely unlikely.  I can recognize however that planning my re-entrance into sewing during the holidays was perhaps  a bit ambitious.  At least I am making progress, even if slow progress.

The second shirt muslin has been dismantled and altered and new pattern pieces have been created.

I started with the back pieces.  First I removed 3/4 inch at the center back, below the bra line but above the waist, tapering to nothing at the side seams.  I did not document this as it is a pretty standard alteration.  (click on all photos to enlarge)

 Then I cut my back muslin apart along the horizontal line drawn across the back and realigned the halves as indicated, shifting the top piece to the left and aligning  the vertical marks.

 The next step was to redraw the seam lines.  Here you can see the right back, still stitched together but with the new seam lines drawn in red. If you look closely at the drawing, you can see that the original seam where the side back met the center back is to the left of the new red seam line on the upper piece, and to the right of it on the lower piece.    The new seam splits the difference between the two.

The next photo shows the same alterations made to the left back piece.

 Looking at the entire back laid out flat, with the seam lines marked, suddenly it all made sense to me.  Of course these are not the final pieces, and there will be no slashing of the fabric.  See how there will be more room in the finished back on the right, room to accommodate the full shoulder blade on the right.  The left side will be smaller, and more closely shaped.  This will fit more closely over the hollow on that side, where no shoulder blade juts out and where often on purchased clothes there is a large fold of fabric.

Suddenly it all makes sense.  Rather than patching a pattern to fit, we have transformed this pattern into something that is designed to fit.

Here are the back pieces, cut apart, seam with all seam lines traced.  You can see how the new seams differ from the previous draft. 

First the back:

  

Then the front:

  

The new patterns have all been created from these pieces and I am ready to cut the third muslin and check the fit.

Princes Shirt Drafts: Front

I promised a recap of what has been done and what still needs to be accomplished with the front of the princess shirt.

 I mentioned in yesterday's post, about the back pieces that I added a little width at the side seam over the hips, but not as much as I added to the back side seam. No additional width was needed at the front princess seam over the tummy.  

However, as previously mentioned, I did need to make an FBA.

I needed to add 3/4 " in length over the bust.  And I needed a bit of width as well. 

Since this is  princess-seamed shirt, I lengthened the center front piece by the entire 3/4 inch.  And I added almost 1/2 inch at the seam over the bustline, tapering to the shoulder and waist.

 On the side front piece, I angled the lengthwise addition from 3/4" at the seam with the center front and tapered to nothing at the side seam.  I also added more width to the side front (7/8")  than I added to the center front pattern piece at the bust so that the seams would line up correctly.  If I had divided the increase evenly the seam would have fallen too far outside the bust points and this would have been matronly looking and less flattering.

I also added a tiny bit, 1/4 " at the shoulder seam, adding it in the center where the two front pieces met.

I'm sorry the photos aren't as clear as they should be, a problem with documenting things after the fact, and the ruler hides the paper that was added to provide length, but I did want to show the difference in the increases at the seam line.

 As for what is next, the front is pretty much set now except for that same twisting problem that I have in the back of the shirt.

I am going to cut the shirt in half along the black horizontal line and move the upper portion to the right about 3/4" and the lower portion to the left the same amount.  Then I am going to true up the seam lines and recut the pattern.

If you recall, I moved the back in a corresponding fashion.  The upper portion moved left, which balances the rightward move of the front, and the lower portion moved right, just as the lower front will move left.  

I know in my head that this is correct.  It corresponds perfectly to the twist in my torso caused by the scoliosis.  Even after corrective surgery I am not completely straight.  And I know that the s-shaped curve of my spine is such that the upper spine curved to my right and the lower spine curved to my left.

I haven't done it yet, Thursdays are always very busy, but I am just amazed by the simplicity of this approach.  I hope it works out as well as I think it will,  although I am in fact a little nervous about posting all this before I have actually done it and sewn it up to make sure it is right. But I have faith.

Princess Shirt drafts: Back

Last week was a non-starter as far as sewing was concerned.  Routines were interrupted and we no longer weather interruptions to the routines well.  

But I finally took a look at the princess shirt muslin.  I separated the back from the front and started looking at the changes to be made when I realized that never recorded, either here or in my little notebook the changes that had already been made.  I do want to reproduce what I have learned and although I have the final version of the pattern, understanding how I got there is also beneficial.

Generally, my initial choices with cutting the pattern were not a bad start, and the changes to be made were minor.  To re-iterate, I cut a size 16 at the neckline, a 12 at the shoulders and back armscye, and an 8 through the front upper chest and armsyce tapering back to a 12 at the shoulder and side seam.  I did not do an FBA even though I knew I would need it, and I did not add extra fabric at the hips although I needed that as well.

Next for the changes I have made, and those I need to make, beginning with the back.

 

The initial changes that Kenneth King made to my first muslin were pretty simple.

The neckline was too low in the back, so I raised it 3/4" at the center, tapering to nothing at the armscye seam.  I realize that all shirts, blouses, tees, and tops ride too low, and I guess I knew that in my head, just as I know that my neck is forward compared to the "ideal" but I never thought about adding the extra fabric.  Previous fitting seminars have had me lengthen the shoulder seam from the base of the neckline, but not raise the entire upper back and shoulders.  I think this may work better and be more accurate.  In order to do this I had to change the center back line which was to be cut on the fold to a seamline, which of course now has a curve in it.  We did flatten that curve somewhat as I didn't need quite as much curve as the 3/4" provided by I did need some to accommodate the forward neck.  The upper part of the back seam acts as a kind of dart, shaping the back to the body.

I also made the side back piece wider at the lower armscye, increasing it about 3/8 of an inch.  If you click on the photo above you can see the paper added below the pattern to increase the length to the neck, as well as the redrawn  armscye seam.  I am sorry that I did not take pictures of this as I went along, and these photos do not show great detail, but I think you get the idea.  I also added about 1/2" at the hip where the side back meets the center back piece (although not in the center back seam) and 1  1/4 inch at the side seam on the back piece. I did not widen the front side seam by the same amount, only 1/2 inch at the hips on the front side seam.   I needed the extra fabric in the rear, not the front.

 Now before I move to the front piece I will show you what I need to do next to the back.  I have not made these changes yet, they are still marked only on the muslin:

I've tried to explain these markings directly on the photo, and if you click on the picture it should enlarge enough for you to see the changes to be made.

First, I need to take 3/4" of length out at the center back tapering to the nothing at the sides.  Wait.  Didn't I just add 3/4"?

Ahh, but it is not in the same place.  I needed 3/4" at the neckline, in the upper back, to have the neckline fall at the proper place.  But I had excess fabric lower down, below the bra-line but above the waist.  This is not surprising, as I have learned to take this amount out of the back of my sweaters, using a short-row dart technique to remove extra length from the center back without changing the side seams.  So I am not actually adding length to the pattern, I am just repositioning its distribution.

Then the fun begins.  Please click on the photo as I think it will be much more clear.  My shirt twists on my torso.  I am going to cut the back on the black line, cutting all the way across.  Then I am going to move the upper piece to the left and the lower piece to the right by the amount marked by the two vertical lines with the arrows between them.  After everything is lined up I am going to redraw and true up my seam lines creating 4 new back pattern pieces.  

At the moment my pattern pieces are symmetrical and are cut double.  I will need to trace off two more pattern pieces before I do this, as the final result will yield pattern pieces that are no longer symmetrical on paper, but they will look symmetrical on me.

Tomorrow I will show you the front pattern pieces.

Pattern Adjustment for Broad Shoulders

[7/13/2006 After some thought on this post, I have made some changes and additions.  The first time this was I left out a few things, and a couple of my drawings were not as meticulous as they should have been  All new additions will be in color blue]

This post was prompted by a question posted over at Stitcher's Guild about how to alter patterns for broad shoulders.  I started to answer there, but realized pretty quickly that my post was going to get tediously long, and thought I would work out my response here instead.

In this post I am just addressing broad shoulders,  a fitting variance that I am well familiar with. I am not addressing broad backs, straight shoulders, or other variations on this theme.  My shoulders are wider than the average pattern, and are wider than average for my size.  This has always been a problem with patterns and purchased clothes.  Of course I am also tall, and my shoulders are not out of proportion to my height.

The goal is to increase the width of the shoulders without altering the shape of the armscye and its corresponding sleeve head, and without altering the shape or size of the chest.  If alterations are needed in these areas they are accomplished through a separate process.

First:  Trace your pattern (it is always good to keep an unaltered master pattern in case sizes change or you mess up):

Second, cut out your newly traced garment.

Third:  Draw in the actual stitching lines, if they are not already present on the pattern and/or you did not trace them.  I always do this on my patterns as I tend to make several alterations, and it is the stitching lines, not the cutting lines, that show you the actual change in shape of the garment.  On my permanent patterns I tend to save only the stitching lines, adding the size seam allowance I want for each piece of a garment. But this just works for me, there are many good arguments for keeping the seam allowance on the pattern as well. 

Now we get into the fun part!  There are several methods of actually altering the pattern at this point and I will describe the three methods I am familiar with.  I am not an expert on any of these,and hope I understand them adequately and do not leave anything out.

PIVOT METHOD

I have several books that use this method, and this is the method I have most often seen Sandra Betzina use in her sewing seminars.   

Remember the goal is to increase the shoulder without changing the armscye.  To do this you start with something called the Pivot Point, which is, as I understand it the point  around which the sleeve and shoulder will move with arm movement.  I don't think I am describing it well.  The pivot point is just above the notch and I have no idea how to determine it exactly, none of my books discuss this.  On the lower part of the armscye below the notch, your arm doesn't move much.  Try spinning your arm around.  See all the motion is above the area of the notch, in the area that is typically eased in garment construction.

Lay your newly traced pattern on top of the original pattern.

Hold the patterns together at the pivot point, or pin it there.  Now slide the new pattern piece out so that the shoulder seam gets longer, rotating the pattern so that the pivot point stays together but the armscye moves.  I am increasing my shoulder widths by 3/4 inch, assuming that this person is 1 1/2 inches wider through the shoulders than the pattern allows.  Carefully place another piece of paper on top of the two superimposed pattern pieces and trace the new armscye.  Do not trace the rest of the pattern yet.

Notice that the the armscye is the same length, so you will not have trouble putting in your sleeve, but the position has changed slightly.  I have traced over the original pattern in blue, very badly I might add, my photoshop drawing skills are minimal at best to show you the comparison.

You can now remove the first copy of the pattern piece you made, or align it back up with the original pattern piece.  Finish tracing the new pattern piece, the one with the new armscye curve and the wider shoulder.  You will have to extend the shoulder from the original piece and perhaps blend the shoulder and side seams a little bit to get them to line up right.

You have now altered your pattern piece for a broader shoulder.  Be sure to remember to use the same process and alter the corresponding back piece as well, making sure that the shoulder seams match when you are finished.

Added on 7/13/2006

You will notice that this method alters the width of the shoulder but also alters the bottom of the sleeve opening as well, making the garment a little smaller at the underarm.  This is the first way I was taught to make this alteration.  It actually does work for me because I often need to take up my garments in just that area, but this would not be true for every person.

Since learning this technique I have modified it.  I make no claims that this modification is original; I am sure it is in books, it is just not the way I originally learned this technique.   Angle the new pattern piece out from the original as shown above, anchoring the two pattern pieces together at the pivot point   Trace the new upper armscye seam from shoulder to pivot point  then trace the original pattern piece from the pivot point down to the  side seams.  If you want to check that this works try realigning your pattern pieces to see that they match.

Here is a picture of the new pattern piece, drawn by the alternative pivot method.

SLASH METHOD

I have really only used this method when I am altering a garment or muslin on the body, but I suppose it could be used for flat pattern adjustment as well. I am going to show the basic principle on a flat pattern as I don't happen to have a muslin to work with right now.

When you are fitting a garment on someone and the shoulder seam is to short, you proceed by cutting open the shoulder seam and then making an angled cut through the fabric down toward the pivot point of the arm.

You would cut the seam open, and then cut down the dotted line to the armscye.

If you were doing this on a person you would move upper portion of the armscye out until it was in the proper position and fill in the gap with extra fabric.

The end result would look something like this:

We are now going to do the same thing with our paper pattern:

Cut the pattern straight down from the shoulder.  I usually cut from near the notch.  You want a vertical cut that goes down to the level of the pivot point. 

Next cut crosswise, from the vertical cut you just made to the stitching line at the pivot point.

Now you are going to move the outer pattern piece out until you have a 3/4 inch wide gap between the pieces.  Carefully put pattern paper on top of your superimposed pattern pieces and trace a new pattern piece, blending in the angles of the shoulder seams to form a continuous line. 

I had trouble photographing these steps so there is only one picture of the completed new pattern piece superimposed over the first two.  I think you can see and understand the steps.

Remember to do the same thing to the back as well.

SEAM ALLOWANCE METHOD

This one is my favorite although I will use whatever method I need to at any given time to achieve the desired goals.  I learned this quite a few years ago at a seminar taught by Judith Rasband, and it is used in her book  Fabulous Fit .

Take your traced pattern piece and cut a diagonal line from the outer tip of the shoulder seam allowance down to the stitching line.  Cut along the stitching line down to the pivot point.  Cut the shoulder seam allowance off as well, leaving a bit attached along the neckline to provide a fixed point for reconfiguring the shoulder seam:

Your pattern will be in pieces.  Angle the armscye shoulder seam allowance out 3/4 on an inch.  Notice you will probably have to take a tuck in the seam allowance itself, but this will not alter the length of the actual stitching line.  Match the outer corner of the shoulder seam allowance to the armscye at the stitching line (the inner corner of the seam allowance piece).  Notice the shoulder piece is too short and might be angle up a bit.  That is OK. 

Your pattern pieces will look something like this:

Now, carefully place fresh pattern paper over this without disturbing the arrangement of the pieces and trace the new pattern piece. 

In the following photo I have traced both the old and the new stitching lines so you can see the difference.

I like this method because I usually cut the seam allowances off my patterns anyway once I am done with the alterations.  I like playing with them to make the alterations, and I find it easier to visualize what I am actually getting. 

I am not sure it really matters which technique is used for making the alterations.  Use the one that works best for you.  The results are very similar, although not exactly the same, for each method as you can see from my three superimposed new pattern pieces pictured below:

7/13/2006  My original sketches were not particularly meticulous as I was in too much of a hurry to post this.  Usually I spend a huge amount of time checking and rechecking my patterns when I am altering/redrafting them.

Since this has plagued me since the original post I have redone the drawings:  As you can see, it really does not matter much which method you use.  The three drawings line up almost perfectly on top of one another, as they should.

If you click on the picture you should be able to see a bigger view.  All patterns are stacked on top of each other.  The original blue is on the bottom.  Then the three new patterns,  slash in purple, seam allowance method in green, and pivot in pink.  You can see best by looking at the dashed stitching lines on the pattern.  Notice that the pink, (pivot method) does not exactly line up.  No matter how hard I try I never get this to match perfectly,  the armscye curve is always a little deeper into the shoulder, and I always lose a little bit at the side seam. But they are very similar.

The green and the pink are superimposed at the top, the pink and the orange at the bottom.  I am sure the differences might prove significant for some people.  We are all, after all, slightly different.

Egg or Oval?

Oops, I said I would be gone, but I had to check in.  Today's activities were rained out and have been postponed until next week.  This said, we have had time to putter about the house, working (not too strenuously) and relaxing.

One blog I check regularly, is Kathleen Fasanella's blog Fashion Incubator .  If I ever get around to putting up a list of links this one will have primary placement as it is so often filled with fascinating and useful information.

Today I read a really interesting post on Kathleen's blog called A Question of Thoracic Shaping.  The article is really about the way a bra is constructed and why they don't always fit.  There is an interesting discussion of torso shape, whether one is a "standard" oval or more egg shaped, and how these anatomical differences affect the fit of bras, which are made for the oval shape. The article is filled with all kinds of fascinating illustrations as well.  I found it very interesting and the article and its implications have been flitting in and out of my thoughts all day.

I immediately picked up on the fact that many of the fit issues she discusses describe my experience in the bra fitting room to a T, and upon reflection realize that I am most definitely an egg.  I have noticed this in other ways as I am narrow side to side but thick front to back, no matter what size I am but I have never really thought about variation in torso shapes or even if there was a "standard" shape that clothes were designed to fit.  I see it is not me. 

Head on over the Kathleen's site and take a look and leave a comment.  She is asking readers to comment if they have the thoracic shape she is discussing.  I think this could be interesting.  Although I know I have fit issues that aren't necessarily standard I also can think of at least three friends who are definitely egg shaped, and although we don't all discuss bra-fitting (perfect luncheon conversation don't you think?) I do know that at least one of my friends has these same bra-fitting issues.  It would be really interesting if someone did a study to see how prevalent one shape is over the other.

As I think about ovals and eggs, I am realizing that this issue really affects a lot of my upper body garment shaping problems, namely the problems with bust points being too far apart, that there is always tons of extra fabric at the side seams and not enough in the front and back.  My measurements might match the pattern but the distribution sure doesn't.  I see that if I explore with this idea further I can probably improve my fitting skills considerably.