Fitting Western Winds - Princess-Seamed Shirt M6076 (Journal/Sloper/Pattern Work)

Journaling - Learning to fit and work with my sloper.

M6076 - Three princess-seamed shirts

I'm also learning to question, my sloper.

I'm starting with a basic princess-seamed shirt pattern - McCalls 6076.

Initially I'm working with the princess-seam in shoulder seam option (view A). (others in line drawing below)

Noted so far
- Learning to compare front or back pattern pieces to my sloper, I have to learn where to place them. Do I line up the base of underarm seam/armscye? If I start comparing at shoulder seam I can get thrown off because I often need to alter this area - except on some commercial patterns, when it's fine!

First time through with a test-garment (that's the one I'll actually wear, one step beyond my muslin) I'm making a sleeveless version. I'm taking careful note of where I
-a- I alter  the underarm seam (armscye) to create a tighter fitting armhole
-b- Take  the top of the armhole back somewhat, for this no-sleeve version.

Later I'll test the muslin with a muslin sleeve, where I'll test the pattern without both of these (a and b) alterations.

Another benefit to a sleeveless test garment is,  I'm getting it out of a piece that is somewhat less than 2 yards. I will be piecing the under collar, and also the front facing. But I don't expect those piecing line to show.

Waistline and Princess Seam Alterations
Working on a very fitted look without overfitting
 Would be better to add an extra seam allowance - 1 inch instead of 5/8-  for all this playing around
Lots of trying on here! Did same front and back on all 4 princess seams

I made sure to safety pin the front closed matching up the button hole marks, so that I don't overfit. I want the shirt to button and need a certain amount of overlap for that.

- First I basted a 1/4 inch seam along the princess stitching line
- Then increased (still with a basting stitch) the princess line seam allowance to 7/8"
- Then I unabasted the second line of basting below the bust and graded back to the 7/8"

- Finally I took in/graded the waist with a kind of elongated half oval, about 3 and 1/2 inch above and below the waist. Challenging figuring out when to alter waist and when to alter princess seams - lots of safety pin basting helped with that

Altering Armscye/Armhole for Sleeveless Version

 I took the shoulder seam back towards the neck for an improved sleeveless style

* Compared to my sloper, and graded in 1/2 inch at bottom of armhole/armscye on side seam for sleeveless. Then I graded back out  to original side seam after, hummm.... about one to two inches? A french curve is handy for doing that. I admit, I eyeballed it. I kept the original full seam on the pattern, because I'll probably want it for the sleeved version. I also kept it on the muslin  so I can reuse the muslin when testing a sleeved version.

* I also tested  raising the side seam up for the sleeveless version (based on what I learned in French Pattern Drafting class going from moulage to sloper) , but it was too tight.


* For sleeveless, I'm  raising outside shoulder (taking it back towards the neck line) for sleeveless style - 1 3/8" (11/8") without S.A. - so probably either 9/8 (1 and18) or 6/8 (3/4) " cut back/off - the first for 1/4" and second 5/8" S.A. I'll mark on the pattern what works for sleeveless - but keep the full original armscye on pattern for sleeved version test.

In addition to desirability of a sleeveless shirt for our late-running summer-in-fall weather, this helps me to focus on fitting aspects of the torso. The sleeve adds in a whole 'nother fit challenge, even though it means I have to make alterations when I go between sleeveless and sleeved. A good reason to journal!

M6076 - Test Garment Fit In Progress

Shoulder Seams
 * I ended up adding 1/2" (better would have been more - because I only took a 1/4 "seam allowance (S.A.)  - so next time add in 7/8") to the back
* I therefore took back 1/2" from the front  because of alteration to back. Again because I only sewed the 1/4" S.A., next time through I will add back another 3/8 inch and sew  a full 5/8" S.A.

* I've made this shoulder line adjustment many times, the reason I didn't catch it when comping my Master Pattern Trace (M.P.T.) to the sloper? For the back - I forgot that the S.A. is not included in the sloper pattern, as it is in the commercial pattern. (Often forget this). For the front, I don't know. The front of my sloper just looks too high. The No S.A. sloper comes out at the same time as the M.P.T.. So it seems like maybe I should make a tentative adjustment to my sloper front - dropping it by perhaps.... 3/8 or 1/2 inch. It's challenging thinking between with and without S.A. But this is something to think about math 'wise as I continue to work comparing my sloper to patterns I trace.

- I pin basted the muslin to make sure I had a basic fit, but I really didn't see the shoulder issues until I cut out and stitch -basted the test garment. In the future, maybe encourage myself to stitch-baste that muslin. I have a way of not seeing the pattern as real until I move past the muslin. It seems good enough, and I really want to see it as an actual garment. And with the pins in, I'm always in a hurry to get out of it!

I basted with a stitch  length of 6 and starting out with 1/4" seams. Then I keep trying it on and increasing the S.A. up to 5/8" . Alternatively, I could have added a full 1" S. A. on the first pass,  but I figured since the muslin was OK, I didn't need to.

Right now I'm happy with accurately placed shoulder seams - which gives a shirt a custom fitted look. I took in the 2 side seams more, but they are still a little loose. However, I haven't yet basted a deeper princess seam (4 actual seams). Once I check those, I'll know if I want to grade in - all or some of - the side seams to increase the fitted look.

~ ~ ~ Web Resources ~~~

An interesting related fitting post, that journals some of the challenges of fitting a basic princess-seamed pattern http://artisanssquare.com/sg/index.php?topic=16322.0

Experimenting: Singleton Button Making - Learning Precision

Most of my recreation time right now is going into my Moulage/French Pattern Drafting class. I don't have a lot to blog about in that regards this week, because there's a lot of repetition in my homework. I'm working on creating a sloper this week, but it looks an awful lot like the moulage!

~ ~ ~

For a little fun between muslin sewing and pattern drafting, I've been playing around, learning to create Singleton Buttons.

These are my attempts at Singleton Buttons to date.

Since I'm not yet there when it comes to getting a clean, precise edge, I'm not yet concerning myself with creating the thread shanks with which I would fasten them to a garment.

Clockwise from top left
The button with more yellow flowers has a piece of thin fused quilt batting, cut the same size as the full pattern
The pink flower has no interfacing
The purple flower has a piece of paper, cut about the same dimensions as the metal ring

I've mentioned many times that I'm working on learning to be more precise.Playing with creating my own Singleton Buttons, looks like a good way to get some practice in. There's something about the way I need to learn to hold things and work with the needle when it comes to getting that precise edge I'm after.

My favorite so far, is the top left button. I used a thin piece of quilt batting in that one.

Next, I'll experiment with rings of a slightly larger diameter. I think that might make those tight, precise, edges more achievable.

~ Basic Techniques~

- I made a pattern circle, 2 and a half times the diameter of the metal ring.  I scored some welded metal rings at my local hardware store. I'm sure you could buy something at a fabric store that's actually intended for this purpose.

I've tried different kinds of inside bits.
In this attempt, I simply used a piece of paper.
That wouldn't actually wash well ,but I wanted to see how the edge worked.

 - Then I ran a basting stitch about 1/8 inch away from the edge of my circle, tightened it up, and stitched back and forth to cover the edges.

- The 'X' on the front of this button was basting stitches, to hold that piece of interfacing paper in place

- After I stitched the back closed, I stitched around the inside edge of the metal ring.

- At this point, in the future,  I'll stitch up a thread shank -  I'll be doing that once I'm happier with the way the buttons are starting to look.

Drafting my Back Block - Learning Pattern Work with Moulage/French Pattern Drafting

Version 1 of my Back Pattern Block Draft

I'm taking Lynda Maynard's Moulage class at Cañada College. Moulage is the traditional style of pattern drafting used in France. Lynda studied pattern drafting, among other things, with Kenneth King. We're using a printed version of Kenneth King's Moulage book. 

On the web I can only find Kenneth King's Moulage Book on CD http://www.kennethdking.com/book/#moulage

   

We'll be creating a skin-tight, fitted moulage and then a sloper - a moulage that includes minimal wearing ease. We'll also be drafting sleeve patterns/slopers to work with these. My sewing buddy Susan and I, are very excited about those sleeves! Susan was featured in last month's Enchanted By Sewing Audio/Podcast - A Very Fitting Sewing Day With Susan

We've begun by drafting our back pattern blocks.

To get to this point, we followed Kenneth King's/Lynda's directions. Those included:

1) Taking careful measurements of, and recording, many dimensions of our bodies - front and back. I think there are about 20 measurements between our neck to the floor, with most of them centering around the torso. This is not something you can do for yourself. You need at least one buddy. It reminded me of the measurements we took when we made our dress form kits. (I produced a podcast about creating Dress Forms)

2) Using these measurements in a number of formulas, to create a sheet of calculations. Again we made a careful record. It was definitely worth my time to triple-check that I had
a) transferred the right measurement into the formula
b) done the math correctly
We rounded up all of our math to the nearest 1/8'th of an inch. 1/8'th of an inch is the smallest measurement on most rulers.
The book includes metric directions as well.

3) Next we followed  Kenneth King's/Lynda's directions to draft the back block you see here, using the calculations. Once more I'm went back and triple-checked, to be sure I was using the correct calculations in my draft.

Lynda reviewed our work not only for correctness, but also to make adjustments for various figure types. She adjusted the line in many of our shoulder drafts down at an angle. I'd guess that you might see the need for this later on in the process, if you're doing this work on your own.

Next we'll be drafting our front block.

After that, we'll work up a version in muslin.

This is one of those processes that takes a lot more time than I'd expect, but it's going to be well worth it for me.

My goals for the class are:

A) To make a new fit garment for my dress form, Conchita. I'll also be removing some of Conchita's padding and batting, to fill out that fit garment correctly. Gosh, wouldn't it be great if it were that straightforward for people to lose weight?

B) To create clear plastic transparencies I can use when altering commercial patterns. Lynda says the material she uses for this is from Tap Plastics ( Tap  Plastics:
24 1/2"  by  45"  by  .020  smooth/matte  polypropylene  sheet  SKU#20346)

C) Down the road... I might use these block in some way, in conjunction with draping my own patterns

Learning more about what makes patterns come together is the kind of thing that keeps me . . .

Enchanted by Sewing!

~ ~ ~

My Buddy Susan and I share what we've each learned about getting a good fit with our sewing patterns. In Last month's Enchanted By Sewing Audio/Podcast  Susan described key things she learned from sewing fit classes (Also we had a lot of fun chatting) A Very Fitting Sewing Day With Susan (Download or just listen on Line) http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2015/01/ench-by-sew-028-very-fitting-sewing-day.html

Enchanted By Sewing Audio/Podcast - Dress Forms (Download or just listen on Line) 
http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2013/09/ench-by-sew-12-dress-forms.html

Draping With a New Retro Friend

Eventually I'll be draping on my own
Uniquely You dress form, but for the first few assignments
we use the school's forms.
I fee very lucky to be matched up with this lovely
lady, created in 1965.

This year I created and began to use both a duct tape, and Uniquely You dress form. These new fitting companions have helped me to fit patterns, muslins, and garments.

I learned so much getting started with these dress forms, that my September Enchanted by Sewing Podcast show, will be about what I've learned creating and using these dress forms. 

Still, there's more to come.

This fall I'm taking the Draping class at Cañada college. There I'll be learning the art of draping, and I can see that it truly is an art. I'm just beginning to develop my eye, use my fingers to smooth the fabric as I drape, and starting to learn where the material is telling those fingers it should go. It's pretty exciting to think that by the end of the semester, I should know enough to draft some of my own patterns - patterns that are made just for me, by me!

We're using the Connie Crawford Art of Draping book. I've listened several times to the Sew Forth Now podcast, where Lori interviewed Ms. Crawford (Sew Forth Now #35: The Industry) and enjoyed the story of how this very experienced woman came to create this book.

The dress form I'm currently using in class (I'll be using my own Uniquely You dress form later on in the semester) is a 1965 model. Just think how many students have learned to drape and sew with her! I compared her with some of the newer forms, and noticed that she is, as our teacher says "perkier". That is, her bust is more enhanced than other more modern dress forms. Yup, shapely chests were popular in the middle of that decade.

I'm so pleased I've been teamed with this retro 60's gal. 

It's sewing companions and classes like this that keep me....

Enchanted by Sewing

* * *

You can find Lori's interview with Connie Crawford on the Sew Forth Now Podcast  

http://sewforthnow.blogspot.com/2008/08/episode-35-industry.html

Summer of Jeans Sewing: The Plan

Pockets like the ones on these
L.A. Idol jeans are inspiration for learning to
sew my own denim threads.
No, I don't know yet how they get that bling,
And I also wonder what kind of thread they
use for topstitching. Learning about stuff like
that is a ways down the road for me. I've got a lot
of basic skills and fit lessons to learn first.

I've been promising myself since last fall, that I would begin to work on learning to sew jeans this summer. Isn't it important to keep those promises we make to ourselves? Part of that promise was that I'd take the beginning and intermediate construction sewing classes, as well as the pants construction class, at Cañada Community College, in order to improve my overall sewing skills and begin learning techniques that had always seemed more advanced.

OK, I did that.

Now, the plan is to:

1) Sew samples to work on learning and improving jeans sewing techniques : flat felled seams, fly front zippers, special pockets, decorative pocket stitching, attaching rivets and special jeans buttons, jeans hemming, belt loops, dealing with those thick seam crossovers (I know people use hammers and little shim's and stuff)  and probably some other things I haven't thought of yet. And what about embellishment? How do manufacturers, like L.A. Idol create the cool bling on their pockets? I don't know yet.

2) Work on jeans ft for me. Improve knowledge of general pants fitting. Use instructions from various jeans patterns to assist with fit. Take the pants fitting class in the fall to produce a muslin/toile/sloper.

3) Collect information from others - books, magazine articles, web links. Pattern Review has good resources I've been reading and Threads Magazine did a series of three articles a couple of years back, that I have set aside (even though I broke down and bought the full archive of Threads, I held onto those particular paper issues in my "Jeans" drawer).

4) Collect resources to help get started: needles, topstitching thread, budget denim, sample (worn out) jeans from others I can analyze, study and maybe even cut up for sample sewing

5) Collect inspiration. Photograph cool jeans - especially pockets - I see people wearing and I use pinterest (http://pinterest.com/lrshimer/boards/ )  to save references to beautiful jeans features - yes more pockets!

I dream of JeanSies (made of light blue denim)

I'm thinking of changing the refrain from that classic old song...

I dream of Jeannie with the light brown hair 

                                               Floating like a vapor on the soft, summer air. 

to

I'm dreaming of JEANSIES sewn from light blue denim

that float 'round my nether regions, like the light from heaven

This semester, and next, I'm focusing on sharpening my basic sewing skills. Those skills include the basics of pant construction. Sure, I've sewn many a pair of pants since my first bell-bottoms project back in high school, but being self-taught there are a lot of techniques I've glossed over. So in addition to basic Fashion 110 (*), the introductory sewing class where I'm learning things I never knew I didn't know about needles, thread, hems, stitch length, directional sewing, and.... (the list goes on and on), I also took the 4-session Pants Construction class. There I sewed sample fly front zippers, a variety of pockets and learned some new and improved waistband techniques. In addition to two pair of elastic waist pants for the introductory class, I've got a pair of light-weight denim pants in the works, that will incorporate my new and improved fly front zipper skills, front-hip pockets and a couture waistband in the style taught by our teacher Lynda Maynard (the directions are in her Couture Sewing book). I'm using the same McCalls pattern that I used for the 3 pairs of shorts I made this summer and fall. You can check out one pair (and their matching cap) in this posting, The Lady Wears Shorts.

Producing all these pants will add to my wardrobe, as well as improve my basic sewing skill set. But there's another sneaky reason for gaining confidence when it comes to sewing trousers. I really want to be able to sew my own jeans. 

Are you with me there? I've got a couple of different RTW jeans that kind of work for me, but not totally. I'm looking forward to the day when I can quit perusing the catalog pages trying to find jeans that sorta kinda work, and can just design and sew my own. Right off the bat I know I want one pair of the typical tough-denim, work horse old-school style (without this low-rise modern beeswax!) and a second more fitted, lighter weight denim. I also have some dreams that flit past different colored jeans (Can I find turquoise denim?) and back pockets with lace appliqués.

Clearly there are two important aspects to this long-term learning project. 

a) Fit

b) Technique

OK learning more about jean fabric weights and sources for various denims, and specialized notions like rivets, topstitching thread, needles, etc. might be a third aspect.

I'm not desperate to start in on this learning project, because I'm headed in the right direction. 

1) I'm honing my basic and intermediate sewing skills, so that I won't be caught up being challenged by something that has nothing to do with specialized jeans fitting and construction.

2)I'm starting to collect articles from the web relating to techniques needed for making jeans. I've just started a Pinterest board specifically related to sewing jeans, that I can come back to when I'm ready. (I've got a couple of other sewing boards in Pinterest as well, here's a link to all my boards there.)

Inspired by my school work, I'm planing to start a jeans notebook with technique samples once this semester is over in December. Aren't sewing program classes an excellent way to learn how to approach new-to-me kinds of garments? :-)

3) I bought the Sandra Betzina Vogue1034  jeans pattern ( Here's a pattern review for it, which doesn't seem to want to pin to my Pinterest boards). It has lots of tips about fitting jeans. I'm sure I'll ask for fitting help in the Sewing Lab at school as well. And down the road, there's a pants drafting class taught at Cañada each fall. I expect to already have some experience working on jeans by the time I take that class next year.

* I take sewing classes in the Cañada College Fashion Department, Redwood City, California