Western Winds Princess-Seamed Sleeveless Shirt- Terminado/Finished!

I talked about the process of altering the princess-seamed shirt, commercial pattern M6076, back in Fitting Western Winds . I used my sloper to work in conjunction with the pattern.

Fitting + sewing made it such that I put off finishing the project. It means the project took a little longer. And yah know how 'tis.... when I don't sew every single day a project looses it's oomph. I wanted to get going with something else new when I had time to sew.

Good thing I had a trip to visit with my dear cousin in San Diego  motivating me to finish my Western Winds shirt. I loved wearing it on the trip, and have worn it several times since. It's still summer-warm in my part of California. Aren't I glad this good warm weather basic didn't become a UFO, because it's been adding a lot to my just-doesn't-feel-like-fall-yet wardrobe.

BTW I simply used bias tape to finish off the inside of the armscye. Por que no? It works great and I had it already.

Fabric was from the "Japanese Cottons" section at Stone Mountain and Daughters in Berkley (in my materials inventory for about a year and a half) 

Horsey buttons were in my buttons inventory - scored them free somewhere. They give it that true western feel, don't you think?

Blue-Sky Sewing - Rose Embellished End of Summer Frock

Since I got my sloper done, I look at other woman's frocks with a new eye. I ran into Rebecca, on a toasty day while we were waiting for our devices to get fixed at the apple store, and she was kind enough to let me photo her in this great rose-embellished, gingham summer dress.

Looks like maybe six tiers in that nice big rose. It starts above the natural waistline, and extends below the full hip.

This great gingham cotton frock also has bust darts.

I would try to recreate something like this by simply eliminating the front torso fisheye darts in my sloper, and maybe also grading the pattern out from beneath the bust darts?

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

Ench By Sew-36: Fiona, the Irish Laurel Dress

Dress creation brings out the romantic in me. When I looked ahead to my summer sewing, I thought if I could sew only one garment for the season, it would be a dress. Fiona, the Irish Laurel dress, satisfied my yearning to design and sew the perfect summer frock.

Hey let’s listen to the show! To do that you can either download the ‘cast from iTunes - Click on this link to iTunes  , 
*OR* listen directly on the web, by clicking on this link
* * *

This dress was a very satisfying project for my arty romantic style. 

In between sewing summer essentials - shorts and tees - I worked off and on to determine what design lines spoke to me about summer, mock up a miniature sloper pattern to test my ideas, draft a pattern from my sloper, and then finally to sew up Fiona, while summer was still on!

* Pensamientos Primeros - Thinking through my idea for this summer dress
     - Part 1 - Planning Fiona
        - Part 2 - Farewell to Summer Romancing Fiona, the Irish Laurel Dress  

*Technicos - Pattern Drafting and Kissing Zipper using a Prick Stitch

*Pensamientos Finales - Fiona's Design Lines have roots in my own history

Finians Rainbow was a modern American fairy tale. It expressed late 1960's dreams for racial harmony and folks coming together. Fred Astaire (Finian McLonigan) and Petula Clark(his daughter Sharon) added in the romance of America seen, and idealized, fresh from Irish eyes. The story of Finian's determination to plant himself a crop of Irish gold, intertwined with romance of countryside and a new happpily-ever-after love for Sharon draws me in as well today as it did when I was a kid who'd only recently arrived in a new place myself. Any wonder that the movie's costumes inspire my pattern work and sewing today?

Visit Me Encanta Coster/Enchanted by Sewing - my regular sewing blog for other summer sewing I enjoyed along the way... in between time spent bringing Fiona to life

Farewell to Summer - Romancing Fiona, the Irish Laurel Dress (Part 2/2 -Termindado!)

Fiona, the Irish Laurel Dress

Fiona is made from a yellow green Linen-Rayon blend, lined with Bemberg rayon.

This dress has a one piece front and one piece back.

It includes front bust darts, back shoulder darts and partial darts that open like tucks in the torso front and back. The bodice above the dart/tucks is quite fitted.

The kissing zipper is prick-stitched.

I started day dreaming about creating Fiona at the beginning of summer. Then  in Fiona, my Summery Irish Laurel Dress,
I got more serious about my romance with this dress. I began playing around with a small pattern replica, imagining how I might manipulate my sloper*.

Since then, my summer frock dreams came true. I drafted a pattern for my Irish Laurel Dress, and sewed her up too. I've worn this perfect summer frock several times and really enjoyed the feel and flow of the garment. I'm already looking forward to using and altering this pattern again.

I talk about creating Fiona in my September Enchanted by Sewing Audio Podcast** - Remember you can either download Enchanted by Sewing audio shows from iTunes OR you can just listen right on the web (while sewing perhaps?). Links for both will be in the show notes, as they always are.

(Listen to the Fiona Show right on the web by clicking on this link)

~ ~ ~

* Initial Blue Sky Plans for Fiona - http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/08/romancing-my-summery-irish-laurel-dress.html Playing with a small version of a sloper pattern was a great way to envision the actual pattern work.

** Stop by the shownotes for the Enchanted by Sewing Podcast and sign up to get an email abouut new monthly audio shows. Or subscribe in iTunes.  http://www.enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/

Romancing my Summery Irish Laurel Dress- Pattern Blue Sky (Part 1)

It's fun looking back at what led to the creation of Fiona, my newly finished Irish Laurel dress. I'm going to talk about this new frock over the course of several blog postings, as I recall what led to the pattern draft, pattern choice, and spirit of the dress. I also plan to dedicate a podcast to Fiona. I'm not sure if I'll produce that 'cast as my August or September show. You can signup at http://enchantedBySewing.blogspot.com to get email notification when new podcasts are released.

I began work on Fiona using a quarter scale sloper pattern, which I traced from a sewing book. There are a lot of slopers on the web that I could have printed out as well.

 My sloper has a bust dart and fisheye front dart like this one.

I wanted Fiona to be empire waisted, but I didn't want to simply gather a high-waited skirt under the bust. 

Design Goals
1) Sleeveless
2) Empire waist
3) One-piece front (and back).
4) Very fitted bodice
5) Pattern with very simple lines
6)  A light, floating and easy feeling summery dress

It really helped working in quarter scale. 

a) Initially I cut apart the bodice below the bust, creating a second, separate torso piece. Then I cut another line at the waist.

b) Notice that I pinned in the bust dart (goal 4) and put some padding under it to give me the sense of a three-dimensional garment. That also shows where a skirt would attach to the stitching line, so I know how long to make the seam line for any pattern piece that might be separate would need to be. 

In this case, as you can see from the curved line I extended the pattern at this below-the-bust point, so that was not an issue. If I were cutting a separate skirt piece, it would be.

c) I then cut apart the skirt as though I were creating a flared skirt pattern. I blogged about making a flared skirt from a sloper shortly after I finished my "French Pattern Drafting" class with Lynda Maynard. This is the first chance I've had to actually make a flared skirt. Of course this flared skirt will not hang from the waist, but I figured it was the same idea.

d) After I taped up the flared skirt - by closing the waist dart and pulling the skirt apart to accommodate that - I graded down from just below the bust (where I cut the pattern apart) to the side seam of the skirt in the area of the full hip. That's the slightly curved line you see drawn in.

Later on, when I created the actual full-sized pattern based on my sloper. I didn't cut apart the bodice, though I did cut away the skirt at the natural waistline, reforming the full front by judicious taping and pattern paper insertion. I did cut several lines to accommodate dart movement however.

Another thought, if this were a really complex pattern, would be to use some kind of small dress form just to do the pattern work without the fit. I'm not sure if this quarter-size would fit a large doll, but it might. Or you could rework this mini-sloper to fit a large doll. Madeline Vionnet used to drape patterns on a fashion doll. 

If the doll represented a child, I'd need to pad it out to represent a more womanly figure. It would be fun to try - if life were only all about sewing!

Terminado! Rose Embellished Straight Skirt - My Own Pattern Work

Man alive, I can't believe I finally finished sewing this skirt! Hey my hair isn't really this red! I was cleaning up the light in the photo and my hair color changed!

Seems like I've had the embellishment inspiration for this skirt skirt, pinned to my Sewing Inspiration board  forever. Of course, I have one or two other items on that board as well -  ok, I think over 600 garments-  and I might just not make all of them!

Basics -

1) I drafted the pattern as a straight skirt, using my sloper. Here's how I did the pattern work.

http://www.meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/04/pattern-work-parlez-vous-straight-skirt.html

2) I got together with my buddy Susan and had a lot of discussion about whether or not to put the two layers of ruffle on both front and back or just front - we agreed front only. It's a heavy embellishment.

3) I was using a slight-stretch denim from my fabric inventory. Hummmm while the no-waistband look is flattering  - that is a challenge. Don't want the waist slipping over time, especially with the heavy embellishment. So...I did two things

  a) I cut a partial lining out of heavy utility twill fabric. I both sewed it in and also tacked it down along the waistline to help the skirt hold it's shape. 
  b) Also.... I stayed the waist, by running a grosgrain (or was it a petersham?) ribbon along the inside of the waistline, tightened it so it's a touch shorter than the waist circumfernce, then sewed that in place along the waistline as well.

Hopefully that waist is not going anywhere it isn't supposed to now. We'll see over time how the fit works. I got the ribbon stay idea from my Bustier claass.

I really like the fit of this skirt

My Skirt's Rose Embellishment

4) The Embellishment took a while to work out. A lot of laying, pinning (safety pins as well as straight pins)  and hummmming went on. Good to have Susan around while I did that. I turned up the denim ruffle edges only once and used a faux-serger stitch (I don't have a serger but I have decorative stitches that mimic some of the concepts), Too much bulk for a twice turned hem on the ruffles.

The rose was just challenging. I also spent a lot of time with the original photo of the rose on the embellishment garment (*), thinking about how what percentage of the height of my skirt, that rose, and the ruffle trim,  should cover. Too big and we're talking Carmen Miranda - which is fine if that is what you going for. Also getting the folds within the rose center was tricky. If I were to recreate this skirt, I might use a mid-weight denim. I used a heavy weight here.

My Sewing Inspiration Board - https://www.pinterest.com/lrshimer/0sewing-inspiration/

* Inspired By (a different style of denim skirt I was only interested in the embellishment) - https://www.pinterest.com/pin/565624034426847818/

Ench By Sew-32: Parlez Vous French Pattern Drafting?

The May Enchanted By Sewing, Episode 32 Audio Show is Up ! 

Listening Option 1: Download from iTunes
Click on this link to iTunes  to download this and other Enchanted by Sewing shows to your mobile device (iPhone, Android, etc.) free from iTunes

Listening Option 2: Direct Download/Listen on the Web

http://traffic.libsyn.com/enchantedbysewing/CastFINALParlezVousFrenchPatternDrafting.mp3

I first signed up for Lynda Maynards' French Pattern Drafting Class to help me improve my fit and alteration of commercial patterns and was surprised to find that Lynda's class opened my eyes to the idea of drafting my own patterns - an aspect of sewing I’d never expected I’d get involved with, and frankly considered beyond my skills.

Studying with a teacher like Lynda and being inspired to try new things – that’s the kind of thing that keeps me, enchanted by sewing!

1) Pensamientos Primeros – The Art of French Pattern Drafting

My Pattern Work Postings

Early Days in Pattern Drafting Class - Includes Kenneth King Link http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/02/drafting-my-back-block-learning-pattern.html

More from Class http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/02/french-pattern-draftingmoulage-first.html 
and

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/03/fitting-in-sleeve-sloper-pattern-work.html

 Using My Sloper and Moulage to Draft Patterns

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/04/pattern-workparlez-vous-tee-shirt.html

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/04/damson-plumm-private-eye-nibbled-that.html

     Parlez Vous Flared Skirt? http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/04/pattern-work-parlez-vous-flared-skirt.html
 

Pattern Work on Pinterest:Links to many pattern drafting and design resources  https://www.pinterest.com/lrshimer/0-sewing-pattern-work/

2) Technicos  - On Wearing Ease Going from a Moulage to a Sloper and Back Again

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/05/parlez-vous-wearing-ease-moulage-to.html

3) Pensamientos Finales – My sloper...A garment for any occasion?
 

FLARED Skirt - Parlez Vous French Pattern Drafting? Moulage Class Pay Off

   
The second of three skirt drafts, I leaned about in the French Pattern Drafting/Moulage class I took from Lynda Maynard.

To create a flared skirt from a sloper. This example shows a back sloper. The changes are the same for both front and back.

* A - In the beginning, it's like what we did drafting the straight skirt * 

 First, trace a new copy of each sloper piece, back and front,  on your pattern paper of choice.

Second, Cut away above* the Waist Balance Line

*Leave some seam allowance above that waist balance line. You may want to face the skirt waist or you may want to add a waistband. Better to leave a little extra for now....

Third, Extend down 26"** from the Waist Balance Line at Center Front 

** 26" was suggested by Lynda, maybe a longer or shorter length works for you. Play around with your muslin version. I measured a knee length skirt I made last summer, and this length was about right for me. 

* B - Now... the pattern changes from what we did for the straight skirt *

Fourth,  
i. Cut down one of the dart legs (red dots)
ii. Cut UP from the hemline to just below where you cut the dart leg, leaving a hinge point there

 

                                                                          

Fifth,  Move the cut dart leg over beneath or on top of the other dart leg. This opens up an area in the skirt. You may choose to leave a bit of the dart in place, if you want less of a flare. Tape your dart legs together.

 Sixth, i. Cut a piece of tissue that would fill in behind the newly opened part of the skirt pattern with paper. This is the insertion. Then add another 1/4" to the insertion.

ii. Create an extension that is the same size as the original insertion.  Tape your insertion and extension onto the back of your pattern.

Seventh - Make a nice new pattern piece with no tape. You may want to go ahead and add seam allowances to the new pattern. Since I draft my patterns from my sloper, it doesn't have seam allowances already. A 1" seam allowance is great, the first time you draft a pattern. It gives you a lot of wiggle room. 

Don't forget to date your new pattern pieces. You'll be glad you did.

STRAIGHT SKIRT: Parlez Vous French Pattern Drafting - Moulage Class Pay Off

                                                                
The first of three skirt drafts, I leaned about in the French Pattern Drafting/Moulage class I took from Lynda Maynard.

To create a straight skirt from a sloper. This example shows a back sloper. The changes are the same for both front and back.

First, trace a new copy of each sloper piece, back and front,  on your pattern paper of choice.

Second, Cut away above* the Waist Balance Line

*Leave some seam allowance above that waist balance line. You may want to face the skirt waist or you may want to add a waistband. Better to leave a little extra for now....

Third, Extend down 26"** from the Waist Balance Line at Center Front 

** 26" was suggested by Lynda, maybe a longer or shorter length works for you. Play around with your muslin version. I measured a knee length skirt I made last summer, and this length was about right for me.

Fourth, Extend out 3/4 of an inch from the side seam at the hem

And Finally grade back up from the extended hem to the full hem balance line. If you (instead) draw the side seam straight, the skirt will read as a pegged skirt and not a straight skirt line.

Pattern Work:Parlez Vous Tee Shirt? French Pattern Drafting Class Begins to Pay Off

Moulage Pattern - a fitted tee, Sloper - looser fit

I have  created a moulage, sloper and sloper sleeve patterns in Lynda Maynards "The Art of French Pattern Drafting" class at Cañada College.

Now all my time and effort look like they are beginning to pay off. Using my moulage pattern, I've begun work on a  pattern for a fitted tee shirt. This tee will be no-dart. We've learned to do that by the 'nibble-away' process. Here is an example of a classmates moulage back being nibbled away. Had she used her sloper pattern the tee shirt would have included more wearing ease, and been a little bit looser. 

The red nibble-away lines show where the fish eye and shoulder dart take-up is being removed from the far edge. In the case of the fish eye dart, you can see that the take-up is removed from the side seam. This creates a pattern that reflects the shape of the curves that a dart, necessary in wovens but not in a knit fabric.

I'm looking forward to showing off my first tee test garment, hoping to have the basic construction (without neckline band) done in time for class this coming week. Yes, I already have plans for several more!

                                                                          

Fitting in the Sleeve Sloper (Pattern Work)

First I made my moulage.

Then I made my sloper.

They looked a lot alike, so I only blogged about my moulage. Here are the most recent details I wrote about that Lynda Maynard class in this posting.

(http://www.meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/02/french-pattern-draftingmoulage-first.html)

We've been working on getting a sleeve to fit into our slopers for two classes now. And I'm continuing to work at that fit and pattern drafting task at home. 

This is not the most attractive garment I've ever sewn!
It's a sloper, which is the equivalent of my moulage plus wearing ease.
Yes, I know I've got too much ease in my sleeve at this point
After I made more change at home, and before I went back to creating
a new version of the pattern, I did the math -
The total distance around the sleeve stitching line for the
armscye/sleeve cap, should be 3/4 of an inch
larger than the distance for the front and back arm holes.

Can you see the work that went into my first shot at drafting a sleeve pattern?
I also write small to do lists on the pattern piece and use a lot of color coding and
 dating to remind myself of what I did in class versus at home, etc.
This is the follow on to the drafting block by the way.
I re-scooped the front, flattening it and giving it less curve, added to the height at
the top center to get the bicep balance line to come out parallel to the floor,
and also added 3/8 of an inch to both the long underarm seam lines.

After making all those changes, I definitely needed a new version of my pattern!
After I made this, I traced out a new sleeve to cut out and sew to try on the other side
of my muslin sloper.

Still To Do 

before class

Next - I'll be stay stitching my second muslin sleeve, cutting it out, basting the balance lines, completing the underarm seam line, and basting in the ease lines.

Then I need to go back to my sloper and alter my side seams to be 5/8 of an inch farther into the seam allowance. I have 1 plus inch seam allowances.

Must remember to note that change on my sloper pattern! Good thing I haven't cut out my most recent version of that pattern, so I can draw that in and use my eraser and still have a clean final working copy.

Entonces I 'll attach the sleeve to the other side of my sloper, making sure my front is attached to the front part of my sloper fit garment, of course!

At that point I'll check all the balance lines in the mirror and see if I need to alter any thing else obvious before I return to class next week. I included a slightly over 1" seam allowance when I drew the pattern markings on, so I can make some alterations.

I create a new version of all my patterns every week after class. That way I have a record of where I've been and what I've done. I can go back to a previous version too. Also it's just less confusing and it motivates me to write more notes on my patterns.

I also include my name, date, phone number and email (I've smudged those out in these photo)

on every single pattern piece and muslin garment. 

In sewing lab, everybody's stuff looks the same and it's a lot of work down the drain 

if I misplace anything.

~ ~ ~

It's not exciting or glamorous working on creating a perfect-fit-me garment, but it sure leads to a lot of daydreaming about what I'll work on once I have the patterns that result from this process.

And that's the kind of thing that keeps me ....

Enchanted by Sewing!

   ]

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