A hot mess, aka green and aqua tops

I had previously mentioned that I had an epiphany regarding the fit of my armholes. As you may remember, I have been trying to ‘scoop’ the F-AH for quite some time, and for a couple of reasons. One is because I always feel a ‘tightness’ there at the F-ah with arm movement, but two, is because of the way the PMB back armhole flows into the front. It seemed to suddenly change direction at the sideseam, and I was trying to create a smoother flow from downward in back…across…to upward in front.


I have long been plagued by diagonal wrinkles in the back of my garments. It suddenly occurred to me that if I scooped out the lower BACK AH a bit, it would help with those wrinkles. AND, if I scooped out the BACK AH, then there would be no need to scoop out the FRONT ah!



Well, this was a whole new way of thinking for me. But I already had the next top cut out…this green one.

This one was very similar to the previous Ladybug Top with a few minor measurement tweaks, including a slightly increased BACK SHOULDER WIDTH. Again, I used a Bcup, but this time, I had used a little negative DART OVERRIDE to loosen up the front ah, to see if that improved the sleeve. My CFL was equal to my CBL.

(BTW, the reason I used the D.O. was to see if it made the armhole better for a sleeve...I knew it wouldn't be great for sleeveless.)

The sleeves are probably better than previous ones, but are still not just right. In all fairness, this is NOT the sleeve pattern that I should be testing with! I should use a straight sleeve with straight hem…not a tapered sleeve! The narrow hem circumference makes it hard to see the relationship of my arm to the sleeve’s fullness. The too-short cap height isn’t helping much either! But the FEEL of the sleeve was still wrong…they were constricting with movement…so I assume the armholes still aren’t right. I didn’t plan to leave the sleeves in this top anyway, so I ripped and finished as sleeveless.

And FYI, I have realized that ALL these recent tops are too long in front and too short in back! I evaluate in front of a mirror and probably stand too erect...getting a false sense of what fits and what is level with what. *

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This next one, aqua, was also a B cup, but I had increased the CBL and BSS by 0.375”.

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When I got the facings attached and tried this on, the front swung open, as if the Center Front Length was too long (I had increased the back length, not the front!).

On the left is the original...on the right, I have pinned tucks in both front neck edges, to shorten the front length. It seemed to make the front hang better.

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So, what the heck, I cut off the front shoulder at neck point to reduced the front length by .5”…this made the front shoulder more ‘square’.

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Well, it also pulled the Bust Point up too high!

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And, it changed the balance of the garment…so now the BACK SHOULDER SLOPE seems long (see how the back shoulder has excess ‘ease’).

*I should NOT have adjusted the front shoulder...what needed to be done was to reduce the dart size and take the excess front length off at hem…as if slicing the pattern across the whole front through the dart and overlapping to remove 0.5”.

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Oh well.

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Since I had already messed this one up, I decided to play with it.

I had read some info on neck widths, which is the FIRST area on a fitting garment to correct. The back neck (on the pattern) should be 3" wide, and the front will usually be 1/8 to 1/4" narrower than the back.

I wanted to see what effect this would have on the F-AH.

I decided to simulate what would happen if I drafted a pattern where the front neck width was a full ½” narrower than the back neck width. So I ripped the shoulders and realigned them by moving the front shoulder OUTWARD. I had to cut off ¼” shoulder length at the back neck point…making the back neck ¼” wider on each side. I also had to unsew the back shoulder dart and sew it smaller to make the front and back shoulder seams match at the armhole ends. As you can see, this created a ‘gap’ in the front armhole. It felt awful, and didn’t provide ease in the ah.

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This is the left image...where I am holding up ONE finger.

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So I ripped it again and realigned the shoulders as intended…this meant I had to trim away ¼” from the front shoulder length at neck point…so now both front and back necks are 1/4” wider than they started with, but they have the same relationship as drafted…front neck is again 1/8” to ¼” narrower than back neck.

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On the right, holding TWO fingers, is after realignment.

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You’d think I had lots of time to waste!

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After sewing these tops, I have decided that there is NO ADVANTAGE to using the reduced cup size…well, at least, not a Bcup. The smaller cup sizes have a lower, more scooped front armhole….but as I discovered, if the back armhole has the right shape, the front doesn’t need to be ‘scooped’. Plus, if the back shoulder width is adequate, the pulling on the front armhole is minimized.

You can’t fit armholes in a vacuum!

So this week I have been sewing and testing again…to determine WHICH cup size I should use. I tried an E again, and it was crazy wrong! I also tried a D, and it was better, but just looked so matronly…finally I figured out that it was because it was too large! I could take a .5” tuck from shoulder to hem over each bust…like a princess seam! BTW, I have used the same bust measurement and the same bust ease for all these tops. The B cups were a little tight-ish and the D and E cups were a little large. So like Goldilocks, I have decided that the Ccup is ‘just right’! Now if only I could get those sleeves to be ‘just right’…

Speaking of Goldilocks…OMG, I have cut my hair.

And it is bad.

Seeing my hair in the pictures of that green top helped me realize it was time for a trim, but I got carried away. I cut that bangs…it looked a little better! So I cut some more. And then some more. This went on over about a week.

Then I decided I better GO get the back trimmed to match the now-shorter front (don’t want a mullet!).

Well, she cut the back VERY SHORT…stacked it….and left the sides longer like I had them…creating an inverted sort of look.

Well, the sides looked like lambchops on my face! I *had* to cut the front to match the now-shorter back…so now it is ALL short! (All the images shown on this post have the 'before cut' or 'during cut' hair.)

Yuk.

I am trying to focus on the fact that it will no longer be a HOT MESS.

Maybe.

Checking out other blogs

I was doing some blog reading today and followed this link. When I realized it was a video and not an art quilt, I *almost* hit the back button...but instead, I watched the short video. I am SO glad I did! It is amazing! The sewing...the blowing hair...well, you have to see it to appreciate it.

I also read where Shannon was talking about taking biotin to strengthen her splitting nails. I think I have some of that stuff around here somewhere...I had gotten that tip once before, and apparently forgotten it! I need to pull that out and start taking it again, as I have one nail that insists on splitting vertically as soon as it grows past the nail bed! Thanks for the reminder!

I am always amazed at the 'fashion recall' of Erica B. It seems that she just looks at a pattern and remembers that she has seen the design on the runway (or on the First Lady!). That jacket she made last week is precious!

Being a new quilter, I am always happy to find tutorials, like the ones Carla puts on her blog. She is so generous with her tutorials...I want to try that freeform beading, too!

Speaking of quilting...I AM still working on the Blue River Quilt, but the progress is very slow. I am beading it now...and I am NOT known for my speedy handwork! Ok, I am pretty much derided for my LACK of speed!

Ladybug top

I recently finished sewing another top, but even before finishing it...it suddenly occurred to me what I might need to do (on the next one!) to get my armholes to be 'right'.


For this top, I sewed the pattern just as drafted in PMB, with no editting in PE...well, except for the facings, which don't match the pattern (arrgh!)...UNTIL my alterations during fitting, that is!

Now, on the last top, Peach#2, I had decided that those diagonal pulls in front meant I had to increase the front length. Well, I tried that and it was NOT good. I did NOT need the extra front length. I finally realized that what was causing the diagonal pulls was inadequate waist and hip ease at the sideseams…so I altered to sew the SS a bit smaller to provide some ease there at the waist/hip area. For some reason, I had drafted with 1” less hip ease than usual (trying to control the size of the waist darts, I suspect, as I had also used less waist ease which produces bigger waist darts).









I also tried lengthening the shoulder slope measurements, thinking UP was the only way to go (as mentioned in my last blog post). Well, UP was NOT the way to go! I got linebacker shoulders, with lots of room for pads! Trying to be thorough, though, I did go ahead and set in a sleeve, just to see what happens. It looked awful…that is what happened. The sleeve pushed all this excess fabric downward. So I restored the shoulders to their proper height and tried various alterations to the sleeve pattern to improve the pitch…still, the sleeves were bad. The armhole is not right yet.

In my research, I ran across something that made a light bulb light up over my head, and I *think* I will do better next time…well, not next time, as that one is already underway and nearly finished! But the NEXT 'next time'! :)

Here is a clue: Look at the front armhole depth compared to the back armhole. The back armhole is as high as I can get it…touching skin. But the front is lower…there is room to come up.

Now, you may remember, I have been TRYING to get that front armhole ‘scooped’ to provide adequate ease in the armhole for forward reaching…that was my goal, and I accomplished that by reducing the BUST CUP size I was using to draft with.

To illustrate, I put on this Ladybug top over the Peach#2 top, to show how the F-armholes compare. The Bcup (Ladybug) scoops the front ah a bit lower than the Ccup (Peach#2). And actually, I am now wondering if I might prefer the Ccup!

But when the ‘light bulb’ lit up, things just began to make sense. It seemed like this ‘solution’ would solve ALL my armhole and sleeve issues…and it is such an easy fix! Of course, I can’t tell you what it is until I test it…

Peach Eyelet #2

Here is the second of the two tops I have recently sewn…Peach #2.

Yes, it is the exact same fabric as the first one…same buttons, too! I decided to use up the remaining fabric, and if this was the more comfortable top, I would donate the first one. Yep, that is what will happen, as this one is WAY better! Not perfect, but better.





























The first top used a D-cup to draft…for this one, I used a C-cup (and lengthened the CFL/FSS measurements to compensate for the reduced cup size). This makes the waistline of the red sloper-overlay even MORE scooped upward!



















The garment is still showing some strain over my prominent shoulder blades…especially the left one.

I think I want a tiny bit more width across the back between the arm creases…I KNOW I want the shoulder points (both front and back) to be located a little farther outward next time.

These are easy fixes…increase the shoulder width measurements!


















I thought the first top could use another half to three-quarters of an inch all the way down the pattern…so I manipulated measurements and settings to give me that, while only minimally changing the front pattern.







This makes Peach #2 much more comfortable to wear than #1. I got compliments on #1 when I wore it, even though it felt tight to me. When I wore #2, no one could see the fitting flaws that I mentioned. It is the way these garments FEEL that is key here, not so much how they look. And the comfort level is not quite ‘there’ yet…but it’s getting closer.


When my arms are forward, there is strain across the back, yet there is all this excess fabric in front over the bust. The front armhole cuts into my arm…but as you can see, I can’t really make the front any narrower across the high bust area…THAT is NOT the answer!


I need a longer front armhole, but I cannot ‘scoop’ it inward.


The only way to go is UP!

Ok, maybe I look like I am trying to do ballet...and failing miserably! But no, the point is to show the excess fabric over the bust that accompanies the strain across the back with forward arm movement. The overall bust ease/circumference is ok, but it needs to be forced to stay where it belongs!

I DID put a sleeve in this, temporarily. I wanted to test the armhole with a sleeve, just as I had done on the first top.



Let’s just say, I will NOT be BRINGING SEXY BACK with this one!!!



Look at the star-burst effect of pulls around the bust with the sleeve in (you don’t get that without the sleeve).



Once again, I would consider this sleeve a failure!
But once again, it is the armhole that is at fault.


Look at the side view:



See how the front hem is so much higher than the back hem? And how the back of the sleeve lays against my arm, yet the front hangs free? This sleeve is telling me to change the armholes. I think I hear it saying it wants the front armhole to be longer/taller! This jives with what the front armhole is saying when I put my arms forward…it digs into my arm, saying, “Make me longer!”




As mentioned before, I always have to manually scoop the F-AH to get the right shape. I just haven’t been able to ‘force’ the program to give me a good F-AH.

Of course, I’ve been trying to make the F-AH longer by scooping the lower part…but I am now seeing that the only way to go is UP! To make the F-ah longer, I must add at its upper end…the shoulder end.






There are STILL some drag lines from the bust, indicating inadequate front length. Really? How can that be? This CFL measurement is only .375” shorter than the CBL measurement, and when I reduce the cup size to B (for my next top) I will be increasing the CFL by .375” to compensate, making them EQUAL!!! Nobody uses EQUAL front and back lengths!!! But this shirt is telling me that I must make my CFL even LONGER than the CBL, to eliminate those drag lines! Really?



But think about it…

The front armhole is saying, “Make me longer/taller so I won’t cut in.”

And the sleeve is saying, “Make the F-ah longer/taller so I can hang level.”

And the drag lines are saying, “Make the CFL longer so I can hang level.”


So for the NEXT ONE, I will make the front even longer! For the next one, using a Bcup, the CFL will be longer than the CBL! That is crazy…and I can’t wait to see how it works out!