Jalie 2794 via PMB, take two!

Here is my second attempt at creating this style using PMB. This one is better, but still not great. Style-wise, I think I have most of the 'moves' down pat...but the basic block I started with is still not perfect.

Remember how, on that last one, the armhole seams hung WAY off my shoulders? Well, even after scaling, they still do. My Front Shoulder Width measurement in my chart is 15.5" I don't know why. Here, I determined that using a FSW of 15" gives me the needed width across my upper chest. I don't remember when or why I increased that, but for the next one, it will be changed back to 15", and I'll reduce the SHOULDER LENGTH measurement by .25", too, to keep the front neck opening as-is.

Speaking of neck openings, what is up with my back neck size? At some point I must have decided to increase my NECK CIRCUMFERENCE measurement to give me a wider neck opening on the back pattern...it is much wider than the front pattern's neck width. They should be fairly close to equal, although the back CAN be wider to reduce the size of the back shoulder dart. I am sure this was my intent, because those back shoulder darts have been the bane of my existence since I began using PMB! I don't want huge back shoulder darts...they don't look right when I sew them, but my upper back is much wider than my upper chest, so they are necessary for controlling the length of the back shoulder seam.




Well, when the back neck is too wide, it allows the front shoulders to 'spread'...making the front neck opening as wide as the back neck opening...which then pushes the armholes out that much farther! So, in addition to a FSW that is a little too wide to start with, the neck is also contributing to this problem. You can bet I will change that for the next one!

For this top, I used the setting called NO BACK SHOULDER DART. It drafts no back shoulder dart (duh) and reduces the width of the upper back so that the back shoulders are the same width as the front shoulders. As you can see, the armholes in back are still WAY out on my arms. In experimenting with numbers (after sewing this) I found that reducing the Neck Circumference Measurement will cause these seams to move inward...next time.





As I mentioned before, I still think I need to increase the size of the bust dart by increasing the cup size I am using. I have gone back and forth with this...but after reading the book mentioned here, I am pretty sure the size and balance of the armholes is critical. I must get those right and use whatever dart size follows.





Here you can see the little fold that forms on the sides of my bust at the bottom of the front armhole. There is no corresponding fold in back...just in front. This leads me to believe that back armhole is too short for the front armhole (or the front armhole is too long for the back).

I also think I could have used less bust ease. I used 2" bust, 3" waist and 3" hip ease...then scaled the pattern 96%. I think once the armhole seams are up on the body where they belong, using a little less bust ease will be needed to pull the side at underarm inward, too.

I feel like this style is making me look VERY large and top-heavy! I am hoping it is just the too-wide shoulders and excess fullness at bust, but it could be that the horizontal gathers between the bust is just not my look.



To create this style, I started with the BLOUSE with the side dart.



I used a SQUARE neck,
Front Neck Depth =5.5", and
I reshaped it using the neck shape tools...
27 clicks up and 21 clicks left.
This gave me a sweetheart shape.


First, I extended the bust dart all the way to the bust point.

I located a point on the sideseam that was 2.5" below underarm level, and drew an arc from that point to corner of neck.

I located a point on the CF seam that was 5" below the neckline, then another point at its midpoint.

I also drew some GUIDELINES:

• a vertical grainline in the shoulder area;
• a horizontal line from BustPoint to CF;
• and another front BP to lower armhole.

Then I removed the yoke area from the front pattern.



On the front pattern, I selected everything above the bust dart (blue) and rotated CCW, using BP as pivot point, to close HALF of the bust dart.

Then I selected only the side area of the upper front (green) and rotated again, using BP as pivot point, to close remainder of bust dart. This put HALF the bust dart into the Center Front and HALF into the seam that would join the yoke...to be eased.
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I redrew the arc just to smooth it out a bit, then I measured and added notches to both the yoke and lower front.

The one thing I wasn't sure what to do with was that tiny vertical dart at the front neck. I planned to gather the upper center front, which would take care of the vertical excess created by the bust dart, but what about the horizontal excess? I didn't want to sew a dart or create a seam there.

Remember, I had located a point on the CF that was 5" below the neck. The bust dart added another inch. so rather than gather this 6" down to the original 5", I decided I would gather it to 4", and that would probably use up the horizontal excess, too.

Well, maybe it did and maybe it didn't.


Anyway, this is how I did it. I'll probably try this one more time, but I am not sure I love the horizontal gathers in the center front. Perhaps FEWER gathers? Perhaps keep them higher (not go all the way to the 5" point but stop at 4, maybe?


Although the waist darts are on the pattern, I didn't sew them.

Here are my drafting choices:

Garment Type: Blouse
Style: Blouse
Closure: No Closure
Front Neckline: Square
Back Neckline: Jewel
Hemline Sweep: Straight
Hemline Shape: Straight
Front Darts: Side
Back Darts: No Darts
Sideseam Shape: Fitted

Front Neckline Depth: 5.5
Back Neckline Depth: 0.75
Neckline Width: 0.25 ***(look how much wider the neck looks...even the added band width has plenyt of room. This is because of that back neck being too wide.)
Neckline Point: 0
Front Neckline Shape Up: 2.7 clicks
Front Neckline Shape Right: -2.1 clicks (I guess a 'negative' right click equals a left click?)

Armhole Depth: -1
Sleeve Style: Set In
Sleeve Underarm Seam: Tapered --(I might try the curved next time, but I was chicken.)
Sleeve Hemline Shape: Straight
Sleeve Length: Wrist
Sleeve Cap Ease: 0.32 ***(notice, hardly ANY cap ease!)
Sleeve Underarm Length: 20
Sleeve Overarm Length: 24.65 ***(yeah, I have gorilla arms.)
Sleeve Hem Circumference: 9.5
Sleeve Elbow Depth: 8
Sleeve Elbow Circum.: 13
Sleeve Cap Height Adj: -0.75*** (This will probably change when I get those armhole seams up ON my body!)