I had a RTW top that had a neckline that was built-up in back but a cowl in front...I wanted to try to duplicate it. I imagined that starting with the SHAWL collar would give me the back neckline, but I would need to add the drapey cowl part in front. So, in PMK, I started with the CLASSIC top with the SHAWL collar, side dart and my usual shoulder settings (Shoulder Height = 0.75; Shoulder Point = 0.5).
First, I rotated the bust dart to the center front. Then I rotated the armhole, shoulder and neck area again, CCW, using the underarm point as the pivot point to open a 7" gap in the center front. I redrew the collar area to add a facing and printed the pattern that you see below.
I layed out and cut the patterns from the remaining chunk of fabric.
Even after this, I still had a long strip of fabric leftover.
As is usually the case with shawl collars, I sewed a center back seam in the collar extension. I used the sewing machine (not the serger) so I could press it open to reduce bulk.
Just for good measure, I added clear elastic to the back shoulders and back neckline...I didn't want this growing and hanging off me!
Then I pinned the front shoulders to the back shoulders and the collar extension to the back neckline.
Here is what it looked like from the backside once pinned but still not sewn:
Ater sewing the shoulder and collar seams, I basted the sideseams and put this on for a look-see. Ugh!
I was not happy. There was way too much drapiness. There were even drapes over the abdomen!
Plus, the neck drapery created a little 'bowl' at the bustline. Not good.
It is about this time that I realize I forgot to SCALE the pattern VERTICALLY! I had set my stretch factor within the program, but it only scales the pattern HORIZONTALLY...and slinky stretches along its length, too, so the pattern needed to be reduced in that dimension as well.
So back to the computer to reduce the pattern. I decided to scale the pattern to reduce it by 7.5% vertically...I cannot remember HOW I came up with that amount! ...but it seemed reasonable. Perhaps I measured to see how much longer this top was hanging that it was supposed to be hanging...I didn't write that down, so I don't remember!
But I also made other changes so the new pattern would fit on the already-cut piece of fabric. I went back a few steps, and instead of rotating to open a 7" gap in the front, I only opened a 5" gap, hoping to reduce some of the drapery over the belly area. Then I rotated that back collar area by 0.5" so it would still fit on the originally cut piece.
I didn't bother with the sleeve just yet.
When printing the new pattern, I superimposed it onto the old one first. Then I printed out only the areas I needed and taped this to the old pattern.
Normally I would lay the old pattern on top of the fabric pieces, getting everything aligned as it was initially...THEN, I would cut on the new lines, cutting right through the paper and the fabric. But on slinky, that shreds the paper and causes the slinky to crawl...so I had to position the fabric just right, then remove the pattern to trim it down to the new size/shape, then put the pattern back onto the fabric and cut around the new edges of the pattern to trim the fabric.
Double ugh! Because the back had to be scaled down, too, I had to rip and replace the clear elastic! Ugh ugh!
So now I sewed this new scaled version together and tried it on again.
Are you kidding me? It STILL had that 'bowl' at the bustline! And I had reduced the amount of 'drapery' I added by 2"!!!
It had lots of drapery at the neck and, still, drapery at the belly.
But this 'bowl' thing...this was just unacceptable! The overall neckline was not as low as I had desired...all this fabric was bunched up together (NOT what I was after!).
Plus, I had used the FLARED hemline sweep (1) to provide a bit of ease around the hem this time.
And, as you can see, I also have little 'hip wings' on the sides!
I could have carried my lunch in that bowl!
By now I am wondering...is this bowl happening because I need more bust ease?
So I go back to the pattern again...only this time, I start with an additional INCH of bust ease (2" now).
And now I am thinking that rotating the armhole, shoulder and neck area is just adding too much drapery.
So for this one, for my 3rd iteration, I DON'T rotate using the underarm as the pivot point. Instead, I rotate just the front shoulder and neck areas (pivot point = shoulder point) CCW by 3". This adds NO WIDTH to the area between the front armholes...it only adds height to the pattern.
But now the new pattern WON'T fit on the already-cut fabric piece! Rats! This means I must abandon the detail of the built-up back neck.
So I redraw the neck/cowl area so that it will fit on my fabric and nervously recut the fabric again. This new one is drastically narrower across the top than both previous versions!
And it was bad. So bad that I started ripping it apart almost immediately, before it even occurred to me to photograph it! Sigh. So there are no pictures of the 3rd iteration...but let me assure you, it was bad.
And now the front piece was too small...
Although #3 was made more similarly to the way the PMK 'draped neck' is made, I forgot a critical aspect of that design: they DO add a wedge of fabric to the center front (remember how I pivoted my whole pattern off center to add 2" at the neck level? Like that...). And I didn't do that. Duh.
But I still had a long narrow remnant of this fabric left. If I was careful, I could maybe cut one more front pattern from this (I think). I'd have to reuse the existing back, though...which is why I ripped yet again.
This time, I started out using the DRAPED NECK pattern (having abandoned the idea of the built-up neck in back...another day!). And again this time, I used 2" of bust ease, the FLARED Hemline (1), and the side bust dart (along with my usual shoulder settings of: Shoulder Height = 0.75; Shoulder Point = 0.5).
Then, in PE, I selected the F-armhole shoulder and neck, and ROTATED the bust dart closed...which opened a little gap at the top of the CF line. I redrew the neck area, scaled the pattern 7.5% and printed a WHOLE pattern (both sides)...this was because I was really having to work to get this pattern on this odd-shaped remnant; I needed both sides so there would be no guessing!
I sewed it up and tried it on.
Can you believe it? Are you having a deja vu moment here? I certainly was!
There was the excess drapery, including the 'boob bowl'! And this time, I had used MORE bust ease!
Yep, that extra bust ease was right there, on each side under the arms. It didn't help eliminate the bust bowl at all.
So now I am thinking... Am I causing this bowl-effect by rotating the bust dart? Hmmmm.....
So back to the drawing board yet again!
I eliminated the extra inch of bust ease, going back to 1".
Then, in PE, I selected everything above the bust dart and just SLID IT DOWN to close the dart...effectively shortening the whole front pattern. Duh. Why didn't I think of this before?
Then I scaled that pattern 7.5% to print. At the far right of this sequence, you can see how the new pattern (purple) compares with the previous one (blue). For those who are counting, the blue is iteration #4 and the purple is #5. sigh.
Once again, I superimposed the new pattern onto the old before printing, so I wouldn't have to print the whole thing anew.
I overlayed it onto the now-ripped apart front pieces and cut out the new shape. You can see the paper that is cut away but laying in place.
--and here you can see the fabric that is cut away and laying in place.
--and here you can see how this newly cut pattern compares to the iteration before it...#4 is the paper and #5 is the fabric. There is nothing left if this one doesn't work!
Well, the boob bowl is still there, but there is less drapery than before...this will have to do.
I can live with the neckline, but the hem is crazy wild...the hip-wings will need to be eliminated! I sewed them out.
So I turn my attention to the sleeve.
I scaled the new sleeve pattern by 7.5% (just as I had done the front and back bodice patterns) and recut that original sleeve using the new pattern. Then I sewed it into the armhole.
It had more 'drapery' than the neckline! YUK! twisty twisty...
I ripped and rotated, pinched and pulled. But I'll give you the shortened version of the sleeve saga...
To eliminate the twisty folds, I needed to pinch out length at the front cap area, but the sleeve needed length at the back cap area...see?
(Before we leave this picture, though, look at the shoulder seam placement. Looks wonky, eh? too far forward at the shoulder point. More later.)
I was NOT going to be able to recut this to make this sleeve work. But fortunately, I still had that front that didn't work, plus a decent-sized scrap, so I could cut 2 new sleeves!
The new pattern in green versus the previous one (purple)...When aligned at the shoulder point, the new pattern is larger in the front cap area...the underarm point is farther from center.
When aligned at the front underarm point, you can see that the cap mound of the new sleeve (green) is farther back...adding fabric where I needed it and eliminating if where I don't.
Turns out that the SHOULDER POINT SETTINGS that I have been using are causing my sleeve woes!
It was obvious in the picture above that the shoulder seam was in the wrong place, although without having the sleeve sewn in, the garment can shift around. But that seam has an extreme angle to it. Yes, my shoulders DO tip forward and this reflects that, but the sleeve draft fits me better when the shoulder point is located more posteriorly.
I sprayed the top with water to try to set the neck folds. but even on this hanger, you can see that the shoulder seams are just too far forward at the arm end. Duh. How have I never noticed that before?
To create this sleeve pattern, I moved the shoulder point backwards 0.5", then aligned the sleeve notch with a place that is 0.5" behind that seam. But I have decided that the shoulder seam could be moved back a little bit more than 0.5"...at least another 1/8" and maybe another 1/4"!
Next time.
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