Aqua Fitted Princess and Kimono

Back in April, right after the wedding, I worked a bit on fitting a knit top.  Although it wasn't perfect, the improved fit of the MOG dress had me raring to go, anxious to see if I could improve the fit of the knit garments too.

Ok, that was PART of the inspiration, but there was more.  I had fabric that was tempting me.

Last Fall, when shopping for the MOG dress, I stumbled onto some fabric at THE FABRIC SOURCE in Jackson, TN.  It was a floral printed stretch tulle.  Precut into approximately 2yd lengths, I bought 2 of them, for $5 each.  They provided instructions for a no-sew swimsuit coverup...you just cut it into a big oval and cut out armholes. 

Well, also on that same trip, we stopped and did a bit of shopping at FELICIA BELLA BOUTIQUE, also in Jackson.  I had tried on a long-sleeved pullover made of...you guessed it!...printed stretch tulle!  I didn't buy it because it was nearly $60!  But I studied it as closely as I could in this not-so-private dressing room.  I even did a bit of measuring!  It seemed to be almost a long tube with two holes in the middle...one for the body and one for the head. 

Inspired by the memory of that top, and wanting to use this fabric to get it out of my way,, I decided to start cutting.  I layed out the fabric on my table and cut what I hoped would be similar to the shape I had tried on (months ago!). 

Well, it wasn't good.  So I went to the computer and opened my PMB software!  I drafted a KIMONO pullover, then compared the patterns on screen.

As you can see, there wasn't much difference between the front and back patterns. 
Here, the front is RED.

 I decided that I would just use the BACK PATTERN...but I still didn't want to have to print it, because, after all, this was simple, right?

So I measured it!  Then I could print this diagram on one piece of paper, take it to the fabric and measure and cut.  It seemed like a good plan.

There was ONE PLACE I was having a hard time just winging it...and that was the sideseam/underarm area.  So I printed ONLY that area and placed it where the measurements dictated:

Above is the sideseam...the right edge of this paper is the cutting line.
Once I began actually plotting out my cuts, I made another change.  I LOWERED the angle of the arm by 3 inches....shown below by the dark blue line.

But after sewing this (yet again), I still wasn't happy with the way the sleeves draped.  I knew this was gonna be loose and drapey, but I didn't want it twisting!  And yes, the sleeves seemed kinda twisty.  So I ripped and reshaped the FRONT sleeve to lower the over-sleeve seam by 2" at wrist AND, I shorted that seam by 2" also.  This allowed me to ease the back seam to the front, creating fullness in back and eliminating the twisting.  Good enough! 

**

I hemmed the neck and lower edge, as well as the sleeves, with the coverstitch machine, turning a small hem to the backside.

Now it was time to make something to wear UNDER this!  I drafted a fairly closely fitted Princess seamed tank and cut it from some cotton interlock.  Oh dear.

Remember?  Back in the post about the ZERO EASE TORSO BLOCK, I discussed the armhole shape and how I was lowering the notch on the BACK armhole so it would coincide with my body's ah measurement...but I was NOT doing it on the front armhole because it just looked 'too scooped'.  Well, after sewing the MOG dress and realizing that the armholes were still not perfect, I decided to give it a try.  I used the AH SHAPE TOOL to lower the front notch until the distance from shoulder to notch matched the distance on my body from shoulder to the V-crease where arm meets body...look back at the HELPING MEASUREMENTS if you need further explanation.

Here is the pattern I came up with.

You can (hopefully) see how very 'J' shaped that front armhole is!  Pattern on the left, FYI.

As I said--Oh dear.

Or, rather--

OH.MAH.GAH. BECKY, Look at that armhole!

The front armhole was WAY too scooped...making this top potentially a wadder. 

The shoulder angle seemed ok, though.
Overall, it wasn't totally unfortunate.

I was SHOCKED by the back:  I think this is the first time ever that the back neck has actually come up to the bone where the back neck is supposed to come to!  I put in a pin to show where I will lower the neck to.

I liked this style and this fabric, though, knew I had to find a way to salvage this top.

 

Somehow I got it into my mind that I should NOT have used the E cup to draft with after all...and that I needed to shorten the whole upper front, which I could do by ripping the shoulders and cutting off the front shoulder before resewing them....so I did.***

***later evaluation of the fit proved the front was now a tiny bit too short...that front length was needed and should NOT have been whacked off!  It was those goofy armholes making me crazy.  

Anyway, I decided that I could create some facing-like pieces...like a yoke, perhaps...that could be sewn on to fill in the missing area of the F-armhole.  So I went back to the computer/drafter.

Since I had felt the need to shorten the upper front, the obvious conclusion (to me, that day) was that I had used a bust cup size that was too large (E) and should reduce it.  So I did.

***another spoiler alert!  Bad idea...but I got away with it on this top, this time.

Here you can see the NEW FRONT PATTERN (in RED) superimposed on the old pattern.  The new front is shorter at the shoulder.  The new pattern has a smaller bust dart (so the angle of the upper front is different) and the new armhole is both higher and less scooped (The back armhole is higher on the new pattern, too, but I didn't show that).

I aligned the sides to the center pieces and created 'yokes' that could be cut from the remnants I had left.

 But I needed to know WHERE to trim off the existing garment so I could sew on those yokes!  So I created and printed little 'yokes'  from the original pattern, too, and used them like templates to show me where to cut.  The upper pieces in this image are the 'cutting patterns' and the lower pieces are the new yokes to be sewn on.  you can see that, on the FRONT pattern, there will not be much cut off in the 'scooped' area!   But there WILL be quite a bit added back on, via the yoke, in that area.



And it worked!  It actually looked pretty good...like a design element!  I had top-stitched the seams with the cover-stitch machine, so I top-stitched the new yoke seams, too.

Here is what it looked like right after sewing:

Front--

 And back--

As you can see, there is some fullness (rippling) in the back armhole that I didn't notice at the time.  I used clear elastic to stabilize the neck and armhole edges when hemming.  But it wasn't until earlier LAST WEEK that I realized WHY this might be happening. 

I was discussing a program issue with Tech Support Karen...the Dart Override tool isn't working with my numbers...and she asked my why I was enlarging the armhole by raising the shoulder with the SHOULDER HEIGHT TOOL but then trying to shorten the Front Armhole with the Dart Override.

Well, the SHOULDER HEIGHT TOOL affects both front and back patterns, but the DART OVERRIDE tool only affects the FRONT armhole (or at least, that is how it is supposed to work) by putting some of the bust dart into the armhole OR by stealing some of the front armhole to enlarge the bust dart (this is what I was trying to do).

So, even though they do two different things, it did get me thinking about the shoulder height setting and 'what if'...

Up to this point, I have been operating on the assumption that the pattern's shoulder angle was correct for me (and my square shoulders) when I raised that setting 0.5". 

But further reflection has me thinking that:

• a) lowering the shoulder tip by 0.5" might eliminate that back ah rippling, and
• b) I should have just lowered the F-shoulder tip in front instead of whacking off the whole front shoulder!  This was kind of a light-bulb moment.

So, for the NEXT ONE......I will NOT raise the shoulder height.  We will see how that does!
And I will go back to the E cup, which is what I should be using.  But I will NOT scoop those front armholes to force the measurements to match my body's measurements!  obviously, the front notch is NOT supposed to be an anatomical location!

Wedding Dress Post-Mortem

Well, the wedding is over!  Now it is time to look at the game films and determine what can be improved for next time!    :-)

 

First, let me say, this dress performed brilliantly!  It made a great impression, was comfortable to wear, and allowed freedom of motion.  Plus, it looked cool when I twirled!

But the fit wasn't perfect.  I knew as soon as I put the sleeves in that I had made the shoulders too wide.  Rats!

I didn't put sleeves into the trial muslin...and in the back of my mind, I could hear that little voice telling me to do so.  But I was in a rush (as always) to get this done.  So I confidently skipped that step.  After all, these are tiny little cap sleeves.  I knew that *if* they weren't 'right' they would still be 'good enough'...as in, they wouldn't restrict arm movement because they were so short...so I proceeded with abandon! 

Well, not quite 'abandon'...I did have to rip out the first sleeve I set in, as I mentioned in my last post.

As soon as I got these sleeves in and tried the dress on, I could feel them.  Not painful...just an awareness.  I could feel the tightness of the sleeve's hem...it needed to be a wider sleeve.  The armhole was VERY close to my body!

If you look at the BACK armhole and sleeve, you can kinda see a fold of excess fabric at the ah seam.

And if you look at the FRONT armhole, you can imagine that that ah seam is right up next to my arm in front...no room for moving the arm forward.

Don't get me wrong...I COULD move my arm forward (and did...I danced all night!)...but I could feel the armhole at first.  After a while, I noticed nothing...it was comfortable.  But it wasn't 'right'.

I know from these pictures it would appear that I carried a glass of wine the entire time, but, truely, that was NOT the case!

I put it down every now and then...

While it looks like I am scolding someone, in reality I was not.  I was challenging my SIL to dance!  ...silly...

But see how the back of the sleeve has that fold?  If that armhole seam was just a little farther up on the body, the sleeve would have been wider (so, the hem wider = less constricting) and the fold would disappear (I think).

I used a Back Shoulder Width of 17"...my body actually measures 16.75" between the arm creases WHEN MY HANDS ARE CLASPED IN FRONT...see Helping Measurements if you don't remember.

But if I measure across the TOP of the shoulders, it is not that wide.  I have always struggled with getting the shoulder widths (and thus, the armholes) 'just right'.

I DID use the ARMHOLE SHAPE TOOL to lower the placement of the notch on the back armhole so that the segment ABOVE the notch matched my body's armhole measurement...that is, from my Shoulder Point to the top of the crease where arm meets body.  My body measures 5"...so I lower the ah notch until that upper segment also measures 5". This way, the armhole begins to curve where it should for MY body. That was explained in the last post.

As I said, I DID not lower the FRONT ah notch to force the upper segment of the front ah to match my body's measurements...I felt like that made the armhole much too scooped.  I am now rethinking that choice. 

Next time, I WILL lower the front armhole notch until the upper segment is 4.25"...just like my body.  I think this matters!

As you can see here, there are lots of wrinkles intoduced when the arms are extended. The bodice is forced to move up off the arms and onto the body...so the arm can move.

Of course, no one but ME noticed these things...everyone kept telling me how good it looked and how perfectly it fit.  I just kept my mouth shut and DID NOT point out every little flaw!
(Can you believe that, Marilyn?)    :-)

Guess what?  Those dreaded diagonal wrinkles that I ALWAYS have in back are there again!  Sigh!  I must reduce that Back Shoulder Slope measurement AGAIN!!! 

For next time, in addition to making the shoulders (front and back) more narrow, I will reduce the BSS by .25" *AND* I will also lower the armhole by an additional 0.25".  Hopefully, that will pull those wrinkles up and out.

I know this is a dark picture...I take what I am given! 
I am just thankful to HAVE some images where I CAN do this post-mortem!

I am dancing in this image, so my body is twisted...but you CAN see the wrinkles a little.  You can also see how the armhole seam is right there ON the back arm crease...although the reason I wanted sleeves in my dress in the first place is to HIDE that back arm crease, which I find is one of my less-attractive body parts!

Ok, now that we have established that the shoulders, front and back, are too wide (and the back shoulder slope too long), there is one more thing to notice:  the neck width.  You might need to scroll back up to that first image to see this.

I used a NECK WIDTH setting of 0.5"...which means this neckline should be .5" away from my neck.  Since I am wearing a necklace, you can see that the dress neckline is WAY farther away from my necklace chain than 0.5"! 

That is a BIG DEAL.

And it explains alot.

The length of the shoulder seam on this dress is 'right' for me. 
The problem is, this shoulder starts too far from center!

PMB version 5 removed the Shoulder Length measurement, which, in earlier versions, could be used (in combination with the Front Shoulder Width measurement) to determine the width of the neck opening on the front pattern. 

In earlier versions, the front neck opening could be a different width than the back neck opening (which was determined by the NECK CIRCUMFERENCE measurement). 

But in V5, front and back neck openings draft equally...and the NECK CIRCUMFERENCE measurement controls this width.

I pulled out an old pattern...actually, it was the pattern for the wrap-top I wore to the rehearsal dinner!

I'll show you: 



This top was made back in 2008...using Version 3.  The neck width used on this one was also 0.5"...but as you can see, it is much closer to MY neck!

Ok, yes, there is wine in this picture also...but REALLY, I don't have a problem!   :-)

But back to the clothing...

This top isn't perfect...the bust darts are too low for one thing!...but like most of the things I make, it is wearable and looks pretty good.  So, when I compared the pattern for this top with the one used to make the wedding dress, I kept that in mind.

Ok, here is the basic torso pattern I used to create the MOG dress...highlighted in RED.   The yellow/greenish pattern is the one used to create the Teal Satin Wrap top (in 2008).

If you look at the NECK WIDTHS, you will see they are pretty much the same.

But look at the difference in SHOULDER WIDTHS on these two patterns! 


....and the TEAL one fits just fine across the back...

Just look!

While I am not 'posing' for the picture, you can see that I have plenty of mobility...there is no stress across the back. 

This Teal Top was drafted with a Back Shoulder Width of 15.5"...not the 17" that I used on the MOG.

There was no back shoulder dart to sew...a tiny bit of ease only.

BUT...at that time, so that I would NOT have a big dart, I manually rotated this pattern's back armhole outward (pivot point = SHOULDER POINT)...to give more ease at the level of the lower armhole area. 

OK, so now...look at the comparison of the FRONT patterns. 

The RED is the block I used to create the MOG dress.

The BLUE is the 2008 Teal Wrap top pattern.

Compare the front neck widths.

With center fronts aligned, the MOG pattern has a wider neck opening than the Teal Wrap pattern....measure straight across from neck point to CF (if it were extended upward).

Now, this front neckline on the Teal top drafted narrower than the back neckline on the Teal top...because I could draft that way using V3.


I used a NECK CIRCUMFERENCE measurement of 14" for the Teal Top...in V3.

For the MOG dress, I used a NECK CIRCUMFERENCE measurement of 13.5"...in V5.

Even with the smaller NECK measurement, the FRONT neck in V5 drafts wider than the neck of the V3 one!

But remember, in my last post, I said I had to WIDEN the back neck so that it would be wider than the front neck?  I can now see that the back neck was the one that was the right width!  It was the FRONT NECK that was too wide...the back wasn't too narrow!

But since I was using that very wide BACK SHOULDER WIDTH measurement (17") and getting a large back shoulder dart, I saw widening the back neck as an opportunity to reduce that dart...it didn't even occur to me that the front neck width was actually the problem!

So, FOR NEXT TIME...I will reduce the NECK MEASUREMENT from 13.5 to 12".
This will draft a neck that matches the FRONT of my old patterns.

I will use a FRONT SHOULDER WIDTH of 15 (instead of the 15.5" used this time).
I will use a BACK SHOULDER WIDTH of 16 (instead of the 17" used this time).
This is a 0.5" reduction in FRONT shoulder width, but a 1" reduction in BACK shoulder width.  This will result in a smaller back shoulder dart.

At right, you can see the original MOG pattern in RED.  The Blue/green patterns are the 'NEXT TIME' choices.

The front neck opening is narrower...but the length of the shoulder seam is the same as before...as if the shoulder was just 'shifted' medially. 

The front armhole is moved inward .25" and allowed to scoop lower (this is the questionable part!).  But the upper ah segment matches my body's 4.25" measurement!

I lowered the overall armhole DEPTH another 0.25"...for an ah depth setting of 0.5".

ON THE BACK, you see that the new back neck (green) is narrower than before.  But, remember? I said it was the back neck width that was actually correct before I widened it!  So, again, I will manually widen it to eliminate some of the back shoulder dart width...I will restore the back neck to the width it was before...on the original MOG! 

So, basically, I am using a smaller-than-real neck circumference measurement to draft the desired width of the FRONT NECK, then I will widen the back neck using some of the shoulder dart.

The back shoulders will be narrower across the top of the pattern.
The lower armhole will move inward 0.25", as well as downward 0.25".
The back shoulder is more sloped on this new one...as if the back armhole was 'shifted' downward on the pattern by 0.25".  I am hoping this is enough to eliminate those diagonal pulls!

Ok, so here is how the NEW (next time) pattern...in RED...compares with the pattern for the TEAL top.  With center fronts aligned, the new neck width is almost the same as on the old one...close enough.

The Front armhole is very different...we'll see how this works out.  Might be wonderful!

Note--The waist is higher on ALL these newer patterns (including the original MOG) than it was on the TEAL top.

On the BACK, the NEW (next time) RED pattern has a narrower neck width...but this is ok, because there is still a back shoulder dart to steal from!  I will manually widen this neck.

The new pattern has a slightly more sloped back shoulder than the TEAL one...this is desireable.

Since the TEAL one's back armhole was manually rotated outward, this new back armhole compares favorably, with no rotation needed.


And on both front and back, you may notice the difference in width at sideseams...
...the TEAL top used a 41.5" bust measurement with 3" of ease. 
...the MOG (and this new version) used a 42" bust with ZERO ease!


Gosh, I was gonna show how I widen the neck, but perhaps that needs to be a separate post! 
Thanks for reading!

Sleeves, take two!

The new sleeve pattern was MUCH better! 

 

I probably could have even lowered the sleeve cap a bit more for some additional mobility, but I think this sleeve is fine since it is so short.

 

I used a CAP HEIGHT of -1 on this SET IN SLEEVE.

 

Which means I could probably have used a CP HT of -1.5, I think.

 

On the PREVIOUS sleeve, I did use a CP HT of -1.5, but it was a different sleeve choice...

That was the CAP SLEEVE.

 

So, the correct cap height choice depends on WHICH sleeve style you make!

 

 

After printing my sleeve pattern, I was STILL a bit concerned about that dramatic upward swoop of the hem.

 

The shape just seemed so...severe.

 

So I added .5" to the overall cap length by redrawing (with pencil on the paper) as indicated by the blue line on this pattern.  That blue line became my cutting line.

 

I used .375" seam allowance on the lower/hem edge...5/8" on the others, simply because that is what I had used on the dress.

I really prefer using smaller...3/8"...seam allowances, but when the outcome is uncertain, best to use larger!

 

 

I once again cut each sleeve from the lace and from the gold mesh.

I aligned the pieces RST and sewed the lower/hem edge.

Then I understitched that edge, pressing the seam allowances toward the gold mesh.

 I folded the mesh to the inside and positioned the pieces WST, pinning carefully along the hem edge to align the layers without letting either side shift backwards or forward at that hem seam. 

Then I pressed well.

 

After basting the cap edges together, these sleeves were inserted into the dress without major incidents!

 

Lastly, I serged the armhole seam, cutting off most of the seam allowance, as it would be pressed out toward the sleeve and I didn't want a big seam allowance showing through the lace. 

1/4 inch was fine.

 

Yes, it would probably have been nice to bind that seam in lining fabric...I didn't.

 

 

Now it was time for a closure at the back neck edge.

I had already tried a small hook and eye on the inside, but it kept coming loose during try-ons...no way was it going to hold during dancing!

 

I needed a button.

 

Looking through my stash, hoping to find a set of buttons to cover with the dress fabric didn't produce any buttons small enough.

 

So I started looking for 'regular' buttons, holding little hope of finding any the right color but making the effort anyway. 

 

 

 But what do you know!?  In my grandmother's button stash, there was a little plastic ziplock bag containing 6 small purple buttons!

 

 

These buttons were just right! 

Not too big.

Not too small.

Not too  shiny.

Just right!

 

 

So I sewed one of these buttons onto the left neck edge of my dress, then made a thread loop on the right side.

 

 

The dress closes nicely now!

I haven't tried dancing yet, but if it will hold tight long enough for me to put the dress on and get the hem marked, then I think I will trust it for the night!

 

Oh, and have you  noticed the color of these images? 

All different.

This purple shows up as blue much of the time.

No telling HOW this dress will show up in the official photos!

Sigh.

PMK, darts vs no darts

Before, I mentioned that I generally choose the DARTED silhouette instead of using the NO DART choice, even when I plan to sew no darts. Here, I hope to show you why.

Below, I have superimposed two patterns...each using the identical measurements and settings EXCEPT, the RED one chose a SIDE DART and the blue/green one used NO DART.

With both pattern sets aligned at the shoulders, you can see that the front pattern is almost the same, with or without the dart.

But look at the back patterns. The no-dart pattern (in green) has a shorter back armhole depth than the darted one (in red).

But that isn't all...look at the overall length of the back patterns.

When I align the pattern sets, matching at the waist and hem, you can easily see that the back pattern of the NO DART set (green) is actually LONGER than the one that uses a dart (red), even though BOTH pattern sets were made using identical measurements!
PMK shortens the back length when a 'dart' is chosen.

I have adjusted my BACK length measurement to be longer than 'real' so that when it is shortened to use with the darted pattern, it will still be adequate.

Of course, this was NOT discovered before I sewed that last 'dud' I mentioned before...

I had assumed the overall back length of my newly-sewn top would be just the same length as the back of the previously sewn knit tops if I used the same measurement!

But no, that isn't the case when darts are chosen for one pattern but not the other.

But as I said, this is a recent discovery... sigh.

But to me, the real issue with the no-dart choice *is* the change to the upper back...that raised back armhole level. The upper back is now shorter from the underarm level up to neck.

My no-dart garments will pull to the back, trying to borrow fabric from the front. This happens because the back armhole height is too short...the distance from underarm level to the back neck on the pattern was reduced.

Also look at the sleeve. The shortened back armhole creates a sleeve with a smaller back half. This contributes to the "pulling-to-the-back" and a general feeling of tightness. When the back armhole is smaller, the back of the sleeve is smaller...there is less fabric there.

Also, this narrower sleeve's cap height would need to be made shorter to maintain the same bicep measurement across the sleeve as on the darted one...and that lowered cap height can introduce pulls that might not be there if the darted bodice were chosen. In the example above, I did NOT change the cap height on the sleeve...and you can see that the two sleeves are NOT the same width.

But here, below, you can see what happens when I change the cap height on the DARTLESS top...reducing the cap height by 0.25" so that the bicep width on the sleeve is nearly the same as before. The patterns are aligned at the front underarm point (because the front armhole on both patterns is nearly the same, I choose that as my point of alignment for comparison).

Anyway, THAT is why I choose to use the DARTED silhouette, even when I plan to sew NO darts! YMMV.

A Tale of Three Tee Shirts

It seems like every year when the weather begins to turn warmish, I start making knit tops. Generally, I use PMB, even though it is not designed for knit fabrics nor for dartless styles. But ever hopeful, I try again and again to modify the measurements and settings within the program, trying to produce the perfect knit top pattern.

Fast Forward: Earlier this Spring, Wild Ginger came out with a new pattern drafting program for knit fabrics, Pattern Master Knits. Well, duh…of course I had to get it!

I read the WG forum for a few weeks before I actually started using the knit program and learned which setting choices were being used by those who were having success with the new program. Eager for success, I drafted and printed a pattern.




For my first test top, I used some purple cotton interlock from my stash. I cut it out and quickly sewed the shoulders and sideseams, then tried it on. The shoulder angle seemed fine; the shoulder placement seemed fine; but I had the shoulders too wide and the CBL too long, AND, I felt like the sleeve cap was WAY too low...the sleeves were 'winging' out! (I had used +.75 for the cap height).



So I drafted a new pattern and recut the garment and tried again... reducing the shoulder width by .5” and the center back length by 0.5”; plus, I increased the cap height to 1.25”. Well, it was better…but then I thought that the underarm must be too high…the bodice was folding over, forming a pleat under my arms! Because the armhole was out on my arm...the bodice was encroaching on the sleeve's territory...I decided that I needed to reshape the F-ah by clicking downward about 10 clicks to scoop the lower front ah. So I made those changes within the drafter and reprinted and recut my top again. I continued to use the original fabric.

After sewing this new pattern, I began to think I should restore the wider shoulder I had originally started with!

Plus, in order to get enough front-length, I had to increase the CBL again…after reducing it before!...then move the shoulder-seam BACKWARDS (using the shoulder and neck-point settings) to put all the extra length into the front. There had been several updates to the program in the days/weeks between when I started on this top and when each iteration was done, and this made it hard to determine WHICH settings to use after each update! I was hopeful that, once Lisa (the programmer) got the bust-cup problem worked out, I would be able to get more front length without first adding to the back length (and eventually that WAS the case).

For all these patterns, I had used the NO DART option.

During the course of these trials, I also decided that the original shoulder angle was actually NOT fine as it drafted; even for a knit, the shoulder angle was way too steep for me. This seemed to be a common problem among the users, so in a subsequent update, Lisa added a shoulder height setting to allow the user to raise the shoulder tip on the front and back patterns. It's a good thing!

She also added a setting to allow forward-backward movement of the shoulder tip, to change the angle of the shoulder seam without moving the neck end. Another good thing!

Oh! The sleeves... As I said, I had read MANY posts on the forum to see what settings were working for the various people, and I read a post from tech support that said she was using a 2" cap height because she likes a higher cap. Well, the PM-KNITS program DOES draft with a really LOW cap height to start with, so I had also increased my cap height after that first iteration (where I had used +.75"...which, even at that, was 'raised' over the default cap height of 'zero'). I was using 2" cap height on my sleeves. Note: this is a clue to the eventual solution! :)

I was also aware that the back of the sleeve seemed to lay on my arm (a problem I have had before). I wondered if scooping the back armhole lower might be the key to getting a fuller back-half on the sleeve...?

By now, I was running out of this purple fabric...I only had enough scraps left to try ONE more set of short sleeves, still using the same bodice pieces which were getting shorter and shorter as I pulled them up at the shoulder to recut each time.

So, I decided to pull out a new fabric and try starting over! Based on my evaluation of the previous iteration of the purple top, I made various changes to my numbers and settings and set about drafting the new pattern for use with a pink floral fabric (which, BTW, I HAVE used before!).

On the purple top, the armhole seam was farther out on the arm than it should be, and the top felt kinda tight-ish across the high bust area. So, for this new pattern, in an attempt to reposition the armhole seam to get it OFF my arm, I had scooped the front armhole inward/ downward (using the armhole shape tool) and this made the length of the front armhole seam longer. When I added the sleeve, it was obviously wrong. The hem of this short sleeve was NOT level when viewed from the side. And like the others, arm movement pulled at the bodice.

Sigh.

Rotating and pinching and repinning and evaluating that sleeve, I could see that if I trimmed off 0.75" at the front of the sleeve, it would be more level.

But then I'd have to EASE the lower front armhole to the sleeve to control the size of that large front armhole.

I decide to look into using the DARTED style, instead of the no-dart one I had been using.

Here is the deal:
I had decided I needed more height in the front bodice, above armhole level, to eliminate that ‘armhole encroachment’ on the arm. So I ended up lengthening my CBL, (which lengthens both front and back, just as cup-size change does)...but then I used the tools to move the shoulder seam BACKWARDS. This put all the extra length into the front armhole.

But who wants a giant front armhole? Not me.
But I needed the height in the front pattern. Hmmm.

My solution for the giant armhole was to (manually) remove 0.75" off the front sleeve and then ease the front armhole to the lower front sleeve. It seemed to be the solution to the larger cup-size/big armhole issue, and it worked ok.

But that got me to thinking…If the sleeve I need should be .75" smaller in front, then the front armhole should also be .75" smaller…which just happens to be exactly what happens when I choose the DARTED version instead of the no-dart one!

So, rather than ease that extra fabric in the 'no-dart' style's front armhole to a modified sleeve, I decided that it would be better to use the DARTED STYLE and ease the fabric from the bust dart into the sideseam!

So I went back to the drawing board...drafting another new pattern.

I had been using the C-cup in my no-dart tops. For the darted top, I decided to use the D-cup draft, which produced a smaller front armhole than the C cup draft (bigger dart but smaller armhole).

*(Remember, this was early in the program's release, and the drafting bugs were still being worked out..however, 'we' the users, never know what will change in the future and what will stay as-is within the program, so I always assume that this is the way it will work and go from there. But since then, the cup/armhole issues HAVE been addressed/ changed since these patterns were drafted.)*

Ok, so I drafted with a D-cup and used the side bust dart. Better, but not perfect. There was still this weirdness at the front armhole. It didn't feel quite as tight across the high bust as the purple one did, but it still pulled with arm movement. For this one, I used a cap height of 1.25" and a D cup/darted. I also used the wider shoulders again...16.25" BSW.

To change from the no-darted bodice to the darted bodice required me to align the new pattern at the front armhole of the originally-cut bodice, since it was lower. This meant the top would end up shorter than originally cut out. This happened many times when I made changes...the overall length was variable according to what was originally cut out.

Determined to get these armholes and sleeves worked out, I decided to do some comparing…to see what numbers I would have to change to duplicate the fit of my last PMK top (the pink floral) but with a reduced dart size. I wanted the armholes to remain the same height as on that one, but I was willing to lose a little front length in order to make the bust dart smaller, as the gathers at sideseam seemed too apparent to me.

WELL, LO AND BEHOLD…after that April update was installed, all I had to do was change the bust-cup letter to get the desired changes! Apparently, going from C- to D-cup will no longer increase the back length! Yay!!! Only the front length was affected!!! This was gonna make drafting so much easier!

After the April meeting of the Memphis Sewing Guild, I came home motivated to sew! I removed the less-than-perfect sleeves from my very first PMK test top (purple cotton interlock) and recut the shoulders and armholes a little, cut new sleeves, and re-sewed. Better, but still, there was this 'pulling' at the front armhole. I have tried a higher ah, a lower ah, scooping and not scooping! Yet still, the bodice wants to encroach on the arm's territory, there in front where I move my arm. Rats!

I decided to do another top...not just new sleeves, but starting over! I created a pattern that 'scoops' the front armhole LOWER, not inward...then I cut and sewed that one from some periwinkle cotton interlock.

Again, the f-ah bugged me.

FINALLY, it hit me...perhaps the cap height of these sleeves is the problem!!!(?)

Because I had read on the forum that WG's tech support person was raising her cap height up to 2", I had been raising the cap height of all my sleeves to 1.5"...this made my sleeve's bicep line 'level' when viewed from the front (no 'winging' out), so I assumed that cap height was 'correct' for me.

But then I got to thinking...
Perhaps that bicep line NEEDS to be unlevel in a pattern where some of the bust dart is in the front armhole? Perhaps this armhole NEEDS a sleeve with a lowered cap height? Perhaps these sleeves were just too narrow across the sleeve cap, and THAT is why the bodice is out on the arm...it is being pulled there!

So, I cut and inserted some new sleeves into the periwinkle top, using a cap height of 'zero'.
Yuk...they looked awful and had lots of folds of excess fabric!

But the 'pulling' at the front armhole was gone!!! Yay!!!
So I removed those sleeves and cut/inserted more new sleeves, this time with a cap height of .75". Better!

These new sleeves still had some excess folds, but I had chosen the STRAIGHT underarm seam. If I use the tapered seam to make the hem more narrow, it did help control the excess and made the sleeve look better...but I knew I was going to make these short sleeves even shorter, manually curving the hem upwards in the middle...kinda cap-like. Doing that removed any traces of the excess folds! Hooray!

At this point I was thinking that some of that scooping that I did to the front armhole might NOT have been necessary! Sigh. But that couldn't be undone.

I made the shoulder width narrower than my usual for these...15.5". Even though it started out wider (16.25" ), all the various alterations I did to that first (purple) one caused it to get narrower across the shoulders (due to cutting off the top of the shoulder to lower it)...so I had to go with what I had when drafting new sleeves to fit that armhole.

Because I had run out of the purple fabric, I couldn't make a new set of sleeves with the proper (lower) cap height for that top. I was hoping I could perhaps cut up some of the rejected sleeves to create a set of petal sleeves, but alas...there just wasn't enough fabric there to be used. But I decided to go ahead and finish up this top and wear it, despite the fact that the armholes and sleeves aren't just what I'd like them to be. Knits are very forgiving!

I pulled some polka-dotted rayon challis from my stash and cut a bias strip to trim the neckline. I did a twisted binding on the scooped neck...I quite like it! My first time to try this.

Because the top had gotten shorter and shorter with each iteration, I sewed a band with ties to the lower edge instead of hemming it. I used the coverstitch machine to hem the sleeves.

Even though I wasn't thrilled with the pink floral, I decided to finish it and wear it, rather than take it apart and try to make improvements...I could improve on the next one! I cover-stitched the sleeves and hem, as well as the turned-under neck edge.

The periwinkle top was finished with a band of self-fabric at the neck, with cover-stitching at the sleeve and hem. But it looked so plain...so sporty. And it had gotten kinda short, too. There was nothing I could do about the short length, but to combat the plain-jane sporty look, I added folded flowers made from ovals of the cotton interlock along with some same-colored beads (both round and cubes). I like it a lot better now!

What did I learn?

• Well, although the front armhole does need some reshaping, I did way too much. I can see (now) that lowering the sleeve cap height to +0.75" adds about the same amount of fabric to the front of my sleeve as I was scooping off the bodice at f-ah...and having that extra fabric on the sleeve would prevent the sleeve from pulling the bodice up there!
  


• Also, when I overlay my F and B shoulder seams as if they were sewn (so that you can see the whole armhole shape), the armholes form a 'V' at the shoulder. I need to manually extend the shoulder seam to smooth the armhole curve. [I explored increasing the shoulder width measurement (which would extend the length of the shoulder seam) and reshaping the armhole with the tools, but I can see that I am better off leaving the BSW at 15.5" and manually redrawing the shoulder to add .375" at the tip (front and back), because the ah shape is just not right otherwise. This is easy to do, if I can only remember to do it! And actually, 15.5 is what my BSW *actually* measures if I measure as directed in the guide...straight across at the top of the back shoulder. That doesn't account for my shoulder blades, but it is a 'real' measurement!]
  


• Over and over, I have increased the cap height to correct the hang of my sleeves, both in PMB and in PMK. But if I just extend the shoulder tip (manually) to eliminate that little V that forms, the sleeve won't have to reach up so far and I won't need a taller cap! If only I could go back to the very first iteration, where I actually started with a cap height of 0.75"!!! Sigh. Although, that one had other issues...
  


• I think I like the waist higher than usual on my knit tops, which means using a reduced CBL.
  


• And finally, I have learned that it is really hard to remember what I did when I wait so long to blog about it!

Although these tops were really 'lemons', I made lemonade of them all and do wear them in public!

And if you made it to the end of this very long post, then THANK YOU very much!