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.

PMK and shoulders

Edited near end for clarity, bold

I bought the knits program from Wild Ginger when it came out, but have not taken enough time to really use it as I'd like.

I told you previously about 3 of the knit tops I made, trying to work out what settings and measurements I should use. While those tops are wearable, they are not representative of the choices I'd make if I had the chance to do them over again!

I have since done yet another knit top that I am also less than thrilled with...it is not as wearable as these others!...but I have learned a lot from this one, too, and think I have finally nailed down MOST of the choices that I need to make.

Before I show you the latest 'dud', I'll show you what I have learned.

I have tried to explain this before on the chat list and forum, but as we all know, a picture makes things SO much easier to understand!

Here is the basic knit top as it drafts with my measurements...almost.

I did lower the armhole depth by .25" on this, and as you can see, I chose the DARTED version (because I am a D cup--More about that later).

You can see that the shoulders are very slanted, both in front and in back. This is critical to notice. When the program first came out, many people were surprised to see those sloped shoulders, but were assured they worked...just try them. Well, after trying them, many were still not satisfied with the fit, so the company added settings to enable adjusting the shoulders as desired. This company does listen to its customers and tries to please.

Here you can see the basic pattern with the front and back superimposed on each other, with neck points aligned.

Notice that the shoulder angles, front and back are the same.

The shoulder WIDTHS, front and back, are the same. The program uses the back shoulder width to draft...there is no measurement for the front shoulder width. So the upper chest area in front is the same width as the upper back area in back...you can see the upper armholes are superimposed. Right away, I know that is a problem, because my body is wider in the back at that level than in the front.

Here you see the same basic pattern with the front superimposed over the back, but this time, it is aligned at the waist and hem. You can see that the front pattern is LONGER than the back pattern, because I am using a D cup in my measurement chart. If I used a C or less, the front would be the same overall length as the back.
Now, I have made some changes to my shoulders using the settings that were added to the program.

• I used a SHOULDER HEIGHT setting of .75...this raises the shoulders up on BOTH patterns by .75".
• I also used a SHOULDER POINT setting of .5...this moves the shoulder point (at arm) forward by .5".

The net result of these settings is that the front shoulder is still pretty slanted, almost like it was with the original draft. But the back shoulder is much more 'square'.

Here you can see the new pattern IN RED superimposed on the original pattern (in green/blue).

At a glance the new pattern doesn't look all that different...nothing remarkable about it.
But look what happens if you flip and superimpose the new front onto the new back.

Immediately, you notice that the shoulder angles are NOT the same, but the back shoulder is higher.

But look at the shoulder WIDTHS. While the actual seam length of the front and back shoulder seams ARE the same, the width of the patterns across the upper chest and upper back are NOT the same! The back pattern is wider...you will see that the back armhole is farther out than the front armhole is...by about 3/8". Now, I don't know about you, but that looks more like how MY body is shaped!

Here you can see those same new front and back patterns (flipped and superimposed) aligned at the waist and hem. Again, you can see that the upper back pattern is wider than the upper chest area, and the front pattern is still longer (at the neck point) than the back pattern (because of the D cup).

The new back shoulder angle looks more like the shoulder slant on my regular (non-knit) pattern. Can't you just see those shoulders sewn together and curving forward on my shoulders which also just happen to curve forward (like the shoulders of many of us!)?
How does this affect the sleeves? Well, the original sleeve is below.
And here is the new, adjusted-shoulder sleeve.
It takes some careful observations to see the differences! But if I superimpose them, it will be easier.

Below, the RED SLEEVE is the NEW, adjusted shoulder sleeve...and the green one is the original. I have aligned them at the front underarm.

Because the front armhole on the NEW pattern is not very different from the front armhole on the OLD pattern, the front of the sleeve is not very different. the new armhole has a slightly more-square shoulder...not much difference, so not much difference in that area of the sleeve.

You can see that the new, RED sleeve is bigger in the back of the sleeve cap. Duh...the back armhole of the new bodice is longer than the back armhole of the original bodice, because the new back shoulder is taller! The RED back cap line is about 3/8" outside the original sleeve, which means it will provide about 3/8" more fabric in the critical 'forward-movement' (driving room!) area. (edits in bold)

I also mentioned that I use the DARTED basic silhouette, rather than the no-dart version. I don't plan to actually SEW this dart...it will be eased in the seam and will disappear...so I consider this my dartless block.

More about WHY I use the darted instead of the no-dart, later...

As happens every summer, I am once again sewing DARTLESS knit tops. I am once again trying to create the perfect dartless pattern, which will create the perfect dartless top. Again.

This one is very similar to a pattern I created a few years ago which pretty closely duplicates a Coldwater Creek short-sleeved knit top.

Basically, the pattern's front shoulder point is dropped severely, as if the side bust dart was scooted upward and removed at the shoulder! Of course, that is NOT what I did. No, I spent hours (days? weeks? years?) figuring out which numbers to change so that the program would create this shape for me!

The RED pattern (below) is the pattern for the above top. The blue/green patterns are my basic block, using similar drafting choices as were used for this one...for example, with the bust dart in the front armhole. You can see how the RED pattern has a very dropped front shoulder, yet the back shoulder remains unchanged. To prevent that front armhole from being WAY too small, I used the DART OVERRIDE tool to put some of the bust dart into the front armhole. As you can see, there is not much change in the sleeve, which means there is not much difference in the armhole lengths between these two patterns.


Below, the same two patterns are aligned at the hem/waist. As you can see, the front pattern is shorter on the RED one than on the basic block...this is because I reduced the CENTER FRONT LENGTH measurement to account for the stretch of the fabric.

I know that the front of my body will stretch the knit fabric more than the back of my body, so I can get more length from a knit fabric than I would get from the same cut-length of a woven fabric. So I can reduce the length of the front pattern to start with.

Also, as mentioned before, to lower that front shoulder point I reduced the FRONT SHOULDER SLOPE MEASUREMENT even more than I reduced the CFL...to increase the angle of the front shoulder. This is to prevent 'sagging' of the knit on the side of my body.

But as you may have noticed, this pattern is NOT dartless. There is a little dart there in the front armhole. Yet, I want a DARTLESS pattern! So the rest of the patternmaking was done in the PATTERN EDITOR.

I simply extended the dart to the CF line then rotated out HALF of the dart width. Then I drew a new CF line to connect neck and hem. The remaining dart will be eased to the sleeve...or ignored! This dart-rotation DOES remove a little width from the front pattern at bust level. And if you look back up at the top two pattern images, you might notice that the RED pattern is narrower at bust level than the basic block to start with! That is because I also reduced the BUST CIRCUMFERENCE measurement by 1.5". As it turns out, that was too much, especially when combined with this alteration which also reduces the width at bust level. But the top is wearable, even if the fabric is not gorgeous.

Speaking of not-gorgeous fabric, I am thinking I will over-dye this, and maybe print/paint on it, too. I mean, really, with my brown hair turning grey, I really don't need to wear a little black and white print that kinda reads as grey! Actually, this is not as bad on me as some shades of brown are these days!

This method DOES create a wearable dartless knit top and, as I said, it is VERY similar to the size, shape and fit of Coldwater Creek's knit top (size L). But it DOES ride backward some (just like the CWC tops) and I would like to eliminate that phenomenon.

I have created and sewn another knit top since this one, and I changed the way I treated the shoulder angles...stay tuned!

FYI, here are the drafing specs:

Style Name: dartless_with_tiny_dart
Date: 6/8/2010
Last Update: April 1, 2010
Chart: Trish 050710_2Drtls_tinydt
Garment Type: Blouse
Style: Blouse
Closure: No Closure
Front Neckline: Scoop
Back Neckline: Jewel
Hemline Sweep: Straight
Hemline Shape: Straight
Front Darts: Armscye
Back Darts: No Darts
Sideseam Shape: Fitted
Front Waist Darts: 0
Back Waist Darts: 0
Front Neckline Depth: 2.5
Back Neckline Depth: 0.75
Neckline Width: 0.625
Neckline Point: 0
Front Neckline Shape Up: 0.4 clicks
Front Neckline Shape Right: -0.4 clicks
Armhole Depth: -0.5
Dart Override: -0.625
Side/Arm Point: -1
Side/Waist Point: 0
Side/Hip Point: 0
Cf/Extension: 0.5
Cb/Extension: 0
Shoulder Pad: 0
Shoulder Point: 0
Finished Cb/Hem Length: 24
Hip Depth: 8
Bust Pt Vertical: 10.25
Bust Pt Horizontal: 5
Upper Front Dart Length: 1
Upper Back Dart Length: 1
Lower Front Dart Length: 4.75
Lower Back Dart Length: 4.75
Back Shoulder Dart Length: 3

Sleeve Style: Set In
Sleeve Underarm Seam: Tapered
Sleeve Hemline Shape: Straight
Sleeve Length: Short
Sleeve Cap Ease: 0.19
Sleeve Underarm Length: 2
Sleeve Overarm Length: 7.182
Sleeve Hem Circumference: 14
Sleeve Elbow Depth: 8
Sleeve Elbow Circum.: 10
Sleeve Cap Height Adj: -0.75
Front Armhole Shape Down: -1.8 clicks
Front Armhole Shape Left: 0.3 clicks
Back Armhole Shape Down: -0.5 clicks

Seam Allowance: 0.625
Hem Allowance: 2
Facing Width: 2
Chest Ease: 0
Waist Ease: 0
Hip Ease: 0

Body Measurements
Chest Circumference: 40
Back Shoulder Width: 15.75
Neck Circumference: 13
Natural Waist: 34
Hip Circumference: 42
Crotch Length: 29
Height: 66
Weight:
Bra Cup Size: D
Center Front Length: 14.5
Front Shoulder Width: 15
Front Shoulder Slope: 17
Shoulder Length: 5.125
Center Back Length: 16.5
Back Shoulder Slope: 17.875
Bicep Circumference: 12

It’s the FRONT AH, Dummy!

This week, I have made (and REmade...scroll to the end!) yet another knit top. I wore it yesterday for a 'test drive' to evaluate and make a list of its faults! Most of the issues are correctable next time, I think.

I STILL need to work on the FRONT ARMHOLE SHAPE! And, duh, the problem was there on that first top...the teal one...and it is STILL there on this recent one...and duh, it won't go away unless I do something about it!!! If you look at the lower F-AH on the TEAL top, you can maybe see that the AH seam appears to be more 'on the arm' than 'on the body'...and I totally forgot to address that when I made this latest one...so the AH on the new top is the same way!!! Duh. I will certainly address it on the next one….and I *may* have to take this one apart to ‘address’ it now!

I am also thinking this is STILL something that needs to be done on EVERY PMB top I ever make…not just knits/dartless things. I have been manually ‘scooping’ my front armholes on my PMB patterns for years, but I thought perhaps I could get away from doing it in Version 4, as there were some slight drafting changes made in this version…but it appears not. At first I thought my last woven/darted top (Empire) was a bit low in the armhole depth, then I decided it wasn't...but I am now thinking it probably *really* is too low! I bet it needs to have the front AH reshaped/scooped and the overall AH depth raised!

This goes along with what Belinda is saying about it being easier to use commercial patterns and alter them than start from scratch! BTW, Belinda, you REALLY did say it oh, so well! I was nodding and saying "uh huh, yep" as I read your blog...even though *I* stubbornly continue to use PMB. But I have long ago accepted that PMB needs--‘adjustments’ (shall we say?)--and I basically use these patterns as blocks from which to design my own styles.

Have you ever read the Minott Method books? Minott advocated ‘coding’ a pattern…you’d figure out what you needed to do to a company’s basic fitting shell, then make that adjustment to all patterns produced by that company. Well, that is kinda my philosophy with PMB. Figure out what works and what doesn’t…use what works and change what doesn’t.

But back to that F-AH…On a commercial pattern, if I did a FBA (full bust adjustment), it would change the shape of the F-AH to become more like a 'J' and less like a ')' .

Ok, maybe that’s not a great illustration, but I am limited by the keyboard’s available characters! Take a look at the examples on Debbie Cook’s photo site. She has created some great tutorials! Here is a comparison of her AH ‘before’ and ‘after’ doing a FBA.…see the difference in shape?

My point is, fuller busts need a more-deeply-scooped F-AH than what PMB is drawing...scooped down and inward, not just what you get by reducing the FSW (front shoulder width).

But PMB doesn't change the shape of the armhole with the cup size.

If the lower front armhole is the wrong shape, then the F-AH length...the length of the AH seam line...is probably wrong, too...which means the sleeve draft isn't right either! And the sleeve issue seems to be worse in V4 than it was in 3, although that could be my imagination...but I do KNOW that the front ah notch is higher now, when it SHOULD be lower on the armhole...

As a result of my evaluation of this latest top, I have been drafting and comparing YET AGAIN to figure out HOW to correct the ah length and the sleeve. As I said before, I have been scooping my lower front AHs for years, but I generally used the sleeve that came with the armhole…I didn’t TRY to create a longer ah seam before reshaping it. But now I can see that is only half the solution…the sleeve needs to fit the ah. Basically, I have to figure out how long I need for the armhole seam to be in order to draft a sleeve that will fit into the armhole AFTER I reshape it! Working backwards...

But I have now SAVED a new pattern to try! For this one, I did change some measurements, though, to do some of the manipulations for me....on the last one, I used my measurement chart 'as is'….but this time, I created a new chart (with a new name that indicates it’s for Dartless Knits) and changed a few numbers. Oh, I don't think I've even TOLD you what I did to that first one yet!

OK…basically, what I did was-- I started with my basic blouse block with side and waist darts, and back shoulder dart...and long sleeve. Then, on the pattern, in PE,

• I 'slid' the front AH down 1", which made the front shoulder VERY slanted...ok, though, because this is for a knit (I lengthened the back shoulder to match this longer front SHL by rotating out the upper back AH arc).
• Plus, I 'slid' the lower sideseam UPWARD 1" to make the side bust dart smaller...redrew front hem as an arc (center 1" lower than side).
• Then I redrew the upper sideseam, between underarm and waist, as a more-straight line...using an arc, though, so it has some curve.
• There was still a small amount of bust dart leftover in the sideseam, so I 'rotated' some of it to the front armhole, but then closed it by moving/shifting the whole front sideseam and the part of the ah that is between the sideseam and that new little 'dart' (that I just rotated there)...I just moved it inward (medially) to close the little ah dart I just created.
• The end result is that the front ah is BARELY changed in shape from how it started...just barely less 'scooped' at the lower arc area, and the SS/Armpoint is just BARELY lower than it was before.
• There is STILL a little bit of the bust dart left in the front sideseam (about .5") that I will ease to the back sideseam when I sew this.

I DID also do a few changes to the back pattern...

• as I said, I had to lengthen the back shoulder because the front shoulder *seam length* became longer when it had to *angle* between the existing ah and the neck...and there was no back shoulder dart to reduce...so the back SHP needed to be moved outward.
• Plus, I wanted to add a shaped CB seam, so I 'selected' the back AH and SS, and rotated them (by units) outward 0.75" (at hip), pivot point is SHP. This also adds a bit of ease over the upper back but is primarily to add to the side/hip area what I will be removing from the centerback/hip area by using a shaped center back seam.

Don’t worry about trying to understand ALL this…as some of it will change for the next one anyway! I tried a few things…some worked, some didn’t…and I will eventually share (and illustrate) what DID work best!


Ok, that was the most recent top...the one finished Wednesday night! It is a blue and white checked print with sunflowers and strawberries scattered on it...the fabric was given to me from my mother's stash. The fit is not awful…it is much better than those yellow tops from the PMB NO DART silhouette…but as I said, it certainly isn’t perfect, that’s for sure!

It's that %$#+ front armhole...

Ok, so as I said, I have drafted and compared, and come of with a NEW game plan!

For the next one, as I said, I DID change a few measurements.
This time,

• I reduced the FSS measurement by 1" to lower that front SHP for me.
• I had to increase the SHoulder Length measurement by .375" to keep the SHoulder Point and Neck Points where they were before (because of the new shoulder angle)....and this longer SHL made the back shoulder match the front (so I don't have to rotate out the upper back ah as I mentioned before).
• Then I used the AH SHAPE TOOL to reshape the front ah...doing 10 additional clicks downward.

My thinking here is-

• Since I lowered the top of the front armhole (at shoulder) by 1" (by reducing the FSS measurement) and
• I lowered the bottom of the front armhole (at Underarm Point) by 1” (by using the Dart Override Tool, setting= -0.5),
• I also wanted to lower the midpoint of the ah by 1"...hence, the 10 additional clicks downward ( was already using 7 clicks down).
  

This downward clicking made my F-AH really 'square'...but was necessary to gain additional seam length so that, when I redraw the lower part with an arc, the new AH will be the same length as this square AH’s seam length, but will be a different shape. THIS WAY, the sleeve that drafts to fit this square ah will still fit the armhole after I reshape it (in PE), since the overall length of the F-AH will remain the same (before and after reshaping). So, the shape of the F-ah is less important to me at this point than the length of the seam line.

I am NOT going to do the rotating of the back ah and sideseam on the next one like I did on this checked one...that didn't please me. The CB shaping is better, but I shouldn't have rotated the back AH/SS outward. I ended up removing that extra that was added from underarm to hem on the back at sideseam, as well as tightening up the waist on both front and back sideseams.

Really, if I am using a CB seam, I can just put the uptake of the waist dart there at the waist and leave the hip as is....and I will try a little LESS hip ease this time, along with a different front/back distribution at hip. I cannot decide if I think the CB seam is worth it or not...although it is no trouble and I don't really 'feel' it or anything.


So, once I made these changes to my measurement chart and setting choices, I could duplicate the previous pattern with far fewer manual alterations needed. PLUS, the sleeve draft now matches the length of the new (manually-altered) F-armhole….this sleeve is larger than the previous one (because the F-ah seam is longer) so I can use a TALLER sleeve cap and get the same width at bicep.



This is my new AH compared to the original one on this checkered top. Original is brown...NEW is blue and green (The lower, more-square ah is the NEW one..for some reason, this picture won't enlarge).

I located a point on the upper AH that is 1" above that NEW front notch...this point was about the same level as the OLD notch. I used the scissors tool to BREAK the upper AH at this point. Then I created an arc from that point to the Underarm Point...making sure the length of NEW armhole equalled the length of the AH before my changes (NOT the brown one on the old/first pattern).

Since the new sleeve was larger, I used ZERO for the cap height instead of -.5, as used on the original. New sleeve is the PINK one.








Ok, this is too tempting to wait until I make the next top…I want to try it NOW!




So I guess you know what I have been doing today (Friday)!

Ripping out the sleeves on my brand new checkered top to reshape the F-ah and insert NEW SLEEVES!!!

*

And guess what! I think it worked! I think it is better!


*

*



The whole things sits a bit differently…because of the sleeve changes. It’s hard to explain how it feels.

See the BEFORE on the left (jeans) and the AFTER on the right (yellow pants).



Now, the armhole IS too low…there’s nothing I can do about that short of taking it apart to pull the whole thing upwards by resewing the shoulders deeper/lower (and cutting new sleeves yet again!!!) and I am not gonna do that ‘cause the AH is not that low…not that bad! I can stand it this time!



































By getting the right SHAPE on the lower front AH, I will be able to use a higher AH Depth setting…I won’t need to use a lower AH depth to prevent that ‘biting’ into the front of the armpit that sometimes occurs. Plus, my sleeve will have a better shape and be more comfortable.

See the BEFORE on the left (jeans) and the AFTER on the right (yellow pants).







Ok, I am ready to be finished with THIS top!

And I had just enough left-over fabric to cut a few caps for chemo-therapy patients!

Yellow Top Redux

Well, I decided NOT to wash and try to shrink the yellow top, being fairly certain I had probably prewashed this fabric before putting it into my stash.

So on Monday, I ripped the entire shirt apart.

Then I adjusted some measurements and settings and recut the pieces. I superimposed the NEW pattern onto the OLD pattern before I printed, so I could line up the pieces with the old pattern before cutting on the NEW lines.






By Monday night, the shirt had been resewn...version 2.

Here is the comparison...the BEFORE and AFTER pics. I am holding up 2 fingers in the pics of the second version (not giving hippie signals!) to indicate which version is which.







As you can see, it really is NOT better. Probably, it is worse...although the narrower shoulders ARE better.













But the shorter upper back (distance from neck to armhole depth) is definitely BAD.

The slight loss of bust and hip ease was not good, either.







The sleeves ARE better...less full...but are still too full and fluttery. Plus, look at the way the back of the sleeve is plastered against the back of my arm (that's a clue!)...yet there is all this extra room in the front of the sleeve.


I pulled this up at the shoulders, so the second version's neck is higher and the hem is shorter.

But still, it hangs on my backside. I wonder what using a CB seam will do?

Dartless Top Part 3

I finally got some pictures taken of me in the new Dartless Top I made this week. Yes, I look like a deer in headlights, but whatcha gonna do? That's how it is.


As you can see, this is not too bad...it's wearable. Not perfect by any means, though!

And I always aim for perfect!








I have been thinking about my dartless pattern...about the various changes I made in order to make it fit better...like, mismatching the sideseams….and about HOW I would do it ‘next time’.

The part about mismatching the sideseams got me to thinking about how the PMB NO DART draft also raises the back armhole as it lowers the front one. I haven’t tried the NO DART draft yet in version 4, and things do seem to be different in this version than in previous versions…subtle, yet significant differences. So, I set out trying to duplicate my dartless pattern using the NO DART choice in the drafter.





I messed around with the settings a bit and I can almost EXACTLY duplicate *my pattern*by making choices in the drafter! The only thing that is different is the shape of the front armhole (which makes the sleeve also slightly different). The lower arc of the front armhole is more SCOOPED than my pattern. This lengthens the F-armhole seam and enlarges the front half of the sleeve. But I can’t tell if it would be better than what I just sewed or not! The front armhole DOES seem a bit high/out there on the front of the arm...perhaps lower in front/more-scooped might work?


The only way to know is to sew it!






So I did.


The fabric I used is stretchier, though, so the fit is NOT the same! Even though the patterns are nearly duplicates, this second one seems so much larger!

I cannot decide if I should--

1. toss it into the washer with HOT water, and then if it doesn’t shrink, I will disassemble and recut it smaller! Or,-
2. go ahead and take it apart now, forget about trying to shrink it, and find out how the pattern really fits!

After evaluating this one a bit, I can tell I need to raise the armholes significantly! Plus, I have decided that to change the balance of the patterns above ah level, I just either lengthen the front or shorten the back (above ah level)...which in PMB, means either increasing the CFL and FSS, or decreasing the CBL and BSS. I will do that latter...decrease the CBL and BSS...because that will also draft a shorter armhole, although I'll still need to raise it, too.







Can't you just visualize this one being better if I pinned out a tuck across the back from armhole to armhole? That would cause the upper back to become short and force the back to 'swing out' away from my bum! Also, it would hopefully pull the lower front in closer to the body.

I think I'll have to adjust the hang of the sideseams for this, too...moving the S/Hip position forward, even though that will totally make the sideseams NOT mirrored. In a dartless knit, I can't worry about that!

That is what I'll try next time, anyway...the shorter upper back. If it doesn't work, I'll try something else!

You can see that this armhole is a bit low...which makes the sleeves quite a bit larger than the previous one.

Amazing how differently they fit, considering the front and back patterns are identical except for the front armholes!

Drafting Choices

Ok, to duplicate the (blue) pattern that I created before-

I began with the same measurement chart I had used last time...the one with the reduced cup size, and reduced the Front Shoulder Slope measurement.

Then I selected NO DART as my Front/bust dart option.

Since my back shoulder dart measures .75" at the shoulder seam, I chose a Shoulder Point setting of (.75). This makes the back shoulder area as wide as usual but with no dart, but it makes the front shoulder area wider by .75". But once I extended the SHOULDER POINT, the front shoulder tip also went up about .125"...so I reduced the FSS measurement (in the measurement chart) an additional 0.125" to correct for that.

I needed to use 1.5" Bust Ease to equal the pattern width of before, when I used .5" ease.

I had to use 3" Hip Ease this time, since I wouldn't be rotating any darts to the hem to be left unsewn.

I kept the Armhole Depth the same as before, .25".

Cf/Extension: 0.5

Side/Arm Point: -0.5
Side/Waist Point: 1
Side/Hip Point: 0

Sleeve Cap height = +0.5", no ease--
---Because I extended the SHOULDER POINT, the sleeve drafts differently...so instead of using a (-.5) cap height, I used a (+.5) cap height to duplicate what I had before....again, reducing the cap ease as low as possible.

My Pattern Changes (yellow)

The only changes I made to the pattern were on the neckline, to cut away for adding ribbing, and to the create a shaped hem on both the bodice and the sleeve.

Dartless Top Part Two, the pattern

I needed to figure out a way to create a dartless pattern that I would be pleased with. All the literature and advice I’ve read suggest that dartless patterns are good for bust sizes below 38”…or sizes of C-cup or less…so, right off the bat I am a bit disadvantaged because my bust size is a bit larger than that. But never one to take NO for an answer, I determined that it CAN be done…I just have to experiment.

My inspiration is the PLAY SHIRT instructions on page 140 of Natalie Bray’s MORE DRESS PATTERN DESIGNING. She rotates part of the bust dart to the shoulder, F-ah, and hem to eliminate having a dart to sew. I decided I would do that, too, to create a dartless block to use with knit fabrics.

Chart Changes

Because my cup size is larger than that recommended by experts, I created a NEW measurement chart to use for creating patterns for sewing Dartless Knits. I reduced the cup size in this chart by 2 letters…in PMB, each cup size extends the front length by .375”, so I know I will be losing .75” of front length. I will make up for the lost length by using the CF Extension tool when I draft the pattern.

Also, knowing that I will be putting some of the bust dart into the front armhole to be left unsewn, I reduced the FRONT SHOULDER SLOPE measurement by .5”. This is basically pulling out (at the top) the extra length I will be adding when I rotate some of the dart into the armhole.

I also reduced the BACK SHOULDER SLOPE by .25”…I don’t think that was really necessary, but I did do it…I’ll probably will put it back to ‘normal’ for next time.

Drafting Choices

To create my dartless pattern I began with the basic darted BLOUSE silhouette in PMB4. I chose NO CLOSURE, as I planned to cut the pattern on the fold of the fabric, front and back. Because my intended fabric wasn‘t as stretchy as some, I used .5” chest ease and 2” hip ease. Waist ease was left at 1”…the waist darts won’t be sewn, however, the waist ease WILL affect the size of the bust dart, so I keep it stable. I usually lower the armhole depth by .5” but for this knit, I chose to lower it only .25”…which is essentially raising the AH depth .25” above my ‘normal’.

I mentioned that I would be rotating the bust dart to shoulder, F-ah, and hem. While all these locations are choices within the Drafter, I cannot rotate the bust dart to all three locations at the same time, so I choose SHOULDER BUST DART, and will manually rotate some of the dart uptake to the hem in the PATTERN EDITOR. However, I CAN put some of that bust dart into the F-ah by using the DART OVERRIDE tool. I chose the (-.25) setting, which opens the armhole by .5”.

I changed my Side/Arm position from my usual (-1) to (-.75).

Because I knew I would be rotating some of the bust dart to the front hem, which will make the lower front wider, I changed the Side/Hip position from my usual of (+5) to (-.75)…this made the back wider and made the front really narrow! The sideseam are not at all mirrored! But that is ok…I knew I’d be changing that.

Again, because I had reduced my CUP SIZE (in the chart) by two letters, I used a CF extension of 1” to regain the lost front length.

For my sleeves, I used a CAP HEIGHT of (-.5) (normal for me is -1.25) and I reduced the CAP EASE as low as possible…it was .26”. I just drafted the sleeves wrist length, and modified them in PE.

My Pattern Changes




After saving the pattern, I opened it in the Pattern Editor portion of PMB. On the BACK pattern, I drew a line from NECK POINT to Shoulder Point, ignoring the back shoulder dart. I measured this line, and drew a matching line on the FRONT pattern.

















Next, I selected the Sideseam, F-ah, and lateral shoulder section, along with the lateral dart leg of the bust dart. Using the BUST POINT (not dart tip) as my pivot point, I rotated the selected area clockwise to partially close the bust dart. I wanted to leave 1.25” of dart in the front shoulder.






















But as you can see, that didn’t bring the F-ah all the way to the end of the new shoulder line.


















So, I rotated only that upper section of the F-ah to close the last .25”, pivot point is the lower end of the arc.







Rotating the shoulder dart partially closed put the remainder of the dart into the hem (Remember, I don’t have to put ANY of the dart into the armhole, because I used the Dart Override tool in the drafter to do that for me!). To correct the sideseams and close the front hem, I FLIPPED the back pattern and superimposed it onto the front, aligning the underarm points. I redrew the BACK sideseam to have the same waist indent as the front one, but redrew the LOWER front sideseam to match the back. I redrew the front hem using an arc to close the gap. I erased the waist darts.

Of course, THEN I began to consider the neck styling…and how I hadn’t made any decision about that yet! A jewel neck won’t stretch over my head…I didn’t want a jewel neck anyway! So I drafted a scoop neck, widening the neck .25” at the sides, and lowered the back neck a bit also. NOW, I was ready to print!

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Dart Override: -0.25
Shoulder Dart Position: 0

Side/Arm Point: -0.75
Side/Waist Point: 1
Side/Hip Point: -0.75

Cf/Extension: 1
Cb/Extension: 0

Sleeve Cap Ease: 0.26
Sleeve Cap Height Adj: -0.5
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More later…