Navy Dress Part 1

I'm still working on the dress, but at least I am in the sewing stage! Today, I will finish cutting out the lining and begin assembling and inserting it into the already sewn dress. Well, the dress's sleeves have not been inserted, but other than that, it is 'already sewn'.

I decided to go with a shoulder princess-seamed version; Vneck; with 3/4 length sleeves (the cap sleeves I was considering just didn't do my body any favors); vent/kick pleat in the back seam. I am making it 'just-below-the-knee' length...I chose 43" as my finished back length. I also made this straight (as in, no flare) but again, I am not sure that was the best choice either! Those 'hams' just under my back waistline (on each side) are trying their best to be the star of the show!

The fabric is a navy poly/rayon blend, and it is either a jacquard or a matelassee...I have no idea how to spell that, and am not even sure of the pronounciation! I goofed when I cut out the center back piece...I was on the phone while cutting, so my attention was diverted when I layed that piece onto the fabric after cutting the other 3 pieces--front, side/front, and side/back---which all fit nicely across the width of the fabric. I cut those 3 pieces, then pulled more fabric onto the cutting mat to lay out and cut the CB, sleeve, facings, etc...and, well, I was distracted and forgot to consider the pattern repeat! In this picture, you can see how that CB and Side/Back would have related to each other...I had to slide the back piece upward, as in the right side, to align the design repeat. So I cut a new CB piece that DID keep the fabric's repeat aligned! Thank Goodness I had extra fabric!

Regarding the pattern...

• I found that I needed to draft with 2" extra hip ease than desired, because the long front dart extensions need to remove a full inch on each side...for a 2" reduction in front.


• And it turns out that using a Side/Hip placement of (+0.5..moving the SS/hip backwards) gives me mirrored sideseams, which is desirable to me! Although this initially makes the front pattern WIDER than the back pattern at hip level, after I sew out the long front waist darts, the back becomes wider than the front...which is more logical, since there is a bum back there!

I think I might have to tweak my CFL measurement just slightly (for next time) to provide a bit more front length to make garments better conform to my shape...that is, I need MORE than just 'adequate' front length if I want the garment to sit closer to the rib cage under the bust, as opposed to falling straight toward waist.

I drafted this with 7" of hip ease , thinking that after I sewed out the front waist darts, I would have 5" ease. Well, 5" turned out to be too much. I ended up sewing out an inch at both waist and hip...all the way to hem. So 4" hip ease and 1" waist ease turned out to be good for me on this dress. My choice of bust ease was 1.5". More on drafting this later...

I had to put my jacket project aside to finish the heart/frog art project, and now I have moved on to a dress! I will be needing a dress to wear to an upcoming wedding, as well as to the "Une Grand Soiree" where this frog/heart (and others) will be auctioned. So I am working on a new pattern.

I have been refining the fit of my basic Torso block...using Patternmaster Boutique software (PMB). My original plan was to do an Empire style, but the muslin showed that I would need a lot more length in the bodice portion to force the fabric to 'return' to the rib cage under the bust (for a closer fit), and I really don't have time to work that out right now, since the wedding is on Oct 25. So I changed plans and will do a more simplified style. I am considering princess lines vs. just using darts. My basic idea is to do a cut-on cap sleeve...but that depends on whether or not I can get one to suit me. I printed a pattern to test, and was not thrilled with the area where the sleeve cap's hem meets the AH...I almost wanted to 'round off' that corner! Hmmm....

Last night I watched a show I had recorded called LIPSTICK JUNGLE. These ladies wear amazing clothes! One of the characters is a fashion designer, so there is a smattering of 'fashion' there, but the female lead characters are dressed VERY well.

Anyway, in the episode I watched last night-

http://www.nbc.com/Lipstick_Jungle/video/episodes/?vid=737984#vid=737984
-I counted 3 or 4 dresses with cap sleeves! When the episode began (after the recap of previous shows), the first scene showed the 'fashion designer' character (Victory) on a tour boat wearing a red dress with a very nice cap sleeve...I 'paused' the recording to study the sleeve, and sure enough, the cap meets the armhole at the same place on the body where the arm meets the body. *THAT* is the problem with my PMB cut-on cap sleeve...the notches are too high, so the cap meets the AH too high. This helped me realize my instinct (to want to 'round off' that corner ) was a good one; I just need the validation!

I wasn't absolutely positive this sleeve was cut-on, as opposed to sewn in, but that was my impression.

There was another 'top' (that NICO was wearing) that had sleeves which almost looked like the 'casual' ah without any sleeve...just barely a cap at the top and much less shape to the armhole edge. Nice. Many of the cap sleeves I have seen are definitely 'sewn in', though.

My own dress will not be full-skirted, as this one is...mine will be straighter. And I have not finalized the neckline shape yet!

Now that I have worked out the measurements and settings for the shoulder/bust area (again!) I am once again looking at getting the distribution around waist and hips correct. I have been messing with moving the SS at waist and SS at hip both forward and backward, trying various combinations, etc. But just using the muslin that I have sewn so far, it appears that the BEST solution is to use SS/H=0, even though that makes the back have that odd shape...you know, where there is hardly any waist indent on the back pattern. This is because I must use WAY more ease at hip than at bust** (**PMB gives me about 1.5" MORE bust ease that I ask for, so to get an equivalent amount of hip ease requires asking for more than I ask for at the bust level.)

After sewing this muslin, I may find I can use less hip ease, but I am thinking I need 5" for a dress. But here is the deal...I LOSE 1" of that hip ease in front when I extend the front darts to the hem!

And THAT is my latest revelation...

I remember several years ago, when Lisa was looking into her PMB drafts and asked users about their front waist darts...and whether we needed them to be shorter or longer (many were complaining that the darts were too long at the time)...anyway, *MY* response was that I thought MINE needed to go down to my knees! I was kinda kidding, but actually, that probably *IS* what was needed!

Look at the picture of this Mueller draft, here>>>

Ya know how the front has the long 'extension' of the front waist dart? Well, I have FINALLY realized THAT is my problem with PMB. When I use the front waist darts, I have always gotten a poof of fabric at the release. So, I assumed I needed larger back waist darts than front, and have been trying to accomplish this for years now. But my muslin is telling me that I need to actually *sew out* the long front dart-- all the way to the hem! Just eliminate that excess in front...which WILL make the front dart narrower (if you measure horizontally from the dart's waist point over to the long straight edge of the lower dart) and will make the overall hip ease *less*, with more of the total circumference in the back (where I need it).

Now, my PMB patterns don't have this long extension of the front waist darts. You have to KNOW you need to remove this excess. It helps to extend the front waist darts, as I have done in the image above.

I have mentioned before, on chat list... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/patternmasterusers/patternmasterusers/

...that, when I use a PMB princess style, if I slide the Side/Front pattern over to align to the Front pattern at hip level, there is a GAP created at bust level. Well, this need to sew out the front excess totally explains that gap! If I make the PMB waist darts go all the way to the hem, the GAP at bust level disappears! duh. What took me so long to figure this out? Or, to 'accept' this...sometimes I know what my pattern needs to look like, but still 'fight' it...wanting it to look more "normal"!

Anyway, so that is what is happening now.

Prince at Heart

I finished the art project I was working on. I have posted more pictures here, if you want to see them. I am calling this "Prince at Heart".

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The piece began life as a white resin carved winged-heart which was given to me to decorate. I painted it with a green wash, then another, then clear coat, brown wash, clear coat, teal wash, green wash, more green....well, you get the idea. I just kept going until it seemed 'done'. Then a final clear coat.

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But it was just a green heart...nothing special about it! So I finally decided my embellishment would be a frog. This was one of those sand-filled little things you can sometimes find in stores, but never when you are looking for them! It was originally yellow with fuscha feet...but I painted it with Dye-na-flow #820 (Emerald Green). After that dried overnight, I painted it again, this time with Lumiere #565 (Metallic Bronze), and used Lumiere #568 (Pearl White) on his belly.

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But I was sure that just paint alone wasn't gonna do it...he wasn't 'special' enough. So I pulled out the beads! Actually, I went to the store for beads... I used a 'Mahogony Mix' of Czech glass beads on his back, and used Delica "Topaz Rainbow" on his sides and nose. The beads that are scattered on the heart were from stash...also from Czech glass mixes...as is the dark red 'heart' bead on his back.

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Beading through fabric that has been painted is not easy! I had to frequently use jewelry pliers to pull the needle through the fabric. I got best results by using 2 needles...one a small beading needle and one a #7 embroidery needle. I strung beads with the long thin needle, then couched them to the frog with the embroidery needle.

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To attach the frog to the heart required drilling holes into it. I determined the placement, then drilled 4 tiny holes with a 1/16th" bit. I shaped jewelry wire pins and hand-sewed them onto the underside of the frog's legs (and hands?) then pushed the pins through the heart and coiled the wires to hold the frog tightly in place.

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Well, I didn't like the placement! He was too high on the heart. So I cut off the coils, unsewed the pins from the frog legs...made new pins and sewed them onto the legs...drilled NEW holes for the front legs, putting the back legs into the holes previously used for the front legs...better!

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But now there were extra holes in the heart. They were small, and I was ignoring them at first, then I stuck a bead on a pin and inserted it into the hole....YES! So I drilled MORE holes in the heart and added more beads to the heart, including the dangling heart bead that the frog is intent on reaching.

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This was donated to the Wings Cancer Foundation, to be sold at auction at their 'Une Grande Soiree"-- A Wine Tasting and Art Auction

Saturday, November 1

7:00pm - 10:00pm

Clark Opera Memphis Center

Well, the pattern for the jacket was NOT good...but at least I figured out WHY. I was suspicious about it from the start...the style changes as well as the basic block I started with!

Re: the style changes...duh...I (wrongly) started out with a pattern that has 2 waist darts per pattern piece instead of just one. Since there was an extra dart, I (wrongly) moved it to the new style line (wrong, since that is the place to put the waist reduction!). Anyway, I figured it out and did a new pattern!


Also, the basic block I started with was an experiment in itself. I used the Casual Silhouette with a lot of dart override, putting quite a bit of the front dart into the front armhole, in an attempt to loosen up the fit (to make it more casual). Well, this creates a vertical mismatch of the front and back armholes. Overall, I probably could have worn it, but I wouldn't love it. So I didn't make it! I started over, with the knowledge that I cannot use that much dart override (I should have known that anyway!).


Pinning the paper pattern together to try on was extremely helpful! I could readily see when things were not good. I did this for the NEW pattern, too...tried on the paper pattern. It was quite evident that I had NOT added enough hip and waist ease! Reprinted and tried on again. Better...so I cut this one in fabric. It was pretty good...had to extend the bust darts all the way to the BP, though (this is a waist dart)...but so far, that is the only 'alteration' that was needed.

Here's the pattern:
I have yet to set the sleeves, though. I will evaluate the back neck depth once the sleeves are in.

I also changed the placement of the split in the back of the sleeve to correspond with the back panel seam...I hope it doesn't turn out to be too low on the arm! Oh, I also curved the sleeve seams (after printing) like I did on the previous pattern.

The side panel is slightly wider now at underarm and much wider at the hem area...I added .5" bust ease and LOTS more hip ease! Zbust=3, Zwaist=4, Zhip=5. I made this one slightly LONGER than the previous one, but I suspect I will want the shorter length. Now I have options!

I am afraid I have widened the front shoulder measurement too much, and subsequently, narrowed the front neck just a little too much. The front neck width matches the back neck width now, but I think I need to go back to having the back neck width just slightly wider than the front neck. I have decided this depends on the placement of the shoulder seam: when the SS at neck point is placed more forward on the body (as I have it now), the back neck (on the pattern) can be slightly wider than the front neck width (on the pattern). I think.

I have been working on an 'art' project this week...and I use that term loosely! I volunteered to decorate a resin heart...it is 'carved feathers', so basically, it is a pair of 'wings' that form the shape of a heart. I was given this to decorate, and it will be on display in the gallery, then later sold at auction to benefit Wings Cancer Foundation, the charity/support organization of West Cancer Clinic.

Here is the gallery:
http://www.wingscancerfoundation.org/index.cfm?section=2&page=24



This has been difficult for me. I come up with thousands of ideas, then dismiss them as 'stupid' or 'depressing' or impossible! So my end result will be mediocre, I am sure! >g< So far, I have spent the past week painting it. At first it was painted a pale green, then antique-washed with a darker green...then I put a clear coat on it. Then I 'antiqued' it again with a thin wash of brown. Then some gold/silver/dark green....then a slight wash of teal on only SOME of the feathers. More clear sealer. It actually looks halfway decent now, but is totally boring. I have done nothing to it except paint it. It needs more...something to make it 'special'. I was going to wrap copper wires around it, but it just looks silly. I'd like to use beads. I really just want to drill several holes in it and insert arrows! ;)

I have also been working on a pattern for a jacket I wish to make. I started with a basic block and rotated darts here and there...this is what I have printed (today) to try test in a muslin:

I am a bit concerned about the shape of the panel. As you can see, there is a gap between front and back waist and hips, as my bust is the largest measurement, plus I added more ease there (also not sure if that was a good idea!). I am unsure if I should change to the PINK lines, to compensate for the waist/hip excess, or if that will make it too curvy. I have printed and will test.
Oh, and there are no seam allowances at the neck, hem and front edges...this will have binding.
Oh, phooey! I just realized that the sleeve seam and the back panel seam will NOT meet up at the AH...I'll have to address that!

Well, the blouse was just not salvageable! Even though I could solve the fit issues---convert those gathers back to darts or pleats, and raise the Empire waistline to put it closer to my underbust area---the horizontal lines of the fabric's print and the curved shapes of the pattern did NOT make for a nice finished product. The print just didn't work on this pattern shape. And I knew I was taking a chance when I cut it...but I wanted to try!

Look at the way the 'stripe' of leopard spots meets at the sideseams. Awful! Just NOT worth any more of my time! So I am moving on...

Well, the blouse was awful!!! When I said I had "finalized the pattern", I suppose that was wishful thinking! duh...it seems that EVERY decision I made was the wrong one!

I forgot to lower the back neck depth, which is vital to the correct fit! Plus, as this is an Empire style, I was a bit uncertain as to HOW HIGH to make that Empire waist seam...so I erred on the low side. I had also chosen to convert the bust dart to gathers instead of sewing it as a dart. Plus, I decided I had created too much overlap of the bodice area (crossover above the Empire seam), so at the last minute before printing the pattern, I had lessened the amount of crossover. ..which resulted in 'over exposure' in the cleavage area.

Can you visualize this?

• Because the back neck wasn't cut low enough, the whole front was 'pushed' more forward on my body than designed to be.
• The Empire waist seam was lower than it should have been, resulting in-
• 'poofs' of gathers on each side of my lower front rib cage.
• and lots of skin showing in the too-low Vneck!

It was NOT a pretty site! (there are NO pictures of that mess! )

So I spent part of last weekend ripping this blouse apart. Yep, the whole thing...topstitched, sewn and serged...all out! I now have the individual pieces again laying on the cutting table and have 'corrected' the pattern, so will recut them to raise the waist and lower the back neck. What a pain!

Why not just toss it into the garbage? you might ask. I am too attached to the outcome...I have already SEEN the blouse in my head and would like to have it! I am a Taurus...stubborn, ya know.

But this week has been spent on other pursuits and the pieces are still waiting for my attention!