This past October, I 'quickly' (never a good thing) sewed up a Jalie 2005. I really wanted a 'sewn by me' something to wear with the girls in Toronto. Yeah, so it didn't work. Too tight, too short, too everything.
This is the second version. Same fabric as the October wadder. I like it, I'm glad there was enough for a 2nd attempt. It's not perfect, but comfy and I wear it all the time. There were a lot of adjustments. I winged the tracing. It's sort of a T at the shoulders, kind of a V below the armscye, a little wider at the hips. Forward shoulder adjustment. Lengthened, a lot. The body by maybe 4-inches. Lengthened the sleeves from 3/4 to full-length. Widened the sleeves at the bicep - but not enough. It's a really snug sleeve LOL - only wearable because the knit is so soft. I thought it needed an FBA - did I measure ? *snicker* um, nope - I thought and guessed and picked a number. Oh, and I completely forgot how to do an FBA...course I've only done a couple. Did I check my book ? nope again LOL I remembered where the lines go but did not cut them right so when I spread the pattern nothing opened up properly. So I kind of smooshed it down, used lots of tape and crossed my fingers. You do NOT want to see that pattern piece. It's a wonder this thing actually resembles a t-shirt at all. Anyway, here it is.
I used the Jalie instruction for a V-neck and it worked out pretty well. It's even all round - color me surprised.
So, while I could call this a success, there's plenty wrong with it. The print is hiding wrinkles. The neck feels wide. The shoulders are hanging a full inch or more from my shoulder point. Sleeves need a 'touch' more room.
Next version - I decided to be more methodical. I took my measurements and picked a different size. I measured in at a W. Ok - but there was no way I could start with W in the shoulders so I kept T there and swung out to W at the underarm. W all the way down. Grabbed a solid knit I picked up from Fabricville's liquidation table ($2/m I think) and sewed it up.
The question in your minds should be 'did you check it against your previous version before you sewed it up ?' I believe we all know the answer to that :-)
Alrighty then, here we are. Version 2. Worse than the last one. Or at least all the problems are visible ! Isn't it a rule or something, that each version is supposed to get BETTER ?
Mucho wrinkles - Pic below shows them in all their glory - here's what I think:
- First things first - don't look at the neck ! It was not the success the first one was LOL
- FBA needed. It 'might' also help the horizontal wrinkles at my underarm.Diagonal wrinkles on either side of V-neck. I'm thinking these may be less if I narrow the neck a bit - an inch ?
- Diagonal wrinkles on sleeves - just notice them - need to recheck the books for the fix.
- Vertical wrinkles at armhole - shoulder needs to be moved in to the shoulder point where it should be.
- Sleeves need more length - they feel too short.
- Sleeves need to be more tapered at the cuff - they're too wide.
- Forward shoulder - another 1.5 cm
- More width in the body - it's a bit snugger than the first one.
Did I miss anything - over-think it ? Don't think so. But I finally did pull out both versions of the pattern tracing and match them. Guess what I found ? After all my tweaking of my original T/V sized pattern, that original is the right body width and the right width over the bust. Both of which I would have known if I'd checked first - someone slap me. The armhole is also a better shape (because of the funky FBA) and I don't have the horizontal wrinkles above the bust in that tee. oy !
My success of the week ! You know I was looking for a multi-grain bread recipe. Well, I tried 5 and haven't made any since the end of September. I got sick then Christmas cookie baking took over. Last weekend, I tried a no-knead, bake in a dutch oven bread. FAIL ! Sunday, DH asked what I wanted to do. Well, I had bread making on my mind and decided to go back to square one and start with what I knew. My sister has a FABULOUS recipe for regular white bread. If you remember I made it with my Dad a while back Here and Here
Well, I switched out 2 cups of white flour with 12-grain and made up a half-recipe. The toast was so/so but the bread !! OMG the bread is really good :-) Next time I'll use 3 cups 12-grain flour but the only thing I'm going to try to actually change is the crust - I'd rather a softer crust. Now THIS was where I should have started !
We booked an extra long weekend and I've enjoyed every minute of it - 4 grand days ! Tomorrow it's back to work.
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Come on you know the rules - Length, circumference, depth? Is that the right order? one change at a time and see what all that fixes. But do them in the rigth order - which has escaped me now that I'm writing it. :) g
ReplyDeleteps - I don't think either of them is horrible.
Glad to see you back! Depth is the problem. Kyle (vac-cumming the lawn blog) recently had this exact problem in the exact same place you have. I believe it is two posts or so down on her blog.
ReplyDeleteI used to have the same problem with those wrinkles above the bust. I found two solutions which worked well for me so I thought I'd pass them on. First, I use a bust dart. Some may feel that is odd in a knit top but I now use it in all my knit tops with great success. I found an FBA didn't quite do it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I found I was quite short in the distance from my shoulder to armpit/high bust compared to what was allowed for in patterns. Of course, this caused wrinkling in that area as the excess fabric had nowhere to go. I now routinely alter the front, back and sleeve cap to remove 1/4" length in that area. Its a small adjustment but it makes a lot of difference.
I think altering the armhole and sleeve to add more depth as suggested in vacuuming the lawn probably works well if you are long enough through the torso. If you have a short torso like me, this would put the bottom of the armhole too close to my waist and it would look wierd and be uncomfrtable to wear.
Don't give up. Your tops look as if they are well constructed and once you sort out the fit, you will have a TNT pattern that you can use as a jumping off point for all sorts of tops.
Thanks Allison - I've not had a lot of success with darts in knits so far (practice could help with that LOL) so I admit I'm trying to avoid it. However, I'm pretty sure shoulder to bust is too long and will probably need to take up a bit of length. I have another round of adjustments almost done and will see soon how successful they were.
DeleteHope those adjustments turn out well. Fitting can be such an issue, especially if you are working away at it alone, as so many of us who sew usually are. Looking forward to seeing the results of your adjustments. There is nothing as nice as having a TNT pattern. I find that I have become terribly fussy about fit and I know that with a bit of effort, I can make something that fits me way better than RTW ever will.
ReplyDeleteI have heard others say they haven't had luck with darts in knits. I guess I was too naive to know differently and just started using them with success.
I always find that a little oil in the bread makes a soft crust. I've been on a roll making kick recently.
ReplyDeleteTo avoid wrinkles around the sleeves I often have to put darts into the armhole. I try it on before I set in the sleeves. The dart may look a little funny, but not as funny as wrinkles do. And maybe just moving the point where the sleeve joins the body up on your shoulder will help with it a lot. I hope you can get this to work out for you; two semi-successes don't make you feel very good, do they?
Just recently found your blog... and was checking out some of your old posts; the shirts are great... you are soo good at not giving up on something. Nice variety on the shirts.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I've always found that once the bread is done... just use some butter/marg on the crust and your crust will be soft... oh, and then make sure you either wrap right away in plastic wrap or into a good zip lock... I store mine in the fridge so it doesn't go moldy too! Of course, we do tend to eat it pretty fast!