I started this blog post back on January 13, and anticipated I'd have the blouse done in a week or two. I intended to
use the pattern as my grey long sleeved blouse out of a nice rayon paisley print. But before I
cut into the “good stuff” I wanted to do a muslin and see if it was going to be
possible to make it into something wearable for me. This was my second garment
for my 2016 SWAP.
I’m
tracing off the pattern, and then will do what I know I have to on alterations
before I go any further. It’s McCall's 6436 and I think it’s what I want. I’m
trying View B first. I don’t want pocket flaps, but I do want pockets. I think
the two piece sleeves will help to adjust my bodacious bicep issues. I prefer a yoke on the back, but figure this
will allow me to make upper back alterations if necessary and then once it’s
fitted, I can always add the back yoke. I may eventually go ahead and do the
Burda anyway as I want to see what options they have.
Before I’ve gone any further, I’ve reduced
the width of the shoulders, shortened it as it’s almost mini dress length out
of the envelope, and done my sway back adjustment. I also added a seam at the
center back as that makes it much easier to adjust and/or add shaping. It does
have cup sizes and I’m hoping by using the DD it will have enough width through
there. I do have to add an inch to the sleeve width, but strangely, the cuffs
are really wide and need to be narrowed!
The first fitting sans sleeves was January
18. Here’s what it looked like at that point:
Sorry for the cranky face. Trying to use a
camera and stand straight and be sure the muslin is straight and all the rest.
Not bad, but some tweaking needed to be
done. So I moved forward and made a “wearable muslin.” It took a while and was
finished up about the 20th or 21st of February. I wore
it, found it to be supremely comfortable to have a blouse that actually fit and
was looking forward to doing my blog post and starting on the grey paisley.
Adjustments included:
General Alterations : Shorten blouse by 6”; Narrow shoulder by 1”
Move shoulder point forward by 1” to zero at neck edge.
Bodice Front:
Start with DD front. Back off darts by 2” from bust point
Redraft dart angle. Add tummy width… about 4” in from front band, from
waist to hip, add 1 ½”
Bodice Back:
Split back and cut two pieces, to include a seam for fitting purposes.
Add ½” to center back pattern for a total of 1.” Drop back dart top
point by 2”.
Redo back armhole curve to bring in to center back by ¾” at base of
curve tapering to zero at notches and underarm seam. 1 ½” sway back adjustment
to zero at side seam
Sleeves and Cuffs:
Shorten sleeve 1”. Narrow cuffs 1 ½”. Add 1 1/2” to sleeve width Add pleat to
cuff; check to be sure sleeves and cuffs align. Straighten sleeve seams after adjustments.
There are a few items that will be tweaked
on the next version, but it’s overall a very wearable and comfortable blouse.
Soon to become a TNT hopefully!
As usual, life gets in the way when you
have plans. I was coming home from Costco on the afternoon of February 24, and
stopped behind two cars on a very short on ramp to the highway. They evidently didn't get the whole merge concept, and as it was 4:45 pm, traffic was picking up a lot. I was the third car
back dead stopped. A young man who was evidently showing off his muscle car for his girlfriend came
onto the on ramp and hit me going at what I estimate was 35 to 45 mph. He said he hit his brakes and me at the same time. Both my
car and I were damaged.
After a little over a week in the body shop, he car is repaired. I am getting
there with visits three times a week to my chiropractor. But due to the
accident, my attention span is off, and I’ve not felt like I wanted to cut into
my beautiful fabric (saved since August of 1993!) until I was sure of the fit
and my competence.
In the interim, I got busy on a waterfall cardigan, and currently have a tee on
the sewing table waiting for attention.
This is a pretty long post, so I’ll save
the next items for the next post. I'm disappointed that with my accident I probably won't finish my SWAP by the end of April. But there's always next year, and I will be retired and hopefully have the time to do it right!
As always, more later!
