And the beat goes on...or life gives you a wake up call when you think everything is perfect!

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!