September 18, 2020

I love doing all sorts of specific content here, and today is no different. 

I was messing around with this green shirt again.  And this has become somewhat of a conundrum for me, because when I make up the shirt in (what I thought) was its original format (no variations), I come out with this look (to the right).  It's okaaaay, but not great, and I always look for the great in my clothes, or it doesn't make it into my closet. 

So what's wrong here? 
A couple of things:

1. The waist looks frumpy and old
2. There's something wrong with the bust point on the shirt or my bra or something
3. The silhouette isn't as clean as I would like
4. The shoulders seem to be hanging down - they aren't but they seem to be.

Upon further working with this, the collar doesn't close well - it's basically too big in front.  So I take up the side seams - too big in front, that seems logical (and I don't have to take out the front placket, buttonholes and worry about the collar band buttonhole.  But as you can see above, this moves the bust point on the shirt way out to the side, and really makes the situation worse.  It exacerbates the frumpiness factor and I look like I'm wearing some sort of top for an 70 y/o figure.  OK, I'm 71, but I don't need to look it!!!

So I sat down and had an honest conversation with myself and decided that the time had come to take out the placket and buttonholes and all that mess and take in the center placket.  I'm also real careful about this sort of thing, cause I do not like the bottom overlap of the shirt to spring or spread.  I like for it to drop flat and come together, but not to spread.  It's one of my quirks, probably cause I'm already sensitive enough about my hip size.  This being a stripe I can't cheat and make a straight like from the top to the bottom on a slight angle, which is also a solution on a geometric, abstract or large enough print that you can't see that the front is cut on an angle.

So I take all this out, cut out about 2" in center front and put in the new placket, the collar and collar band, and this time before I do the buttonholes it needs a try on.  It's pretty good, but when I release what I took in on the sides, POWEE - it's a home run. 

So in essence what I've done is move the bust point back from the sides to where it should be toward more center front - where my actual bust point is. 
 

BIG LESSON:

 

Fit your bust point where it is, even if you have a bad bra and you're drooping (that can so easily be solved by a new bra - sometimes we let those bras get out of date like the razor blade in the shower - replace them at least once every 2 years, preferably every year [the bra, not the razor - replace the razor more often]).  Fitting the bust is key to keeping you out of the Frumpy Zone.  Even if your bust point is too high it's really bad.  And in this case it's too far to the side and everything else is off center after that. 

OK, so that involves taking out the lower half of the armscye and that also means that I have to keep the sleeve width  where it is (that fit into that taken-in side seam), so that means that the sleeve now is smaller than the side seam.  Since I can't let the seam out, and taking in the side seam on the bodice means I'm not fitting my bust, what's a person to do?

Put that sleeve in anyway!  And I can hear you now, "Claire it won't fit!"  And you're right - if you try to put that sleeve into the new larger armscye it won't fit, but we can tweak it. 

This is really one of my favorite things to do for my clients when I either have to enlarge the sleeve head for a large bicep or I have to take up the sleeve or enlarge the bodice at the side seam. 

I can get into some complicated x and y axes things with this, but for me the easiest way to explain this is with a video, so I did one up on this to show what I did and how to do it and the end result....well, here's the end result.  But watch the video cause there's a lot more in there than just the sleeve. 

Here's the finished shirt.

Look at how nicely the collar shapes around the neck now - it doesn't have to be in one fixed position to look right.  

Look at how nicely this hangs on the shoulders - just at the right point (and see that puff in the sleeve head?...looking good).

The bust hits where it's supposed to, the waist is right on, and even with my arms close to the body, there's a nice clean side silhouette.  

Yes the bottom splits a little but that's because I have one thigh in front of the other.  If I were standing straight like I'm supposed to for a fitting, the front would fall straight and closed.  And finally the underarms feel comfortable and great, although you can't see any difference there I can feel it!



 

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September's Feature Resource
 

Fitting With Proportion and Figure Flattering Tools

aka Apex and Proportion Tools

This is one of my best resources in the library as it collects the 40 years of experience I have i fitting all sizes, shapes and styles.  And I mean all of them.  A dwarf who was a bridesmaid - the bride brought me the fabric and trim and a photo of what the other girls were wearing - and she wanted something that would really last and it did!  Another debutante had scoliosis surgery (to correct her spinal curvature which would have eventually pressed against her lungs and kill her) 3 months before the ball and I designed her dream dress to wear on her special night.  Then countless grandmothers and mothers who watched their granddaughters and daughters be fitted by me and wanted the same treatment.  Their bodies weren't so complicated as much as having 30 to 60 years of living in them and like all of us wanted to look special. 
  These figures all taught me that we are all different, but it also taught me that we can all be fitted.  Usually clients showed up at my door with some problem that RTW couldn't solve.  But after I finished a few years of my clients, the word spread, that I could do anything (well, except read minds and defy gravity) and the challenges continue to today.  I love these challenges (I have one this fall that I will share with you later, that I'm really excited about).
 
And I love sharing these techniques and tools with you because there's more to sewing than simply perfecting construction techniques. There's the looking good in your garment;  there's the feeling good in your garment;  there's the feeling comfortable in your garment; and there's the being flattered in your garment.  As sewists we have so much more than simply making a garment when we can have all this comfort, flattery and fit too! 

You sorta feel sorry for those who can't sew - And no, you don't sew for others, unless it's for someone really special!

The Fitting With Proportion and Figure Flattering Tools Resource is available here and is at a 16% off.  I rounded the cents down so it's a little more discount this month.  
 

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