Progress on the vest.......or lack thereof!

Well my first effort is a wadder. I was madly altering the pattern, taking in here, letting out there, overcompensating all over the place. When I made the muslin it was obvious, for every problem I solved, I made another.



As you can see, the fit looks a lot different in fabric than it did in paper.

So......I took a backward step, scratched my head and tried to work out where I went wrong. Then I remembered what I had been told at the start of the first online workshop I did. "Forget everything you know and start fresh". Okey dokey. Let's do that! At the rate I was going, I wouldn't be able to easily sew for Anna if she was here, certainly not from long distance. So, off we go again!

The first thing I am going to do is use light-weight vilene as my pattern 'paper' instead of the newsprint paper that is pretty stiff. I did find it was much easier to fit around the neck/armhole areas without having the seam allowances added, so I will stick to that. As I am using the vilene this time, it won't be as easy to tape the pattern pieces together, so I will add seam allowances to shoulder and side seams so I can pin the pattern together for fitting. My thoughts are that the vilene will more closely replicate fabric by moulding to the body, so should be a better indicator of the fit.

The hardest area to fit, for both Anna and myself, is around the chest area. We both have large boobs but a narrow chest above the boobs. Armhole 'gaposis' is a problem. In my first effort I decided to dart the armhole to get rid of this, but now I am going to try to ignore this and take care of it later with a sewing technique (ala Sandra Betzina in her book Power Sewing).

When I draft my patterns I always add 4cm to my hip measurement, before starting, to give me extra ease around the tummy area. When I used my true measurement, I found that the patterns (no matter which one I used) drafted out to my exact hip measurement, there was absolutely no ease in there. This has worked really well for me, so I will do the same for Anna this time. I wonder if the original pattern may have been too snug around her hips so didn't sit low enough and that may have been the cause of all the extra length between armhole and shoulder? This would also explain why the armhole appeared to be too high for her. I will also check her shoulder measurement, but will do that at the tissue-fitting stage.

Back soon, with better results I hope!

Tissue Fitting Results

So far so good. I am pleased with the results so far. The vest pattern fit Anna quite well although I do have to make some adjustments. The neck and shoulders are fine and don't need any tweaking at this stage. The shoulder bust dart is perfect in size and position. The circumference of the vest and the waist length is spot on and she likes the overall length of the vest.
Now on to the adjustments:

Ignoring the crinkles above the bust (caused by the extended arm, pattern paper and the photographer's concentration on trying to highlight the problem area) the front armhole was way too 'gapey' so I have added a dart here. This in turn has raised the armhole, so I will cut the armhole down by the same amount I removed in the extra dart. This should keep the armhole the same size so I don't have to alter a sleeve head - of course not a consideration for a vest.

The back is too long between the shoulder and underarm so I will remove that excess as well but instead of a dart (as in the front to make room for the boobies) I will just remove it all the way across the back. I don't like the waist dart placement either, I think they are too close to the CB so will move them towards the side seam so they are roughly in the middle.

I have also moved the front waist dart closer to the side seam so the top of the dart is in line with the shoulder bust dart and Anna's bust apex area. Lastly, I am not sure if maybe I will have to pinch out some excess at the neck edge of the shoulder seam, but will check that at the muslin stage.

All in all, a pretty good result I think. As I write down what I am changing it seems like a lot of messing around but really the only area of concern is the armhole. When I have that sussed out to my satisfaction, I will make a template of the front and back armhole which will make it really easy to apply to future patterns. IMHO this is where this system is so much better than the Big 4s. You only need to do this once and the same adjustments are automatically made to any pattern drafted in the future. Doesn't matter if your weight goes up or down, you just change the measurements you use on the tape measure but the alterations remain the same........or so they say! I have found this to work for my own patterns so far.

Normally I would re-draft my pattern with the alterations and then just start cutting/sewing the 'proper' vest fabric, but I will make a muslin this time as I am trying to perfect the pattern for someone new. Using fairly stiff paper to fit is a great starting point but working with fabric to fine-tune is a must, at least for now.

So back to the drawing board for me. I will be back soon with a revised pattern and a muslin vest to check the alterations I have done so far.

Let's Get Started

Here are my tools, ready to go. My 2 rulers, a picture of the vest I will be making for my daughter Anna, a photo copy of the little patterns I will need to use and the Lutterloh kit that holds the tape measure, push pin and tape.

I have taken Anna's measurements over a shirt, which is how she intends wearing her vest.  Her bust measurement is between sizes on the tape so I have used the measurement above her size.

I like to colour code my little patterns before I start. In this case I have used a green hilighter for the waist and above measurements and a pink hilighter for all measurements below the waist. On the top of the pattern copy I make a note of the measurements I am using and hilight them as well. It takes no time to do this and I find it helps me keep on track and to remember to use the two different measurements when drafting.



I have taped the little pattern picture to my drafting paper (I use an end-of-roll newspaper print) and have extended each of the lines and made my dots. I won't go into great details about this process as it is readily available on many other sites, including www.dressmaking.co.nz/.

When my pattern pieces were drafted I cut them out without seam allowances. This is the first time I have done it this way as usually I add the seam allowances first so I can pin the pattern together for fitting. Thought I would try it this way as I've been told it is much easier to fit around the neck and armholes without the seam allowances getting in the way.

So here is the finished pattern, taped together at the shoulder and side seam with the front bust shoulder dart taped in place also. I have transferred the markings for centre front and waist line and back and front waist darts. The waist darts will be adjusted on Anna. For myself, I don't use the waist darts at all, but as her figure is more hour-glass than rectangle, I suspect she will want them. As Anna and I are both generously endowed around the bust we have always needed an FBA using the Big 4s. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I didn't need to do this with the Lutterloh system and am keen to see how this system will work for Anna. I have packed up my pattern, tools and camera and will tissue-fit the pattern tonight. 

Back soon.