Remember this top? I finished it! It’s far from perfect but I I’ll wear it anyway and keep tweaking the pattern.
Looks pretty good from the front, yes? (I’m in a better mood than I look.) I used the bird print from the same collection as the previous top. There still are some issues.
First, the back.
Those wrinkles aren’t bad fitting. I had Mr. Mouse pin my back and trace the new sewing line on the first top. I told him not to pull too tight so that I would still have some wearing ease. But there was one spot, right at the middle of the back, where he didn’t pull it tight enough. I had this little bump of fabric there. I had him pin it out. Only the top was fully sewn, hemmed and everything. I only unpicked the zipper along the bump and a little above and below and readjusted from there. Not a perfect job at all, hence the wrinkles.
And then, the other problem. You can’t really tell from the front and back. I recut the neckline to make it more open but it gapes now. Like this.
Okay, that’s a lot worse than in reality. I must have been in a funny position, with the top hiked up or something. Yeah, that’s it. You can see at the shoulders. They’re normally well placed on my own shoulders.
I have to admit that this sewing for myself is getting tiring. I’m feeling a little burnt out on muslins and adjusting, you know? I just want to take a pattern, sew it up, and love it. But to get to the point where I have a bunch of tried and true patterns, I have to go through this adjusting phase. So I’ll keep working on this one. It’s great for quilting cottons, it’s easy to wear (and make) and it looks just a little bit more polished than a T-shirt, you know? And I’ll take breaks with Jalie patterns…
Creative mommy at home to two wonderful little girls, trying to juggle family, sewing, exercise, family, knitting, photography, and did I mention family?
Deux souriceaux 
I love the print on this shirt and I really like the shape of the neckline 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you! I’ve had that fabric for so long and was this close to not making myself anything from it and using it all on my daughters. But I just had to have some of those birds just for me…
LikeLike
Very nice! The slightly lower neckline looks a lot more comfortable! And the back may not be quite perfect yet, but it’s quite a bit better than it was.
Have you heard of ‘gape darts’? I hadn’t until a couple months ago when I read this post, but it’s a useful thing to know: http://www.studiofaro.com/well-suited/pattern-fundamentals-gape-darts
I still haven’t made it all the way through the adjusting stage… even with my fitted knit shirt pattern, which is miles better than any other knit shirt pattern I’ve used, I have little issues around the sleeves and armscye that I have to just keep working on. It is kind of frustrating! But the nice thing is that each shirt I make from that pattern is a little better than the one before.
LikeLike
I’d never heard of them but I did think of adding darts like that at the neckline! I just didn’t want to mess with the fabric’s pattern anymore than I already had, you know? I was actually debating between doing a facing or finishing the neckline with bias tape. I ended up doing a facing because the neckline felt like it might like some structure but now, I’m wondering if bias tape might have been better. I could have stretched the bias a little and the neckline would have been a little closer to me. I did that on a blouse (not blogged yet) and it worked really well. The back neckline seemed to be gaping a bit. So when I added the bias tape, I pulled it a little more tightly at the back and the problem disappeared.
I just need to remind myself each time that adjusting patterns to fit perfectly is a learning process. It can get frustrating but you learn a little bit more each time. And like you say, each time, it gets a bit better. Of course, knowing my luck, just when I’ve perfected the fit, my body will go and change shape!
LikeLike
Yeah, I guess gape darts aren’t much help if the garment is already mostly finished! =) I really like the bias tape idea though! I’ll try to remember that for when I need it.
Haha, yes, I know what you mean! And my body is changing CONSTANTLY. Even with weight gain/loss and pregnancies and breastfeeding though, the clothing I’ve made myself is closer to fitting than anything I can buy.
LikeLike