If you’re of a nervous disposition I suggest you go and find photos of kittens and cake on Instagram, and come back when I’ve finished this series. Closeup photos of my embonpoint* to follow!
Ok…I got to try on the Maud cover just before Dave and Summer headed out for karate last night, and my first thought was that the fit was really, really wrong. I know that I’m 52 and gravity it working its magic, but the bust line on this was way out!
Then I remembered the wee glitch on the portal that I highlighted in my last post and realised that this was probably where things went wrong.
However, Dave, who is my self-proclaimed Sewing Bitch, and who knows more about sewing than he really wishes he did, gently grabbed a handful of shoulder seam, et voila…….
With the shoulder seam raised, bringing with it the cup and underarm, suddenly we really weren’t far from a me shaped cover.
A quick pinning of the bust princess seam, and I reckon its mostly done. And to be fair to the pattern, I’m hollow chested above the bust and this is a standard fit issue that I encounter in both sewing patterns and RTW.
I will then need to lower the neckline a good couple of inches to compensate, as you can see above, with maybe a smidge off the bottom of the armhole to balance it. There also the chance that I’ll need the tiniest wedge out of the top of the back neck, but I’ll leave that to the end to double check.
Again, in the interest of full disclosure….that shoulder adjustment and the tiny wedge are standard adjustments for me on any pattern. That’s my body shape and there ain’t nothing that anything other than a custom block (hello Ray Stitch course in the summer) can do about that.
So, I’m feeling quite chipper.
I will be dropping Yuliya a line highlighting the issue I have with the portal interface and the problems it’s caused me. Again it’s back to the old thing about if you’re charging a fair whack for a product then that kind of problem shouldn’t exist. If she responds, I’ll let you know what she says.
But it’s a simple fix and the rest of it fits perfectly (if incredibly unflatteringly). And if you’ve been following the conversation on the interwebs this week about size ranges in sewing patterns (and to a lesser degree knitting and RTW), you’ll know that the general consensus of opinion is that we’re all good with making tweaks, as long as we have a solid base to start with.
Which, apart from that one major problem, that could, after all be a PICNIC (Problem In Chair, Not In Computer), is what I have here. I’m not that far off from being ready to start the job that’s giving me the most heebies (and which, if I’m honest, is the reason I’ve not tackled this project earlier)…….padding.
Watch this space
*ps….I’m not being a bluestocking….just trying to avoid the more unsavoury elements who wander the interwebs with searches that include the more common anatomical terminology…and not for sewing purposes!
Oh, this is genius! I am of delicate disposition and I can totally handle seeing lots of pics of boob height being adjusted! Well done and keep on!! Also, how do you two manage with all of the extra-cir? Those kids must be the fittest in the land 🙂
They are as fit as butchers dogs. Dylan dances about 5 hours a week and Summer does up to 4 hours of karate. I’m in awe of them….they’re amazing! We’re out every evening of the week with one of them…plus Dave and I are learning to dance, and Dave does karate with Summer as he used to be a judo champion back in the day!
I can’t wait to have this dressform done. I’ll be able to tissue fit on her and do the final fit on me!
Quite a bit of faff involved here but, once it’s done, that will be it – just don’t change shape!!
It is a faff….but less than I thought it would be. And if I ever get to lose weight (insert eye roll here!) I think it will be easier to adjust once you’ve got the basic structure.