In Process: CWS Muslin 2 or "I think I'm just a glutton for punishment"

Okay, here's muslin 2 of BWOF 08-2007-126, my chosen victim pattern for my classic, crispy white shirt.

Muslin 2:

I started with the size closest to my high bust measurement to get the fit in the neck and shoulders. Of course, I failed to take into account that I needed room for my hips & waist. Then I did a humongo FBA to add 2.5 inches to each side for the “Girls.” That’s a total of 5 inches right?!? More on that revelation later. As previously noted, the dart is humongo, so rotated about half of it out to the side seam. That added enough room for my waist and hips (per the flat pattern measurements I did). Woo hoo! However, the dart was still humongo. Just as I was about to cut out the muslin, I realized I hadn’t done anything to the back to account for the extra length & width added to the front, so I cobbled something together for that. Then I decided to worry about the swayback/tilted waist/sloping shoulders thing later. Just a note, the bust dart is still humongo. Now, completely tired of RIMMing (redrafting in my mind), I decided to take a go at sewing it up. My friends, may I present, umm, Muslin 2:





Clearly more RIMMs needed!

RIMMing for Muslin 3:

In Every Sewers Guide to the Perfect Fit, Morris & McCann indicate that if you need a FBA to add more than 2 inches total, you should do a second alteration. There has been some discussion about this on the PR discussion boards, since the revised Fit for Real People (fondly known among PR members as, “FFRP”) came out and Patti Palmer published an article about it in the Spring 2008 issue of Sewing Today. Basically, under the Morris & McCann method you do the well known FFRP FBA to add up to a maximum of 2 inches, and then you do a second alteration emanating from the upper chest/shoulder area and cutting through the waist dart to add another 2 inches. I worried that this alteration to the chest area would add fabric where I didn’t need it, as I don’t have much extra fluff above my full bust & I have sloping shoulders to boot. Morris & McCann make it seem as if 4 inches is the total maximum FBA you can do with this 2-step method, but the Palmer article in Sewing Today didn't seem to put any limitations on the amount. I guess if one needs an extreme amount to accommodate a full bust, one may have to compromise on the fit at the shoulders a bit.

Muslin 2 showed me that the fit is better in the neck & shoulders & upper chest with the smaller size. But I added too much with my FBA. Also the fit over the waist and hips is a bit more generous than I intended. The back and underarm/side seams need some serious attention. And at this point, I don't even know what size sleeve to cut. I think once I get the front & back fit worked out, I can just measure the AH opening and trace the closest size and alter it based on that measurement. Anyway, for Muslin 3 I will try the 2-step FBA, but I will also transition from one size at neck, shoulders, and armhole to the appropriate size(s) at the side seams for waist and hips. Maybe I can kill two (or three or four) birds with one stone?

Okay, I'm a bit tired of thinking about this project right now. Aren't you? I thought so! So later this week I'll post pics of some other things I'm working on.

Have you ever thought so much about something . . .

That you thought yourself out of the solution that was right in front of you? Well, my recent trip to the bra fitters threw me into a tailspin on what to do about my FBA. It has made for very restless nights when I should have been sleeping so I could wake up early, get through work and classes, and get back to the drawing board and some actual sewing! Instead I find myself dragging through my daily activities and not having the time or energy to sew at the end of it all, only to fall into a fitful sleep full of FBA calculations and R.I.M.M.s (redrafts in my mind). Anyway, I think I've got it now.
a. b.
a. draft based on chest measurement, with pre-bra fitting FBA & additional width added at side.
b. 2nd draft with post-bra fitting FBA, portion of dart rotated to side seam (but the horizontal dart is still humongo -- we'll just have to see how attractive that will be in fabric!).

Whatever the case, I'm tired of RIMMing so I'm going to sew up a second muslin this week. If (b) above doesn't work out, I'll try the Morris & McCann method from Every Sewer's Guide to the Perfect Fit (published in 1997 and republished as "Customize Your Sewing Patterns For A Perfect Fit" in 2001). In this method you do the regular FBA up to 1 inch (per side), then the follow with the second method to add another 1 inch (per side).

I don't know how strict those 1 inch rules are because I need about 2.5 inches to fully accommodate the Girls. Its going to have to be a bit of trial and error at this point. Also, I think I have to RIMM whether opening up the chest area above the bust will work for me, since I don't have much fluff up there, have sloping shoulders, and have already been contemplating adjusting for a hollow chest to get a better fit across the chest and shoulders. I'm not trying to overfit this shirt, but my RTW tops & jackets tend to collapse in that area and I just don't like that look.

In Process: CWS Sans Frill

Well, here's the first muslin (in muslin) of BWOF 08-2007-126. I intentionally left off the bit of frill on the button placket and cuff as I wanted a straight-forward look to this shirt and I think the longer cuffs & pintucks at the waist add enough visual interest. Overall, I think the fit is at least as good as ready to wear ("RTW") usually is for me. In the interest of full disclosure, I tried this BWOF straight as drafted based on my full bust measurement to see if I could get away without a full bust adjustment ("FBA"). I think it worked if I just wanted to achieve "as good as RTW" fit, but that's not why I sew. Anyway, since BWOF is drafted for a C cup, I believe, and I haven't been a C cup for a while now, I'll have to do a few things on the next muslin:

• scoop a bit out of the lower back seam. I've never really sat down and analyzed whether that extra fabric clingyness is due to a posture, sway back, or tilted waist issue, or combination of some sort.
• work on that poufy sleeve cap. I don't think its a redraft issue, just more attentive sewing.
• redraft the collar a bit. The band stands a little too tall for my neck & I think the center front should be a gentle curve -- not squared off as called for in the pattern draft. That's just my personal pref.
• since the neck and shoulders are too big, I'll trace a smaller smaller size based on my high bust, then do my FBA to add the extra in the dart, move the bust point down, & add needed length.
• finally, the FBA may fix that pouch of fabric in the front, but if not, I'll fiddle with the waist shaping a bit.

Well that's all for now. Off to work on a skirt I traced off this weekend.

The New "Classic" Crisp White Shirt

As I mentioned before, my next project is a classic white shirt. I was going to do Sandra Betzina's Vogue 7903, but having read several reviews on PR, I decided it was a little to "blousey" for my purposes right now.
So I flipped through some of my BWOF mags and came up with this one:
I really like the classic collar & band, jazzed up with the longer cuffs. And I especially LUV the pintucks at the waistline! I've got it traced out and I'm going to do a full on muslin since I haven't worked with BWOF patterns in a while and I have all new measurements (thanks to DBF) to work with. Let the games begin!

Not-so-classic Crisp White Shirts

Okay, one of the paralegals I work with loves Oprah. Anything Oprah (or one of her endorsed guests) says goes. For instance, right now she's on a red wine kick because Dr. Oz — an Oprah endorsee — said red wine was good for your heart, and although red grape juice has similar benefits, it’s not as effective. To boot, alcohol has an instant, coma-like effect on said paralegal, so she doesn't really drink. Can you say "lightweight?" Most importantly, she HATES red wine! So now she's got her husband running around town looking for red wine varietals that she can "tolerate" enough to take her nightly 4 oz. dose of "medicine." Apparently, having to choke it down like those bad-college-shooters mixed out of scrounged up dorm liquor doesn’t seem to faze her. I, and everyone in the office, have given her permission to switch to the grape juice, but she won't budge.

Don't get me wrong, I like Oprah and I love how inspiring and introspective she can be. But I thought I was equally inspired and introspective in my own way, until I failed Oprah's "what's the single most important piece of clothing in a woman's wardrobe?" test.

It's the classic, crisp white button-down shirt — of course! The day after that show aired the ladies at work were talking about it over lunch. I hadn't seen the show (I'm a hard-core HGTV fan), but I did guess that the crisp white shirt was the most important piece in a wardrobe, followed by the classic trench. I swore up and down to the ladies at work that I had a whole closet full of them! See:

That conversation put a bug in my bugaloo, so this week I decided to rock my $9-Lord & Taylor-cranberry-red-cashmere-sweater with a crisp, white shirt. I failed to notice, however, that all of my white shirts have 3/4- or bracelet-length sleeves. Not a single full length sleeve to be found! I just knew I had at least one french-cuff shirt in there! NOT! Nothing worse than a 3/4-sleeve cuff "bump" to ruin the line of my cranberry cashmere ... not to worry, I rocked it anyhow!

All this to say ... my next project is to get off my process-paralyzed tush and get working on a button-down, crisp white shirt with fabulous cuffs!