Sunday 26 November 2017

Operation: Outerwear II, The Blue Wool Jacket (Burda 6461) (Part I)

Unbelievably, I have actual PROGRESS on a piece of outerwear to report! It's a seasonally appropriate miracle!

Pattern Choice

I am using a Burda envelope pattern, Burda 6461, which is... well, let's be honest, it's not a very exciting pattern. I am using view B, as below:

Burda 6461 and view B technical drawing
I ended up buying this wholly uninteresting pattern specifically for this project this week (on sale for half price, at least) despite my MANY back issues of Burda with bookmarked jacket patterns and my MANY other pre-existing jacket patterns, for two reasons:

1. The amount of fabric I have. I bought the fabric at a craft fair last year. It was the end of a roll and I was told there was 2m and it was 155cm wide, which ordinarily would be quite enough for a jacket of almost any description. However, when I got it home and unfolded it I was extremely annoyed to discover that although I did have 2m in length only 1.5m was at the full width as a large piece had been chopped off one end. This took a lot of potential patterns out of the running.

2. My pattern requirements were really specific: I wanted my jacket to be lined, have pockets and a simple (not notched) collar, and be designed with a single-breasted front with visible buttons (because I have some great buttons for this jacket!). I wanted the pattern to either be the length I was looking for (mid hip) or be very easily adjusted to that length. I also wanted it to have princess seams and a two piece sleeve. This is the exact jacket I wanted, boring though it is.

Fitting work

I am not usually much for a ton of fitting work. In my last post, however, I remarked that I wanted to go back to the drawing board with some of my fitting problems. For the last 18 months or so I've been quite lazily using a size 44 with only very minor adjustments, and I've been paying for that with, in particular, extremely poor fit through the shoulder.

Since then I've spent some time revisiting a whole bunch of different things in all kinds of different books and websites and blogs about determining what size one should pick as a starting point. The most common suggestion is to start from a smaller size at the shoulder and blend/grade/adjust as required below that point. With this in mind, I decided to take a whole new set of measurements and see whether that helped me. With making a Burda pattern, I also had the long form of the Burda sizing chart to use. Several of the measurements have vanished from their size charts in the last year or so, but previously they always had neck circumference and various other measurements to help you pick a size, which I thought might be useful.

My size outcomes based on Burda's charts were as follows:

Neck: 40
Shoulder width: 38/40
Upper bust (calculated from full bust minus 7.5cm for a C-cup): 44
Bust: 44
Upper arm: 44/46
Waist: 44/46
Hip: 42

For the most part, this tells me nothing I didn't know. I have mocked Burda for years for their Giant Rectangle patterns, and yet I am myself a Giant Rectangle. The only reason my hip size looks smaller than the rest of me is that Burda, and most other pattern companies, draft for a slight pear shape and I am, in fact, completely rectangular -- my hip & bust measurements are usually identical. I also have barely any waist, and certainly not the slight hourglass shape that Burda draft for. (Actually, I have no ROOM for a waist as there's only the smallest possible gap between the bottom of my ribcage and the top of my pelvis. This has always been a curious relief to me. It's pointless for me to chase after a "perfect" hourglass figure -- no amount of weight loss could ever change my skeletal structure!)

For the purposes of this jacket, though, taking my measurements again was quite the eureka moment in terms of my neck & shoulder vs upper bust numbers. I am genuinely surprised by these measurements (and I did take them several times to check I was accurate!) because I wouldn't have said AT ALL that I was narrow through the shoulders compared to my upper chest or that I had a smaller neck than average. I'm still not convinced I do compared to like, actual people in the world, rather than the hypothetical fit model. I wonder how many other people would find their measurements put them 1-2 sizes smaller through the neck and shoulder than everywhere else

At any rate, armed with this information I decided there were therefore two possible routes to pursue: either start with a 40, and blend/adjust from the point of the shoulder down; or start with a 44 and adjust the neck and shoulder as required. I traced the top portion of both the 44 and the 40 onto paper -- just enough of a paper muslin to see how the neckline and shoulder would fit together. The 40 neckline felt too small and constricting. Moreover, the shoulder width difference between the two sizes was barely 0.7cm, and even with this width reduction the shoulder seam on the size 40 was still clearly going to hang down my arm as usual and require further adjustment. In the end therefore, after all that effort, I did exactly what I always do and started from a straight 44, on the basis that if I was going to adjust the shoulder anyway, it was easier to just cut the whole garment in a single size and plan to make a larger shoulder adjustment.

Muslin #1: The straight 44

Muslin #1 of Burda 6461
This therefore is a 44, straight off the pattern sheet. It probably helps at this point if you understand that all the RTW coats and jackets I own either (a) fit horribly and are uncomfortable to wear; or (b) are knit/fleece and the stretch therefore disguises most fit problems. So, when I say that the fit of this first muslin was "not bad", I mean: it was not as bad as some RTW coats/jackets I have owned, but it still had a lot of problems.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo on me as well as on Flossie here, so you will have to take my word for the fact that there were two blindingly obvious fit problems: 1. The bust point was too high, producing an empty bubble of fabric above my actual bust. This also meant the bust fit was a tiny bit too tight because the extra width was not where I needed it. 2. The shoulders were FAR too wide. Flossie actually has a pretty good approximation of my shoulder width -- it's not perfect, but it's pretty close -- and you can see just how much overhang there is. I ended up taking 2cm out of the width. Even if I'd started with the size 40, I'd still have had to take another 1.2cm out.

I'm not enormously experienced moving the bust point around with princess seams, and I wanted to see if I did or didn't have enough room at the bust once the fullness was in the right place. I therefore decided to adjust my paper patterns for the bust point problem and the shoulder width adjustment, which required me to redraw the whole armhole as well, and make a second muslin, just to check everything worked.

Muslin #2: Further adjustments

Muslin 2 of Burda 6461

Muslin 2: The bust adjustment worked great. The shoulder situation was better. Honestly, I feel like this still looks a little far down my arm on the left side as you look at this photo, but it didn't seem that way when I had my arms by my side -- I think holding the phone shifted it a little.

I then did a high round back adjustment, which was another major adjustment I intended to do in the first round. I was distracted by all my shoulder fitting shenanigans and forgot.

My next job, after I took this photos, was to work on the 'reach forward' problem. This is an essential fitting problem for me. Historically, all my RTW coats and many of my shirts and blouses both handmade and RTW have suffered from the problem that I get massive, painfully tight drag on my upper arms when I reach forward. You can actually see it in this photo -- look at the tight lines across my bicep on the hand holding the phone. Shifting the shoulder seams back up to my actual shoulder helped, but not as much as I hoped it would. 

For a long time, I had assumed the problem was in the sleeve fit around my biceps. I don't have small upper arms and I often do full bicep adjustments, but this never seemed to fix the problem. I started to wonder if that was just, you know, what happens if you wear woven sleeves, and I'm just spoiled by wearing a lot of knits into thinking that reaching forward to, for example, hold my steering wheel or open a door should not make my sleeves cut into me.

In my quest to re-read a bunch of fitting information, however, I came across a section that specifically address this problem. I ended up raising the armhole by 2cm and that made a HUGE difference to the fit and comfort reaching forward. It does mean I have a little excess fabric around the armhole when my arms are by my side, but I can live with that.

Doing that though meant I had to address the sleeve. Again, you can see in the photo that the sleeve of this pattern was a problem. Admittedly, I wasn't making much effort to get this sleeve in properly, but wow, there was a lot of excess fabric in the sleeve cap. A LOT. I took the sleeves in and out a few times while I played with some adjustment possibilities, and even the one time I got it in without a ton of pleating, the sleeve cap was really poofy and high. I ended up flattening the cap and taking out quite a lot ease, and that really improved the look of the sleeve when I was done.

That's all my progress so far! I've made all my paper pattern changes and tomorrow I'll start cutting out. With any luck, my next update will be a finished jacket!

Wednesday 15 November 2017

Another tunic (Knipmode 01-2017-13)

Finishing up with this season's Almost Pyjamas garments, I had thought to make another two tunics. In the end I've only made one. I've had a change of heart about the second pattern I'd chosen and as I hadn't cut it out yet like I thought I had, I've pushed it further along my sewing queue for now.

The tunic I did make is from Knipmode 01-2017, pattern 13 (also available on their website to buy).

Tunic modelled shot and tech drawing from Knipmode 01-2017

My attention was caught more by the technical drawing than by the modelled shot, which is rather bland. I really liked those interesting shoulder seam/darts, and the overall shape of the tunic with the curved empire waist seam.

My version, modelled by Flossie and me in my hall mirror again.
I used a lightweight purple ponte with a sort of leafy pattern on it in black and lighter purple. I am not usually very keen on florals, but this one is marginally more subtle than most. I originally bought it online thinking I would make a cardigan, but when it arrived I discovered that the wrong side is bright white. I needed to sew it using a pattern than keeps the wrong side completely hidden.

Knipmode sizing is a little bit different to Burda/Ottobre but this is also quite a voluminous pattern. The back, in particular, has a LOT of ease built in. If I were making a more fitted style I would in theory want a Knipmode size 44 through the bust at least, but I went with a size 42 with this garment and I really like how it fits. The slightly unusual shoulder/sleeve arrangement makes it hard to generalize about the shoulder fit (a topic in last week's post) from this pattern.

Sleeve/shoulder/front dart detail; the dreadful zipper insertion
I made zero fitting or design changes, except to leave the zips off the pockets. I never intended to do the zips, seeing no point to them, but if I HAD, the zip installation on the front would have put me right off anyway! The tunic on the whole went together well except for that zip, which went in very very badly.

I translated the instructions using a mixture of Google translate and the (very) few words of Dutch sewing lingo I've picked up, and they mostly made sense with only a little thought here and there. However, the zipper insertion instructions did not translate at all well. I puzzled over the results I got from Google translate for a while, but I still don't really understand what the original instructions were. Luckily, I had been looking at a tunic with a very similar zipped neckline in Burda just a few days before, so I decided to follow those instructions instead... except then I screwed up a critical part of it and made my life 100% more difficult than it needed to be. The final result is exceedingly substandard and home-made looking, which pains me. I mean, it's fine in the sense that the zipper goes up and down and from a safe distance it's not entirely horrible, but still: ugh. Luckily this tunic is part of my Almost Pyjamas wardrobe and won't be too in the public eye much at all.

Zip aside, I'm pretty happy with this tunic, and also to have used another Knipmode pattern! I am encouraged by this experience even with the troublesome zip (which would have been fine if I had just not independently made a major error), and I feel more than ever that I mustn't talk myself out of using my magazines just because there's a couple of extra steps involved in making things.

Next up on my sewing queue is a jacket. Yes, I know I always say that and then shock, horror, no actual outerwear is forthcoming. However, things are getting really awkward now. I have so much outerwear fabric! I still have no actual outerwear to wear as I've refused to buy myself a new coat when I have so many outerwear sewing plans! I have actually successfully made a coat (my red raincoat, which I have worn frequently even though it's totally the wrong colour for most of my wardrobe), so I know I can do it! I have no excuse, in other words.

Monday 6 November 2017

The 2017 Edition of Almost But Not Quite Pyjamas, plus Fit as a problem

Last autumn, I decided to experiment a little with the leggings-and-a-knit-tunic look for days when I am mainly at home. I wanted some new options for the sort of outfit that is Almost But Not Quite Pyjamas: perfectly respectable to wear if I have to answer the door or run to the corner shop for something, but equally OK to nap in. I didn't want to invest too much time/fabric/money in the experiment, because I wasn't sure how much I'd wear what I made, so I bought two pairs of inexpensive RTW leggings and made four also inexpensive tunics to go with them (see here and here).

A year on, I can conclude that this experiment has been quite successful, inasmuch as it's become my preferred outfit type on days when I don't plan to leave the house. In fact, I wore out the cheap leggings (they went sad and saggy) and two of the tunics are now looking shabby after frequent washes. When I was planning my sewing for this autumn/winter, expanding/replacing this part of my wardrobe was therefore top of my list of things to do. I bought replacement RTW leggings, but picked out four new-to-me knit tunic patterns to go with them. Here are the first two: (please forgive the photos, my main camera is having a problem so all I had was my phone)

Ottobre 02-2010-11 technical drawing, and my version on Flossie

First, an older Ottobre pattern, 02-2010-11, which is (bafflingly, as usual) called the "Journal" tunic in the magazine. It's actually two garments -- a three-quarter sleeved surplice bodice top and a longer sleeveless underdress that peeks out from underneath at the neckline and hem. This pattern has actually been on my To Make list for a long time, so I was pleased to actually get around to sewing it up.

Underdress on its own, and me wearing it
The underdress is extremely simple: the front is gathered above an empire waist seamline and attached to a skirt, but the back is just a flat bodice piece and skirt. The pattern calls for a turn and stitch neckline and armholes but that is not an edge treatment I like much, so I bound it the way I do t-shirts. Other than that, I did a small square shoulder adjustment but otherwise made up a size 44 as per the pattern sheet.

Why did I bother to take a photo of it on me? Well, empire waist has always been a problem for me in the past. In RTW I could NEVER get anything to fit where the seam didn't end up bisecting me more or less at the bust point due to having a large, slightly low bust. The seam position on this underdress isn't too bad, but it's still not quite in the right place! Something to think about if I make it again, for sure.

The two layers on me
The upper layer is very slightly more complicated to make as it's gathered at the shoulders and has the cross-over front, but it was still pretty easy. I again used a size 44 with no alterations except for the square shoulder adjustment. The neckline on this is hemmed first, and I was relieved my fabric didn't stretch out during the cover-stitching process. Actually, in general I made my life more complicated than it needed to be by using a very drapey, floppy viscose knit fabric that didn't really respond well to handling. The front turned out OK, but the back neck, which had a facing that I turned into a binding, not so much. I think if I made this again I'd try for a slightly firmer fabric just because I think it might hold up better to the manipulation required to put this top together. This drapey soft viscose is lovely to wear but not ideal to sew.

This was one of those projects where I went back and forth as I was making it on whether I liked it or not. I wondered if the print of the fabric was too childish. I wasn't sure if the empire waist seamlines were going to fall in the right place. In the end though, I really love it, with one major caveat that I'll come back to at the end of this post.

Burda 12-2016-112 technical drawing and my version as modelled by me in my hall mirror

My second tunic is a very simple short dress pattern from a fairly recent issue of Burda, 12-2016-112. I have to admit I ignored this pattern entirely when this issue came out as it's at the more basic end of Burda's designs. There's nothing much to it, but it seemed to me that it was a nice shape, and handily the pattern is suitable for either knits or wovens. The only real ~feature, however, is the rufflecuffs, which I loathe. I wear a cardigan or sweater like 90% of days, and I find it incredibly annoying trying to shove an extra half metre of fabric down my cardigan sleeve. That was easy to just omit though.

Burda 12-2016-112: Front and back view on Flossie
I made one other big change: I omitted the centre back zip as I was using a knit and cut the back on the fold, mainly because I didn't want to do stripe matching on the back. (Even though the side seams turned out perfectly! I even managed to match ABOVE the dart -- which to be fair was a total coincidence. I usually just work on matching below the dart since everything above it is usually hidden by my arm, but on this occasion it happened to work out perfectly. AND I matched side to side across the sleeve and bodice. Stripe matching win!)

The change to the back piece sacrificed a fair bit of back shaping but I thought the trade-off was worth it. Other than that, though, this dress is pretty much as written for a size 44, with only my usual square shoulder adjustment, and missing off the flouncy rufflecuff.

Stripe matching like a boss -- I can barely see my side seam in this photo! :D
The only tricky part with this was the v-neck, which was faced. I had two problems with this. First, and irrevocably, the neckline stretched a little when I was sewing one side of it (why one side and not the other?! Who knows!) and as a result the finished neckline looks slightly wonky. I didn't realize until I stepped back and looked at the finished garment so I didn't have a chance to fix it. I don't love this at all, but I am hoping it's the sort of flaw I forget about as I wear the thing.

The second problem was just: facings. I don't love them. I don't even like them. I came to absolutely despise the ones on this tunic because they would NOT stay put on the inside of the garment. I did everything I know how to do to make it work -- trim, clipped, understitched, pressed, stitched in the ditch at the shoulder seam, you name it. I ended up topstitching the thing in place. It doesn't look bad, but it's not the pretty clean finish on the technical drawing. I think I can lay the blame on my bulky, bouncy ponte knit fabric. Maybe using a different, lighter fabric for the facing would have been better.

I haven't worn this one yet, and my big qualm about this dress is how comfortable this ponte fabric is going to be. Fit-wise it's OK, if a little bit tight across the biceps, which is something to fix if I make it again. The sleeves are tight in a knit: they'd be unwearable in a woven. The fabric itself though is a bit polyester-y and scratchy. I'm wondering whether it's going to be very comfortable to wear.

The elephant in the room though with the outcome with both of these projects is that I really SHOULDN'T be using a size 44 straight off a Burda/Ottobre pattern sheet. Yes, the things I make fit, for the indifferent definition of 'fit' that 'similar to the fit I can achieve from inexpensive RTW'. I've fallen into the lazy habit of just using a size 44 (or the equivalent) because it addresses what is always my biggest fit concern in general with reasonable success. Above all I want to make sure that I don't draw even more attention to my large bust by having my tops gape or pull at the bust line. At the level of the bust point, a Burda or Ottobre size 44 works out well for this.

The shoulder width problem illustrated -- the line on the left is where the shoulder seam fall. The line on the right is the point of my shoulder
However, I'm really NOT a Burda or Ottobre size 44 at the shoulder. In the splodgy paint print tunic above, you can see how the shoulder seam is falling down my arm. Several of the patterns I've made up using the lazy 'just make a 44' sizing choice have ended up too big at the neckline and too wide at the shoulder, sometimes by quite a substantial amount. In knits, over-sized and loose-fitting garments, which collectively account for the vast proportion of my sewing over the last 18 months or so -- the same 18 months where I've been lazily making straight size 44s -- the problem isn't so obvious and doesn't tend to bother me too much when I'm wearing the garments in question. I will absolutely wear both of these tunics and I probably won't register the fit problems too much.

I have a LOT of woven projects in my queue, though, and very few of the handful of woven garments I've made have been successful from a fit perspective over the same 18 month period. Part of the reason I haven't made many wovens is that I know I need to work on fit before I start cutting into the fabrics I've been hoarding for those projects for a while now. As regular readers will know, the last 18 months have also been very difficult health-wise, so I've not really had the wherewithal to get stuck into a major fitting project. However, I'm now sufficiently fed up with the poor fit I'm achieving that I think I'm going to have to work on it properly.

In the very short term, I have two more knit tunics lined up to sew that are straight from the pattern sheet. I am sure they will have the same fit problems at the shoulder and neck, but it's too late to worry about it as I already cut them out. For other things I have lined up for the remainder of 2017 and into 2018, I am going to need to add a lot of fitting steps to the sewing process I think.