2025 March. Finish No 2. TDCO trial garment.

The story so far? In January, took measurements using a WIDE paper strip, which led to cutting out a bigger size than usual. Prepped a temporary waistband, just a little narrower than the recommended since I don't have a flat front, anywhere. Snipped seam allowance above most prominent places - I was surely going to need shaping at high hip. Prepped worn-out sheet and pattern, New Look 6130. 

In February, started with the one legged muslin, getting a first approximation to front and back rise, to side seam ease at high and low hip, and to dart length and position. Lots of attempts - I'm new to this - and struggled to get enough sitting ease without too much jodphur effect on the outer thigh. I thought it a case of too tight at high hip rather too loose further down. Partway through adding the second leg (after carefully calculating circumference/s) realised I'd misread the seam allowance on the long seams. Had to restitch wider seams, and rework the rise and the darts.

 

Tried to add a little to the back upper leg extension for sitting room, however that sagged and rubbed when standing and walking, so didn't keep that change. 

Restitched the first leg and joined the two to get a feeling for torso fit. Indeed, there was pressure on the spine and belly, 

And in March? After a lot of what-if-ing, I departed from the method, in order to move fabric towards my centre front, which isn't flat. I angled out the straight bit of the seam, adding a tiny dart each side of the tum to restore size at waist. My swayback needed a similar treatment with tiny darts either side of the spine. 

Learned something from the way the fabric drapes below the tiny darts, it flows away from the body below the points. With this insight I rejigged all the darts, including the sideseam curve which falls on a flattish part of my hip. 

Also clipped the scoop to the full 5/8" seam allowance, which makes a difference. Previously I'd cautiously only clipped 1/2". Surprisingly more sitting room for such a small change. 

Shortening the back dart also helped sitting ease without disturbing the standing fit too much. 

At this point, I was ready to try slightly better fabric. I'd inherited some blue and cream woven cotton(?) with irregularly spaced stripes. The wrong side reads as chambray from a distance. Vertical placement would inform the fit, and I chalked the horizontal balance lines on. They don't show in the photos, but did in a mirror. The waistband in slightly narrower again, 1¼“ finished width. 

Once the legs were stitched, I finessed the darts, and fixed my iffy attempt at lengthening the legs from cropped on a tall person to long on a petite.

 

On a whim, I wondered how much ease I could pin out at side seam, low hip and along the leg length, straightening below the knee. Surprisingly, a scant quarter inch evened out the ease, and was actually easier to sit in than the less-than-fully-clipped scoop yesterday. 

Am I worried about departing from the TDCO method? Yes, although my particular shape with high hip bigger than low hip isn't discussed for this or any method. Justification? I've catered for about an inch at high hip by changing the angle of cf and cb above the scoop, so it's probably valid to lose a total of an inch at crotch height. There are still 2" extra at that height compared to my low hip measurement, to account for overhang from the tum. I'll keep that change.

What else to say? 

Pleased with my waistband finishing, with the bias bound scoop, and with the totally bogus fly. 

I still don't fill the garment at the knees, but don't dare take anything away at upper leg, or much away at calf.  Maybe compare lower leg shapes with other patterns now I have a decent knee line marked, or reluctantly think about stretch fabric another time. 

A bonus. I've already used the temporary waistband to correct the elastic position on last year's joggers

I'm pausing the project now because of a minor health problem, a soft tissue issue in my foot is affecting posture. And because a little weight loss is likely to help my stability. But in the meantime, these thin pants are much comfier than any Rtw I have, and I'm alternating between them and a long skirt while the weather is mild

2025 March, Finish No 1, reknitting Teal jumper

Finished reknitting (yoke and sleeve caps) 

The story so far? Pattern was the Talvi Knits Moss Green sweater, and I had made it up in teal Aran. It had stretched during several winters across the shoulders, and had become uncomfortable. I partly wanted to keep it as an everyday jumper (no longer pristine, but not scruffy housework condition yet) and partly wanted to work out my own shape for future knitwear. The A-line sideseam shaping gave enough clearance for my hip crests, the garter stitch band at low hip de-emphasised my rounded tum. Sleeves are a good length and width. The garter stitch cuffs add an unobtrusive detail. Those sections are worth keeping. 

In January, I unpicked the top 8-10", and washed the yarn to get some of the crinkles out. In February the yoke was offset a couple of stitches towards the front (3 would have been even better), decreasing above shoulder blades to account for my curvature, and to give correct narrow shoulders for me. I also sloped the shoulders more by decreasing in three sections rather than the original two. 

This month proved to be trickier. I'd interpreted the pattern as needing more rows than stated at the back. Then found the front too short, and had to add four more rows. Of course, this was discovered after picking up and knitting the neckline. Wish I had also lowered the scoop two rows, but the yarn was getting tired, as was I. 

The real fun began when setting in the sleeves. Apart from one short row to compensate for forward sloping shoulders, they were knitted and measured to match the scyes. But once attached and all the ends sewn in - lots of ends with reused yarn of course - the caps weren't high enough, and the shoulder seams were dragged downwards at yoke edges. 

I'm still not sure whether the issue was those extra rows at back and front. Or whether because I measured obliquely along the slope and then attached rows pairwise at the selvedge. Whichever, I needed another half inch height. Since I had to carefully cut and unpick the stitching at top of the sleeve caps, and then the cast-off edge, I took the chance to round off the caps. The extra rows were added on the decrease every two rows section, narrowing the cast off edge by 4 stitches. Then, because I could see how the cap wasn't quite filling the gap, I chose to do one more decrease row. That's more Me-shaped. 

The all-day wear test has been a success. 

I might at some stage add a label or a button to help getting dressed, since the neckline is warm and high, I have to think about which is the front. 

Freya 2023 v4. still not a T&T tee

The last of this summer's tees. 

I retraced the v3a pattern ready to file for next time - well the sections were held together with pins and masking tape. Being a good software engineer, I had to make one more tee to test the tracing in case the bits had shifted, and to test taking another 1/8" excess fabric from front underarm scoop. Being a resource conscious human, I reclaimed fabric from a damaged pair of pj trousers (pink background, blue butterflies).  

Yes, I know it's an inch shorter than my preferred length. I used practically every undamaged square inch. And there's excess fabric at the underarm when hands are by my sides. I'd like to nibble it away if I can do it without affecting movement ease.

The piecing needed to reuse fabric tells me I 'need more practice' making horizontal seams in jersey - spot the stretch below front waist. Oh dear, another pathway for interesting experiments. First time using purchased stretch binding, always something more to learn, in this case to put the binding against the feed dogs. 

The overnight test wear tells me it looks better at front yoke than v3, and is really comfy.  No underarm friction sleeping or sitting, and flexible enough to reach the back of the kitchen worktop. Even this test garment, from last-legs fabric, was worth finishing. Hooray! 

EDIT: before I put the pattern pieces away, I compared them with the original TATB design. If I were to nibble away at the cap height as well as the overbust, it brings us closer to the original design, pulling the lower armscye and sleeve cap into the pit more. Maybe do this 1/8" at a time when I make winter/spring tees, so long as it doesn't affect movement ease. I don't dare shave anything off at abdomen height, otherwise the back won't drop again after I lift my arms.

Another EDIT: live dangerously, little mouselet. Since this poor fabric is already bruised and battered after years of use, let's experiment now. Can't spoil um. What I ended up with was taking in the front overbust in by 1/4", scooping a bit more at front armpit, and lowering the sleeve cap. Back overbust is unchanged. Interestingly, the upper arm is now a little tight, not restricted though, since the whole sleeve has narrowed as it moved up. So the flat pattern change was to pivot (a tracing of) the cap and raise the base 1/4". This widened the whole cap 2x1/8" at the base, which I trimmed off. Allowing the front to move in 1/4" each side, fading to nothing between underbust and waist.

And now I still have an incompletely tested flat pattern. Guess I will have to look out some autumn/winter fabrics. 

Still a work in progress. 2023 Freya v3

2023 v3 is really comfortable but not particularly elegant. Despite this being my umpteenth version of this pattern*, I'm struggling to find a fairly fitted version which allows reasonable movement.  The final picture in the collage is shows how I stand when using our kitchen worktop. A standard desk, too, needs a persistent zombie pose when you are 5'2".

 

* The distant ancestor was Tilly and the Buttons Freya tee. At each variation it has become more relaxed and the neckline lower. My earliest surviving version is still working well for formal occasions. It was a little black dress and underdress made for DD's graduation in December 2019. However, as my fitting was far from perfect, its intended negative ease was restrictive when attempting a range of activities.

The front is better than the back. As many people find, tees look fine at the back in the changing room, but ride up on the bony ridge at high hip as soon as you start moving around. This one is a little tight at underarm and bust. And guess what, I'd trimmed seam allowances too much on one of the iterations, so can't fix it on this version. I added a godet to the centre back which helped somewhat. Given fabric restrictions, it is now shorter than my preferred length. It does show my problem of  increasing fast enough as you go from waist to high hip, without letting the draughts in a couple of inches below that dratted ridge.

Verdict: Much comfier after  a round of armscye and sleeve cap changes, but still needs more practice.

I haven't helped myself by using old measurements - even though my weight is a fraction less than six months ago. The original measurements envisaged ease added later, whilst this time I wanted quite fitted. Your silly mouselet forgot to add in the bulk of a trouser waistband, again. On top of that, my posture does vary, depending how my back is doing. 

So... Ready for the next version, I've taken a new set of measurements using my most recent trousers. I used the bottom of this waistband as a landmark. Today the out seam on the trousers is tilting forward (it didn't a month ago, I checked the photos). Confession - I pinned the tee side seams an inch back of the trouser side seams and used them as my fixed lines.  I've added underbust and overbust front and back to my measurement set, which informs how much extra for sticky out shoulder blades due to sway back. This weekend it'll be time to trace the flat pattern and try again. 

Eagle eyed readers may have noticed I bumped the tee up the queue. I'd planned to work on the woven top  OOP Burda 8957 - last version comfy but poufy at the back - but realised I hadn't prewashed the fabric. Glad I waited. The new measurements tell me I need to increase back waist relative to the front. 

EDIT, Friday morning. I'm not allowing myself to cut fabric until the housework is done, but have done the Freya tee flat pattern adjustments. The paper fitting is promising. 

EDIT 31st July. V3a was made in the same fabric, without the godet. In fact, when I'd added a small swayback, the centre back seam was so nearly straight, I got out the ruler. I also moved some wedges of fabric from centre front, where it was pooling, to the sides where it was needed. Not just a successful test wear, it's been first off the dry washing pile to pair with the sage or coral trousers. So good that I retraced the revised pattern and made just one more tee . V4 was made from reclaimed fabric, pink background with blue butterflies. I'm even happier and think it deserves a separate post :)

Pleated pants NS258

You might remember I posted about multiple attempts at fitting trousers to my tilted pelvis. Not trivial. Well finally I have a pattern that fits, and a lovely pair of linen pants. I chose a pleated style because it provides some sitting ease at the tum, without adding much bulk when I'm standing. 

I'm describing them as sage, because they read as green in some lights, grey in others. It's a beautiful heavy weight fabric bought on Leeds market at least 5 years ago, that has been waiting for me to acquire the skills to do it justice.

Apologies that these are not properly pressed. Photos were taken before the test wear, so I hadn't confirmed the final stitching lines. They were fine. 

I'm at least the third custodian of the pattern, out of print News of the World 258. Does my garment look like the envelope picture? Well as close as someone with my proportions ever will.

What changes did I make? 

Design wise, I widened the legs for summer comfort, and have replaced the pockets with a patch pocket (not yet attached) to simplify the fitting process. 

Fitting wise, I need a shaped waistband, changed leg angle, different crotch curve, widen side seam especially at mid/high hip. Replaced back dart with two much shorter ones. Widened back thigh for sitting comfort. Small dart over front hip bone. There's a fuller list in my sewing diary. You'll get the picture that I'm nowhere near a standard shape, even though I believe I'm not unusual. 

Here's my pattern pieces overlaid on the original, folded to size 14. The angle on the centre back seam is from a previous fitting attempt, at the position of a knobbly vertebra. 

You'll see that I needed three shorten lines, 4" altogether. There's one stupid mistake - that somewhere during the trial process I lost part of the fly facing - which I had to work round. But mostly the differences are the sticky-out bones at front high hip, and the bony ridge at the same height all round the back. The sticky-out tum is mostly a consequence of sway back. I angled the zip to make room for it, rather than insert into a curved line.

At the end of all this, and after a full day's test wear, I'm really pleased that I can stand, sit or stroll in these. Yes, all three!

As a bonus, two of the toiles (muslins) are fit for pj's. The mint sheeting pair has been a favourite while we've experienced two hot weeks. That's probably the British summer for this year. 

Hope you're comfortable where you are. 

A tale of many toiles (muslins)

Fitting a rump is hard! For comfort, the trousers have to fit both standing (without sagging) and sitting (needing extra ease). 

Two tips I wish I'd known earlier. Put a temporary button and loop on, rather than trying to always pin in a consistent place. And stitch unadjusted seams with a toning thread, but put changes on with a contrast thread - so that I can undo the change, or bring it forward to the next version. 

Version 1 and 2 happened in April - starting with a skirt, adding leg extensions, and refining. Version 3 was cut calf length, blue ex-duvet cover leftovers. It sagged and bagged, but has been worn comfortably as pjs. Version 4, leftovers from the island dress, is less baggy and has been worn once comfortably as pjs. Both of these are only calf length, due to limited fabric, but are long enough to test with bended knees. 

Most of the changes were additions to the rump and upper inseam, then removing excess from the outseam. 

I prepped a new pattern from v4 for version 5, but have obviously missed something. Made it up full length, from a slightly damaged mint sheet. I made a quarter inch fisheye dart at the front waist, and added a little more width at lower cb rump. 

As at 31 May, I'm switching between removing 1/4"x2 from the cb seam at the waist, or the same amount split between the side seams. Also considering how much to lift at back waist, and across what width. Think there might be an adjustment at inner knee, too. 

The front is fairly good, the back I feel I'm just moving fabric from one wrong place to another. I hope D comes to knitting club tomorrow - she has a good eye for these things.

Edit 29 June. 

D made a couple of good suggestions. 

Here's photos of v3, v4 and v5

Mrs Mole's Fit-a-long: try me for a day

Here's the latest. Not perfect, but finished enough to wear around the house for a day.

Two changes in plan since the last post. 

When the sleeves went in, I stole 3/8" from the seam allowances at the armpit, leaving only 1/4". For just a little more movement ease. 

And there wasn't enough fabric for neck facings, but I did get bias binding from the pieces at the old sleeve caps. Good enough for a trial. 

A few notes from a half hour wear. 

It's the front that's pieced for lack of fabric, so the side seams are actually pretty straight. 

I've decided that this sleeve length is better for me, since I rarely stand with arms at my sides. 

Can't move the pocket down without revealing one of the ink stains. Did I say this was salvaged fabric? But I would prefer it lower another time I reuse one of DH's cast-offs. 

The excess fabric below back waist on the later shots happens after I raise my arms and then lower them. Normal for me. Do I go for a slightly looser back hip/rump so the garment will fall back into position naturally? A more coordinated person would rearrange their clothing many times a day. However, that's not going to happen when I'm focused on the person in front of me.  I'm inclined to shorten the dart at left back, lower end, to give a little more clearance anyway. A smidge more at lower sideseams?

  

There are still drag lines where those padded straps sit on my shoulder. Though trying on with the summer bra there's still some distortion. I can see where the ball of my shoulder sticks forward, so perhaps I've been falsely accusing. I want to try adding a little more to the shoulder seams there, more on the left (higher but lumpier side) than the right. Maybe raise the right shoulder seam the tiniest bit more at the neckline - though the left might be stealing fabric from the right.

PS Got the kitchen tidied and a few housework tasks done after I wrote this post. No problem at all using sink, worktops, cupboards. Sitting drinking nightime cuppa also fine, no friction at front underarms.

Mrs Mole's fit-a-long: bodice tweaks, the pictures

Rather belatedly here are the picture taken just after the tweaks in last week's post. (Goodness, it it a week ago already?)

Since these were taken, I've replaced the temporary blue sleeves with gingham (from the beyond-salvage shirt), stitched on the pocket a smidge further to the centre, tidied the hem and darned the tear. I don't think there are enough scraps for a mandarin collar, but I can probably piece a neck facing if I don't worry too much about which is grain and which is cross-grain.

I'm really glad I looked at these pictures on a bigger screen. I think the back will be improved  if I make the darts narrower, say 1/2" intake instead of the current 3/4". That'll probably help the incipient drag lines across the lower tum, too.

Also knitted more than I should have done, had fun with the family, caught up some admin and a tiny software project, and done more nature watching. (It's just past the peak of  pink foot goose season here, but there are still plenty on their daily commute from saltmarsh to stubble). A good week.

Mrs Mole's Fit-a-long: bodice tweaks

Some minor tweaks. Could have been tracing or marking errors, but all small changes.

At the shoulders, instead of letting out the 2" nearest the neck by 1/8", I increased the seam on the outer two thirds. That's much smoother (from the front at least) .

Undid the change to the bust darts, raising the point 1/8" back to the original. That helps. As a bonus, the top leg now runs along the cross grain, much nicer in this fabric.

The side seams kick to the back below the bust. I took out a 1/2“ wedge from the front on one side, 3/4" the other side (at the piecing seam). I prefer the hang of the larger amount. Of course, ages ago I'd added two wedges at different heights to the centre front, so it makes sense that there'd be a second adjustment at the side seam.

Saturday: put the size 14 sleeves in, trying the three row ease stitching. That is so much smoother at machine time! First attempt I could raise arms without discomfort to just above horizontal - but my kitchen cupboards are slightly higher than that. So used the seam allowance to make the armpit 1/4" higher. Now that's good enough for my regular activities. Cleaning high surfaces, raising both arms, will be slightly uncomfy, but I'm not likely to split any seams.

So cheer! And think about next steps:

From the dark green gingham, it's worth seeing if I can get an off-duty shirt, comfy and breathable but not elegant. Stitch the pocket back on to cover the inkstain (it's only tacked on so far) Darn the small tear on the back tails. Cut the original sleeves down using the size 14 cap - the cuffs are fine. Add a mandarin collar from what's left of the yokes. Wear it on a couple of days I'm mostly at home (hence the housework activities). It wouldn't take long to do any of these things, and would give me a really good wear test.

Trace the back and front, with the changes above, onto more permanent paper. Decide whether to risk the new fabric - I've chosen a fun mustard-coloured chicken-print poplin which has just arrived. Or to unpick a man's large gingham shirt, which was bought (during the bus strike/train strike/school holidays) precisely as a trial fabric. Hmmm, I know which I'd rather do, and which I ought to do.

Mrs Mole's Fit-a-long: Recut and starting to reassemble

Cut the back out as hoped, and got the bodice together.

A couple of things. 

The gingham helped me correct the grain line in the back darts as I pinned (not sure yet whether it was a pattern error or a marking error).

My notes said lower the bust dart 1/8“. D'oh, it needed raising that much. Or three white stripes on the gingham, which is nearer 3/8".  (EDIT - wonder if I happened to be wearing the summer bra instead of the winter one when I took the last round of pictures.)

And a thinking error. Although I marked the back darts on whichever side  happened to face me, whilst the gingham is reversible, the tail hem isn't. Doesn't matter unless I can hide the inkstains and the tear well enough to wear this in public. Unlikely! 

So what next? Stay stitch the neckline and clip the seam allowance (or at least release the shoulder seam stitching) That might show whether the slope still needs work, either at the side of my neck or around that confounded padded strap. 

Raise that bust dart. D'oh. 

Put the sleeves in temporarily. I've found a garment can suddenly look much better - or more usually much worse - when combined with the weight of sleeves. I'm still wary of the armscye depth, although it's now reduced back to the original pattern's depth. 

Mrs Mole's Fit-a-long: updating the flat pattern

Except for the armscyes, I traced the seam lines onto the existing pattern pieces. That was OK except for a 1/8“difference around high hip between front and back. Pasted the extra onto the front (it's easier to remove if not needed than to add it later). Folded in the excess. Most of those extra 3/8" allowances have been eaten into, but not entirely used up. 

Remembered the clever stuff to move that long thin dart to the sides, too. 

I took the chance to lower the bust point 1/8“. Happily it makes the dart legs more even, too. 

Then added a tracing of the original armscyes. Moved the shoulder point in 1/2“, front yoke 1/4“, no change to back yoke. After pivoting to my intended 5/8" higher than the last armscye depth, my front scye length was unchanged, and the back was only 1/8“ shorter. I can live with easing in that little extra. 

The green lines are my measurements, the red my latest stitching lines. Don't worry about the lapels overhanging the table. 

What we've got are additions to the shoulders to drop the neckline. A much bigger bust dart, and more width at that height. Wedges back and front to straighten grain lines. And a slight dome to the outer part of the shoulder seam to cope with padded bra straps. 

These pattern pieces are going to need retracing, but let's do one cut-and-check first.

Dug out a dead gingham shirt of DH's. It has a tear on one of the tails and a leaky pen stain, but that's ok for a test. 

But bother! While it buttons round me, I found (when I'd unpicked sleeves and side seams) that the fronts aren't quite wide enough at bust or hip. What a pain! The best I could do is unpick the yokes (and all that top stitching) and I'll join them to the sides tomorrow. No chance of turning upside down to get the buttons to be women's side, but again that's ok for a test garment. 

All the bits have been separated and seams pressed open to give me the best chance of cutting out.

EDIT Monday: of course piecing always takes me longer than estimated. (Why don't my estimates get better then?) And two nice and unexpected opportunities for company were grabbed with both hands. But I have got the yokes pieced to the fronts of the worn out shirts. Not thread-perfect, but within a couple of mill. And got my fronts cut out. About 1/2" shorter than my preferred length, but good enough for an evening wear test. (Buttoned the fronts right sides together, and placed the cf line down the buttonhole line) 

Something I know but somehow always surprises me. If you want to use a men's shirt hem, the armscye can eat your shoulder seam. I had not even a thread of wiggle room. 

BTW, the knitting needle runs along a stripe to connect the waist notches. And there is a lot of shirt tail underneath the pattern pieces. 

Something I wouldn't have noticed if not using woven squares. After I dropped the bust point by 1/8“, the top leg of the dart  points very slightly down Should have dropped the whole dart, and need to fix on the next tracing. 

I didn't get the back cut out tonight. I planned the layout and chalked the shoulder and waist points. There's barely enough width wise, but it'll just squeak out. There isn't enough fabric for the planned curved back seam, but I can use a dart above the yoke line, where the seam would have been. Again, good enough for a  test. 

Mrs Mole's Fit-a-long: a quick test wear

Yesterday I marked a possible new armscye. 1/2" narrower at the shoulders, 1/4“ narrower at front yoke, no change at back yoke, and 5/8" higher at the pit.

 Today I put the sleeves back in along the new line. That is nearly workable now.

I also pressed the seam lines on lapels and collar to see the proportions - that'll be fine. 

There are no particular pressure points. Would still need to do the shoulder shuffle manoeuvre to clean a high cupboard. On the other hand, I wore it over my tee shirt while making and drinking a cuppa. 

It was constraining at the shoulders and back but not sore when filling the kettle, drawing the curtains, getting mugs from a head-height cupboard, and reaching forward to the coffee table. I'd want side seam vents (which are on the pattern) for prolonged sitting, but will probably shorten to my usual length of 1 1/2" above the low hip line instead. Tum width is enough.

Next steps. 

Further changes to the bodice are going to be in the region of 1/4“, So it's worth transferring all changes to the flat pattern now. Then recut to test it. 

Additionally:

The left shoulder seam is pretty good, the right (more sloping one) could be a little steeper and shorter.

Drop the bust darts 1/8" or so. 

Lift the armscyes and shorten sleeve caps by 1/8" or even 1/4". They are now a generous three fingers below the pit.

No more changes to the yokes. 

By coincidence, the button spacings for  waist, high hip and low hip will transfer upwards to bust height. The lapel fold button is a little less, but it doesn't look ugly there.

Sounds like a plan. 

EDIT: Friday, marked all stitching lines (it happened to be right back and left front) on the right side with a scarlet pencil. Then unpicked the temporary collar and sleeves, undid shoulder seam, side seam and back darts. It's ready to trace another day.

Mrs Mole's Fit-a-long: testing those armscyes

Yesterday I tacked (basted) in a copy of the original armscyes, size 14. 

Today I smoothed out the shoulders (much better) and cut out the original size 14 sleeves-well, cut to their hem line to be a smidgeon shorter, because this era's sleeve lengths irritate the inside of my elbows.

I also measured the revised neck, and cut a size 24 (!) collar which was close to the total. I was a little short of fabric at the collar points, so there is hardly anything to fold in there. But itt's ok for this purpose, which is to check the seam shape and the proportions. 

More importantly, I need to check the seam allowances at the neck, since a standard 5/8" was klunky at the collarbone - or maybe I just need more practice.

The sleeves went into the scyes ok. Looked fine on the hanger. Looked not too bad when my arms are by my sides. But oh dear, it'd be a disaster for a zombie. (photos to edit and insert here)

The cocktail party stance is OK, but reaching forward to type, wash up, or any of those daily activities is awkward. Reaching high with both arms to work a whiteboard or hang a curtain is impractical - you could just do it, but not for long.

So I'll need to revisit those armscyes and/or the sleeves. Options include :

Widening the sleeves to reduce the pressure - though they are not tight at the biceps. 

Narrowing the shoulder seam by about 1/2“ back to my preferred width. Which would steal a little depth when armscye is rotated to reach the overbust line. (And a little more because the shoulders won't drop.)

Shorten scye and sleeve for more movement ease. But not so much it compromises the semi-fitted feel. Could I use the size 12 or even size 10 outlines?

The smallest test I can do is use a tiny seam allowance, 1/4" say, at the armpit. See whether that improves things, and if so, how much. 

EDIT: I tried shaving the seam allowance. The extra 3/8" does make a difference. There's a sense of pressure but not discomfort now when in typing or washing up posture. Zombie is just about possible, though pretty uncomfy, However cleaning high cupboards would be out of the question. I need to lose at least 5/8" in depth.

Next sewing session, I'll shorten the shoulder seam, Then patch in extra fabric and use the size 12 or size 10 scye.

EDIT: Tuesday evening, patched in some extra fabric. Oh dear, this area is looking like cardboard. Then marked out a possible new cutting line, 1/2" narrower at the shoulders, 1/4“ narrower at front yoke, no change at back yoke, and 5/8" higher at the pit. 

Mrs Mole's Fit-a-long Better back darts

After making heavy weather for the last week or so, today was fairly plain sailing. Maybe I'm straighter today (And it does help to wear the same bra each time).

Shortened the darts 1.5“ at the bottom, and half that at the top to the old bust line mark. Kept at their narrower than original intake of about 1/2“.

Then the saggy side 'panel'. My first estimate was take a wedge tapering from nothing at the yoke line to 1/4"at the bust line, and a steady 1/4" all the way down to the hem. And that's good enough. 

Next steps: Before doing the flat pattern manipulation to take out that very long narrow dart, I want to revisit the overfitted shoulder line. It works, but would be better with some smoothing.

And to revisit the armscyes. With repeated additions at the shoulder seam, they are even lower than the originals - a full hand width below the pit. I don't have a cardi, a jacket or a coat that would fit over such a low scye.

Sounds like a plan for next week. 

Mrs Mole's Fit-a-long : progress is slow

No pictures yet, or at least none worth straightening and cropping. 

Since the last post, I have been spending time most days tweaking the back dart. It's been various lengths and widths, but keeps coming back to somewhere near my original guess, taken from the horseshoe shaped stress lines when tissue fitting. Give or take change in the exact points, since I've added at the shoulders and yoke. 

Today for example I raised the hip curve at the side seams, which eased the tightness at the bony ridge/high hip. Makes sense, it will have dropped when fabric was added above.

Tomorrow I want to raise the lowest point by about an inch, for the same reason. And remember to wear the winter bra for fitting (Light clothing today for sunny autumn weather. The tide was in for my lunchtime walk, which brought the small waders close in to the shore)

The centre section now feels right, following the curves of the spine. However the oblique photos still show excess below shoulder blades at the sides and a little pulling at yoke and hh.

Try again tomorrow.

On a positive note, the secret knitting project just needs buttons and ends sewing in. The more public handbag- sized project, a set of hats for donation, has reached more than half the number I said I'd do, so I could send the completed ones off once they're photographed. And the decorating we said we would do in September has only one more step to go. 

Mrs Mole's fit-a-long: that wretched shoulder slope

Pressed seams and photographed.

Front is hugely improved now, when the shoulder seam is in place, though the padded straps on my winter bra show through. The seam stays fairly well, but still creeps backwards when I move both of my arms at once.

However, the shoulder seam is ropy on the slopiest bit of my neck, three finger widths, about 1.5". Does it need a wedge of fabric? Let's release the stitching a bit and see how big a wedge. Hmm, about 1/4" at the stitching line. Coincidentally, that's how much I gain if I straighten out the 'dome' that was on the original pattern, and has worried me from the beginning. The other glued-on strip is the extra 5/8" depth added a while ago.

 

And is it any better? Rather, I think, but not enough to write home about. It feels better, anyway.

Last night I had also tackled the oddly placed (my bad) waist dart. Moved it 3cm towards the centre (estimated from the stripes on the fabric) to its more usual place under the shoulder blades. Also shortened the lowest point by 4cm. Now the lower bodice has moved down, the dart needed adjusting to clear the bony ridge. 

This area could still do with some work - though I think the problems are just clearer rather than being oblique to the standard shots.

Once that's done, there is a chance of seeing where excess fabric can be pinned out, roughly shoulder blade to waist. At some stage the asymmetry of the prominent right shoulder blade could be dealt with, there's half an inch difference in waist-shoulder measurement. But one thing at a time.