T-Shirt Block: Burda 2012-09-123 part 2

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OK, let’s get down and dirty. First off…

Size Selection & Pattern Alteration

pattern-alt-0I used my TNT cowl T pattern McCall 6078 to compare the Burda sizes with. 34 came closest, though according to sizing chart I’d be between 36 & 38 by bust measurement. I think Fit for Real People mentioned Burda 34 is equivalent of Vogue size 8, which is what I’m now using as my go to size with FBA.

Overlaying size 34 Burda 2012-09-123 (translucent tracing paper) on my adjusted M6078 (opaque paper), I decided for the back pattern to follow the M6078 shoulder line and side seam, trace the neck and arm scythe seam lines but cut on the Burda pattern cut lines.

The front was harder to compare since M6078 is cowl neck. So bust up is probably wider than a standard T-shirt block would require. So the only change I made initially is to graded out to size 36 at the underarm to match M6078.

Muslin no. 1

OK, these aren’t the initial results. I forgot to take pictures. These are after I made some further tweaks:

  • Lower CB neck slightly.
  • 1/2″ sloping shoulder adjustment on front.
  • Truing the side seams by adjusting the front side seam curve to match back side seam curve – making sure that CF and CB are parallel (front pattern is now about 1/2″ wider).
  • Lowered underarm part of arm scythe by about 3/4″.

I thought I’d fit the bodice first.

Looks good…
Looks goodish…
Ugh, slight sway-back wrinkle still.

All in all I thought it fitted relatively well. I think I’m giving up on the sway-back adjustment for knit. I just can’t seem to completely get rid of those wrinkles in the lower back.

Then sleeves on. And what’s this?

Armhole grew, shoulder lengthened.
OMG bad case of wrinkles!
Readjusted for back photo.
And that sleeves, that over generous sleeves.
I can pinch ~1″ at upper arm.
And even at underarm.

They weren’t kidding about sleeves stretching things out were they? And I thought I was being clever fitting the bodice first to avoid any problem there throwing off the sleeves. Maybe that theory would work better with woven.

Part of problem might have been the wrong choice of fabric. This mid to hefty weight 100% cotton interlock jersey from Tissu Fabrics / Tia Knight stretches and stay stretched…Until the next time you wash it maybe. Then it’ll probably shrink on you. It is however quite lovely to touch and to sew with. The color range is also fabulously vibrant. Bright enough to need sunglasses.

But I don’t know. It’s not really me. I just can’t think of what to do with a fabric like this with little drape, a bit of heft, yet not stable enough for a light jacket or something.

m6612-style1-1I had used up some of the Turquoise for an earlier T-shirt Block attempt based on McCall 6612. I don’t feel chic in the result. So it’s only worn at home as a slob out top. Hence I’m not feeling motivated to use up what’s left of the Turquoise. I’m not even motivated to finish this first muslin.

And I still haven’t touched the 3 meters of the Bright Orange! This might be the rare occasion when I give away the fabric, send it to a better parent who know how to cultivate it to get the best out of it.

BTW the colors in the shop photos aren’t quite accurate. Even my Turquoise photos here look different from real life. It’s a bit duller and less blue. But the Bright Orange is brighter and not so yellowish and warm. That’s the peril of internet shopping. But I did read somewhere that Tissu Fabrics do send out swatches. Trouble is I’ve just never been patient enough to wait for swatches through the post!

Anyway, the pattern is now further adjusted and ready for Muslin no. 2. Stayed tuned.

T-shirt Block. Again. (aka Burda 2012-09-123 part 1)

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So while Saffy’s at the sewing machine hospital, I decided to tackle fitting for my upcoming projects…By way of a detour of course!

I needed to get to grip with Burda sizing. So I’m using Burda 2012-09-123 as a basic T-shirt block.

bs-2012-09-123_tech   fabric-gold-lycra-wrongfabric-gold-lycra-right

The plan was originally to use the muted gold lycra from Tissu Fabrics / Tia Knight as muslin. But I’ve since fallen in love with it. Especially after seeing Dolce & Gabbana’s Fall / Winter 2013 collection…


Photo credit: Style.com

I loved Byzantine art when I took art history in college. All that old muted gold. Yum.

So the new plan is to make a proper version of Burda 2012-09-123. After much deliberation, I’ve decided to use the shinier side for the shoulder detail pieces and the darker, more muted side for rest of the body. I want to avoid my trunk from appearing thicker than it is.

Then play with the different tones of gold fabric paint to create mosaic design or Byzantine icon of some sort on the front. Hopefully one of the gold fabric paint will match the shade of the fabric’s shinier side. I might also add a line painting of something like this on the back!

(Machine embroidery design from Urban Threads.)

If I only had an embroidery machine…Though it still wouldn’t help on a stretch fabric like this!

Next up fitting alteration & muslining…

T’was a unlucky weekend…

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…when no sewing can be done. Because…

Saffy the sewing machine is still sick. And on top of that, my Horn Eclipse Sewing Cabinet‘s lift mechanism had decided to pack in too. Being of superstitious stock I’m blaming it on Mercury Retrograde.

So Saffy has been sent to the local dealer for “Servicing” on Saturday. And with the retrograde ending today and the dealer being closed for Sundays, fingers crossed that when they get around to her it’ll be a simple “Servicing” to fix the whacky tension problem (and not some major operation that’ll take months and cost a fortune).

As for the cabinet, I think the problem might be a tension wire gone off track. One of the two grooves on the black dial is empty. I suspect the wire is suppose to go into that empty groove. I can’t think why else there would be two grooves. Does anyone else have an Eclipse and can check for me where that wire is suppose to go?

We tried disassembling the lift to get the wire back in place. But there’s no clearance above the dial to maneuver the wire back in place. I have absolutely no idea how the wire managed to escape in the first place.

The cabinet is less than a year old as well! I’m hoping Horn Furniture will be nice about it and help me get it fixed. Wish me luck!

Franken-patterning

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So, winter has returned to London again after a week’s break. And despite my recent ‘achievements’ I still feel like I have nothing to wear when I dress for work in the morning.

With that in mind I decided my next projects need to be practical winter tops that I’ll be able to wear immediately. I have a light weight wool jersey and a sweater knit I want to use up.

fabric-lt-wool-jersey-001I’ve been eying Burdastyle 2011-11-114 for the light-weight wool jersey ever since the pattern came out. But I’m not convinced by the weird upper back, the dropped shoulder with skinny sleeves (is that a weird bump I see at the shoulder tip seam?), nor the length (seems like it’d only be good with skinny pants and pencil skirts). But I love the wrap front drape. So I’m thinking of a Franken-pattern with shortened Burdastyle Blumarine 2011-06-139 bodice and sleeves (what I originally planned for the turquoise leopard print fabric – I might still make it yet) + the front neckline of Burdastyle 2011-11-114.

bs-2011-06-139_tech-mod + bs-2011-11-114_tech-mod = goal-lt-wool-jersey ?

fabric-sweater-knit-001And for the sweater knit, I’m thinking of a silhouette like this Jigsaw sweater I got from a friend during a cloth swap.

inspiration-jigsaw-sweaterI loved that sweater. I didn’t think I would. But its 60ish vibe worked really well with both skinny pants and this A-line skirt I also got during the cloth swap. Oh how I cried when I accidentally shrunk the sweater. I was considering knitting a replacement, but knitting takes too long and my knitting skill is unreliable.

So, I’m thinking of using Burdastyle 013-02-121 Flared Tunic as the base, drop the front collar slit, tame the sleeve flare a bit, shorten the tunic, and add a wide tube collar.

bs-2013-02-121_tech-mod  =>    goal-sweater-knit   ?

What do you think? Would either of these mashups work? Or am I mad like Frankenstein? 🙂

And you, do you do much pattern mashing / Franken-patterning?

Psychedelic Leopard 3: Modified M6078c cowl neck top

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So this was suppose to be a shortened Burdastyle Magazine Blumarine 2011-06-139 wrap dress. But after I traced out and altered that pattern, I just couldn’t squeeze the wrap top out of the leopard print fabric. And I laid out pieces for all 3 projects at the same time to conserve fabric too. No luck. So another sleeveless cowl top it is then.

As V1282 has all the drape from bust down, I decided this one should have all the drape from bust up. Just for variety you know. So people don’t think I’m wearing the same stinking top day in and day out! (Not that my DOH could tell the difference.)

The Pattern

I made M6078 view B before and was quite pleased with the result. So I’m sort of using this as a TNT pattern / design block for cowl neck tops in moderate stretch knit fabrics.

Style Shots & Mug Shots

Fabric & Notions Used

Size Used

XS (4-6) like my last make of M6078 view B. Recommended size for me would be M (12-14).

Changes Made

Fitting changes = Adjusted M6078 view C pattern
m6078cMod-2

M6078 view C pattern (minus SA) on top of my final pattern (with SA)

  • Wide Shoulder Adjustment: 1/4″
  • Rounded Upper Back Adjustment: additional 1/2″ on back shoulder, eased during sewing
  • Misc shoulder / upper-back adjustments (based on fitting assessment of my last make):
    • Raised front shoulder/neck point by 1/4″
    • Lower back shoulder/arm point by 3/4″
    • Raised CB Neck by 7/8″
  • Narrow Lower Back Adjustment: 1/4″ at under-arm to 1/2″ at waist
  • Sway Back Adjustment: Slashed across waistline & overlapped 3/4″ lengthwise at CB. Redrew CB below waist and removed 7/8″ width from back hip as a result. Added back 3/4″ lengthwise at CB hem.
  • Narrowed bodice for a more fitted look: 1/2″ at under-arm to 1″ at waist
  • Shorten hem 2″
  • Raised armhole by 1/4″. In retrospect I think I should have left it alone. The result was slightly tight. I raised it because the armhole of my previous make seemed a bit low. But that could have been because I laid the patterns on the crosswise grain which is stretchier, so gravity might have pulled down the armhole.

Now before you say “Woah! That’s a hell of a lot of changes” I just want to say “not this time”. I’ve already made most of these changes when I made view B. There were only a couple of tweaks this time. But I listed all the deviations from the original pattern so it’s clear I’m not using the unmodified pattern. As you can see in the photo above, once I got a good fitting version of the pattern, making design changes is Play not Work! 🙂

Design changes
m6078cMod-1

Final pattern with design changes

  • Added a pleat in the front shoulder – like view B
  • Added a rectangular tube-like cowl collar by extending the facing outward from shoulder-neck point half the amount of back neck width
  • Raised CB neck / straighten back neck so the collar / facing wouldn’t sit too low in the back
  • Pleated the back collar vertically so more drape is on the collar outside than collar inside
  • Omitted the shoulder area loops
  • Used self-fabric binding tapes for armhole finishing

Verdict on the Instruction

OK, I didn’t follow the instruction this time as I was too clever for my own good. I thought I’d streamline the process and make 3 projects simultaneously production line style. I probably ended up spending more time on each than if I had followed instructions and done one at a time. But with my design changes I would have had to figure some steps out on my own anyway. The original pattern instruction is pretty easy to follow though.

Here’s how I constructed this one:

  1. m6078cMod-3Stabilized back neck line and armholes with Vilene Bias Tape.
  2. Sewed & overlocked side seams and collar / facing CB seam.
  3. Sewed & overlocked shoulder – back neck / collar – shoulder seam, applying clear elastic in the process to stabilize the shoulder seams.
  4. m6078cMod-4m6078cMod-5m6078cMod-6

    Turned CB collar / facing edge inside and slip-stitched to CB neck seam (like I did for my Golden Cowl Neck Tunic – are you getting the same sense that I LUV COWL??? :-D)

  5. Pleated the back collar / facing vertically, leaving only the desired collar height on the inside (in my case about 1-1/2″ on the insTextide). Secured the outside pleats to the inside collar / facing portion with a vertical stitch along the collar CB seam.
  6. Oops. Tried on the top and discovered the armhole was a bit tight. Ripped out the Vilene Bias Tape to allow the fabric to stretch naturally.
  7. Sewed binding tape to armhole (in the same method as instructed by V1282 I was making at the same time).
  8. Overlocked hem edge then turn and sew hem in place.

The usual Walking Foot and stretch stitch advice applies. I didn’t bothered with twin needles for hems because I always get a ridge between the two stitching lines and it drives me crazy! One day I’ll treat myself to a cover stitch machine. But I haven’t earned it yet.

This time I also omitted the interfacing for the hem and hoped for the best when overlocking. Unfortunately my fabric was too stretchy / difficult to control. I ended up spray starching the hem to temporarily stabilize fabric for overlocking and heming.

Would I sew it again / Would I recommend it to others

Probably not this particular pattern modification. It didn’t turn out exactly as I envisioned. Then again my visions tend to be a bit hazy! }:-)

I do like the concept, so I’ll probably play with this type of cowl neck again. I just need to figure out where exactly I want my drapes and where I want it snug.

I would most definitely recommend the original pattern, and for the more adventurous amongst you, playing with this type of modified cowl neck.