So Very Close

I knocked out the Pamela’s Patterns Magic Pencil Skirt Wednesday afternoon using some of the black ponte. I wanted to start with a simple pattern from her line to see how she does her drafting and fitting. I chose the high-waisted version, which she recommends for people with long torsos. That was a good decision.

I would say that her sizing is aimed at mature bodies. Her size range seems to be larger than standard, because I traced and made the Medium pencil skirt and still had to take in each side by half an inch at the hips (more on that in a moment). I left the darts in both the front and back pieces. I think the back ones could be adjusted a bit, but it is hard to do fitting adjustments like that by myself. I was happy with the way the skirt looked and fit when I was done. It just needs a hem. I put it in the coverstitch queue.

After I transferred the sizing adjustments to my version of the pattern, I compared the skirt to the bottom half of Pamela’s Classic T-Shirt Dress pattern. I was hoping that that pattern would fit better than the Tessa dress because Pamela’s version has bust darts. I traced the Medium—based on my high bust measurement, as suggested in the pattern—but when I laid out the skirt pattern on top of the dress pattern, I discovered that I was going to have to grade down quite a bit below the bust. Truly, I am shaped like a Barbie doll. I am larger on top, with a well-defined waist, but my hips are narrower than one might expect given my bust measurement. I actually graded down from a Medium in the bodice to a Small in the waist to an X-Small in the hips (!) in order to have the dress pattern approximate the same size and shape as the skirt pattern.

[This is exactly the problem I have with RTW dresses. If it’s big enough in the bust, it will be swimming around my hips. If it fits in the hips, I won’t be able to get it closed on top.

Yesterday morning, while waiting for it to get light enough to go out to the garden, I cut out and put together a muslin of the Classic T-Shirt Dress using the Joanns clearance interlock. My first impression was, “Wow, something that actually fits!” There were no gapes or wrinkles in the upper bodice. The darts were positioned perfectly. The dress skimmed over my hips, so grading down to that smallest size was a good move. I set the muslin aside to revisit after lunch, when I thought I might put the sleeves in just to make sure things still looked good.

I’m glad I waited, because after lunch I looked at it again with a more critical eye. I thought that the upper bodice was too long vertically. The top fit better when I pulled up an inch out of the shoulders, but then the bust darts were in the wrong place. The pattern has this note: “Do you feel as though the armholes in garments are often too long? It could be that you are shorter (petite) in this area.” It then goes on to describe how to use the shorten/lengthen lines to adjust the armhole depth.

I measured the pattern and the armholes are 10” deep. A 10” armhole is deep in a handknitted design. Personally, I think it is way too deep in a sewing pattern. And I am far from “petite.”

Back to the drawing board. I used the lines in the pattern to remove 1-1/4” from the armhole depth on the front pattern piece. Then I had to move the bust dart down. I made the same armhole adjustment on the back pattern piece and also on the sleeve pieces. I had enough of the interlock left to cut a T-shirt length out to test those changes, which was okay as I thought the bottom half of the dress fit well. (I added that 1-1/4” back in to the length below the bodice on both front and back.)

I think this may be as close as I get. (I hear Zede Donahue’s voice in my head warning against overfitting. Some sewists succumb to the temptation to get garments to fit with zero wrinkles, which is unrealistic.) The only other change I might make is to use a slightly larger seam allowance to get this to fit just a tad closer. The seam allowance specified in the pattern is 1/4”, which baffles me. Why do some of these designers use such a narrow seam allowance? Are they all former quilters?

I am comfortable enough with this version to go ahead and make the ponte dress. I think I could also use this as a T-shirt pattern because even though T-shirts usually stretch enough to accommodate the girls, I like the fit better with the bust darts. That neckline is way too high, though, for T-shirts.

All of this is good information that I can use in my classes. If you’re short, the Love Notions patterns will probably fit you well. (Whitney, of TomKat Stitchery, is 5’2”, which is part of why I think she likes that line so much.) If you’re taller than 5’5”, start with a pattern line drafted for taller people, like Seamwork. If you’re skinny, you probably will like the Liesel + Co patterns or Grainline patterns. And if you’re curvy, just go straight to the Cashmerette patterns. You’ll still have to make some refinements, most likely, but you’ll be closer to the goal than you might be otherwise.

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And now, back to the cowl neck top. I picked up this clearance fabric at Hobby Lobby on Wednesday:

Does this have enough pink in it that I could get away with wearing it? This is retina-burning, for sure. The fabric is 100% polyester, not rayon, but the drape is similar. I need to trace the smaller size of that pattern and put this one together.

Some day I will be done with all this fitting and can make the actual clothing.