So many of you love the wrap front crossover style of blouse. Last week, I gave you information on how to remove the gap that just might happen on your diagonal crossover. As I explained, this is due to the crossover being on the bias and a bias cut typically will stretch and will often result in a gaping front overlap. If this is your first time reading on this topic, you may want to look back to last week's post.
This particular top is sewn with a very limited stretch knit fabric - meaning I did not size down my bodice blueprint. But I did use the series of underarm dots for Sleeveless Garments so that the underarm would pull up and in toward my body. Just remember, the stretchier your fabric, the more you will want to size down to accommodate the stretch of the fabric. You'll find information on sizing down for stretchy fabrics on page 6 of your Dress Kit instruction book. If you want to sew this from a woven fabric, just think ahead and plan for a center back zipper.
Have you ever heard of a ‘surplice’ style? It’s not a commonly used term. One definition is as a noun ‘a garment in which the two halves of the front cross diagonally’. As an adjective, it is defined as ‘designating, forming or having a closure with diagonally crossing halves as in a surplice neckline.’
The wrap crossover or ‘surplice’ is the topic of this blog. It’s a much-loved style and seems to be as timeless and popular as ever. It’s a great style for either dresses or tops and can be sewn from either woven or knit fabric. But it doesn’t come without inherent trouble spots. Let’s deal with two common issues – 1. A gapping crossover due to an incorrect dart width in your pattern and 2. A gapping crossover due to the stretch or give of the bias cut on the fabric to create the crossover wrap.
When using your Sure-Fit Designs™ Dress Kit bodice blueprint, we cover one major troublesome issue which is a full (or very full) bust. Typically commercial patterns offer a B-cup dart shape. Due to a fuller-than-B-bust that you might have, a wrapped surplice on your torso will no doubt gap open. That’s the nature of a dart that is too small for your full bust. But of course, many of you already know there is no need for a Full Bust Adjustment (FBA) with Sure-Fit Designs™ when you choose your correct bra cup size with our unique Adjust-A-Bust template. In drawing your body blueprint, you’ve used the bra cup shape on the template that will give you the best shape of dart for your full bust. That is going to solve much of the gap issues that a surplice wrap often presents.
One down, one to go. The dart width you’ve chosen is correct for your body, so why would a wrap crossover style still gap? The simple answer is because that crossover in on the diagonal or bias of the fabric. As many of you know the bias offers the most give/stretch in fabric and therefore a gap can occur due to the fabric stretching on this diagonal cut.
(To view the above video, you may likely need to open this link in a browser window - https://youtu.be/nUrT-uEvhlU ).
It would likely be best to sew a mock-up of this style. If the front gaps slightly, you can dart this out in one of 3 places –at the bust level, the shoulder line, or the waist line. See the following illustrations. All 3 of these options in essence shorten the length of the diagonal crossover.
1. At the bust level, pinch out a narrow dart going to the apex. On the diagonal wrap line, mark point A then mark point B approximately ½ - ¾” (1.3 – 1.9cm) above A. Cut from A to the apex marking and cut on the top leg of the Designer’s Dart to the apex (the apex is the pivot point/hinge). Pivot point A up to point B allowing the pattern to open the dart making it just a little wider. Then make sure to re-draw the grainline from the bottom up and keep it parallel to your center front marking.
2. At the shoulder line, pinch out a narrow dart beginning at the neck point and tapering to nothing at the shoulder point.
3. At the waistline, redraw from the crossover point to nothing at the side seam, thereby shortening the length of the bias crossover.
Two more tips:
1. Adjust the crossover if necessary. Another issue that might occur is that the point at which the left side crosses over the right is too low for your liking. Simply re-shape the crossover point with your Designing Stylus so that this straight diagonal line now has some lift to it. True this lifted curvy bit back into either side of the diagonal line. It may look a little strange, but it will lay well on your torso.
2. Stabilize the crossover when sewing. As you sew this diagonal seam, most likely while adding the facing, insert a narrow stay tape to help prevent any further stretch.
You’re ready to wrap it up! See page 42 in the SFD Dress Kit Instruction Book (6th edition) and Style #1 in the designing book Beyond Bodice Basics, for a simple surplice design. Give it a try…you should be pleasantly surprised.
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Just in time for the new season of Game of Thrones...if you happen to be a fan. This dragon embroidery was stitched by Christine Shanahan, one of our Sure-Fit Designs UK sewists. She did a fabulous job and Wes (my DH and your cameraman) ended up with a new T-shirt.
But my DH is definitely developing quite a rounded upper back, so this is a good opportunity to review how to refine the back neck, lift it up and make it fit better.
Here's a photo of what a typical ready-to-wear T-Shirt looks like on his neck and back.
Notice how the front neck ribbing is riding high, the back neck pulls down and definitely doesn't cover his rounded upper neck hump, and the shoulder seams...oh they are riding so far back from his natural shoulder position.
To correct this on his Sure-Fit Designs Shirt pattern, I used to simply raise the center back neck point about 5/8", but recently I've also split the pattern and added more lift.
After you've slashed and spread open as shown above, you would typically true Center Back with a slightly rounded CB seam. But because this was sewn into a T-Shirt, which doesn't usually have a center back seam, and because I wanted to place the dragon embroidery in the center of the upper back, center back was trued and straightened. This neck lift is still there, but the curved CB shaping is eliminated. Wes is definitely fast becoming a candidate for a shirt with a CB seam due to this upper neck rounding.
With the CB now lifted, you can see how much better the fabric comes up and over top of the back neck rounding. And notice the shoulder seam - it is sitting where it is supposed to - on the top of his shoulder line. Such an improvement. Just look back to the olive green T-shirt above, the simple splitting and lifting of the CB makes the difference of night and day to how it is riding on his body.
This particular top is sewn with a very limited stretch knit fabric - meaning I did not size down my bodice blueprint. But I did use the series of underarm dots for Sleeveless Garments so that the underarm would pull up and in toward my body. Just remember, the stretchier your fabric, the more you will want to size down to accommodate the stretch of the fabric. You'll find information on sizing down for stretchy fabrics on page 6 of your Dress Kit instruction book. If you want to sew this from a woven fabric, just think ahead and plan for a center back zipper.
