Sometimes you might wonder what else you can do with the darts to make them kind of well...disappear. Most of you know, you really can't do that since you need them for shaping your curves. But you certainly can camouflage them by turning them into gathers or pleats. Or...you can incorporate them into a color-blocking design as Joy has done (Joyful Expressions).
Joy was copying a Burda pattern with her SFD dress blueprint and has done such a good job of explaining how to do this that I thought you should just see her video.
This is the Burda pattern that Joy copied. Keep in mind, she did not have this pattern - she only saw the design lines and thought she would transform her SFD blueprint into this shift-style dress.
This is her completed accomplishment.
And, here's the video showing you how she did it. (This is really Video #1)
Basically, your pattern would look like this illustration.
This is very definitely a great way to incorporate the dart for good fit as expressed in Joy's Color Blocking creation. (Joyful Expressions) Thanks for sharing and well done!
Yes this blog is not only dedicated to the lovely ladies who attended the SFD Fit & Sew Retreat this past August (it's hard to believe we're already in September and nearing the last quarter of this year), but also to the princess seam - in the pants leg, that is.
Why the princess seam? Well when you introduce it into your pants pattern, it simply offer the option of refining the fit of the pant leg even more. If you have a particularly flat butt, or very thin legs, or thin legs with a thick waist/torso, this seam is in the perfect location to truly shape that pant leg to your body curves. In some of the following photos, you'll see the difference it can make. So try not to negate or resist this concept, because once you've improved your pants fit to your satisfaction, you'll never go back.
Once again, ladies came from far and wide to attend this Sure-Fit Designs Fit & Sew Retreat.
And then the fitting. Notice the use of the princess line seam.
And if a princess line seam wasn't needed, the pants looked equally as good - in fact great on this diamond shaped hip student.
Just in case you are interested in how to add in a princess seam to the SFD pants leg, watch this short video - P.6.5 - How to draw a Fish-Eye Dart in Pants Back. And though you may not be adding the Fish-Eye dart, the process to add the center leg seam is clearly explained in this video.
And even though the October 2013 class has long been full, soon I will be posting the 2014 dates, so please stay tuned. Good fun and lots of learning is had by all.
Kindly,
Glenda
I hope you read last week's blog on my husband's dromedary-humped back neck. There I showed you a simple remedy for this high, rounded upper neck.
Now it's time to discuss other areas of rounding in our backs. Depending on the shape of your back, how erect you are - how curved you are - how prominent your back shoulder blades are, you may need a shoulder dart. Sometimes it doesn't always appear that obvious when looking at your back...not that you generally look at your back unless you've got a 3-way mirror...and then again, sometimes it is more obvious.
In taking a look at this photo, you'll see diagonal folds in the back bodice going from the underarm up toward the shoulder blades. This is saying that she's rounded across her upper back and that back shoulder darts would help to eliminate them.
Here is what the bodice back looks like with the simple addition of a shoulder dart.
There is a marked improvement in the back fit. It still might be a little too wide under the arms, but remember that some of this is necessary wearing ease. If you remove it all, you've now got a moulage and won't be able to move in it. This center back seam is there for final fitting refinements and so it could be curved slightly, but in this sample bodice that CB seam is perfectly straight.
Here's what a pattern looks like during the process of adding the shoulder dart.
For complete step-by-step instructions to add the shoulder dart, click on this link - Adding A Shoulder Dart.
And for those of you who prefer to watch this process, here is the detailed video:
I know he doesn't like me calling it that, but every time I look at his back neck, I see this high, rounded hump at the top of his spine. Our chiropractor says it's nothing to worry about, but I tell him he should take more calcium. And you know how much husband's listen to their know-it-all wives!
Be that as it may, my husband, Wes, wanted me to sew him a couple of long sleeve T-Shirts. I do enjoy doing things for him, but this was one time when I told him he should just go to Walmart and buy a couple of $5 buck T-shirts. After all, he's just going to use them for our weekly hikes and Walmart is definitely cheaper than my time. Oh well, his birthday was coming, so I went ahead and sewed him a couple as he requested.
Now...back to the Dromedary Hump and how to modify his Shirt Kit pattern.
This is how his store-bought T-shirts normally sit on his body. Notice how the front neck rides up and pulls on his Adam's apple and the back neck rides back. The back neck of his pattern definitely needs more height and the front neck needs to be lowered.
Now to his pattern:
The back neck point was raised 5/8" and gently re-shaped into the shoulder neck point.
The front neck point was lowered 1/2" and re-shaped to the front neck shoulder point.
Now let's see how the SFD T-Shirt sit on his neck.
I think you can see there's a significant difference in the way they sit on his neck both front and back and his shoulders. The neck line now covers his back neck hump and the CF sits down where it should. (The ribbing looks looser than what I wanted it to be, but he didn't want anything tight around his neck. No wonder! He's used to being choked all the time in the ill-fitting R-T-W Tee's).
This is a really simple modification for this type of body rounding and particularly when it's sewn from a knit, no further rounding of the back is required.
I love it when all of you ladies send your finished garment photos to me. Seriously...I love seeing what you've created and how well it fits. But rarely do I see any SFD kid's clothes. I know many of my customers sew for their grandkids and make some pretty darn cute clothes.
I'm grateful to Maree Weeks of MW Handmade Designs (in Australia) for sharing these photos of her boy's pants.
And here he shows us a little 'attitude'!
I encourage more of you to take photos of your children and grandkid's clothing and send them to me. I know others would like to see your accomplishments for kids!
I'll also share with you this very appropriate commentary on hand made items that Maree posted on her FB page. No matter whether you are selling your work or creating for yourself, you all know that we are hand artisans and put in countless hours (our labor of love) into every project!
In all the Fit & Sew Retreats, I always feel so fortunate to meet such delightful women with their unique personalities. This recent July 2013 workshop saw attendees from Portland & Eugene (Oregon), Idaho, Florida and Mexico.
Six days of lessons, drawing patterns, sewing and fitting can be wearing - we were all tired come Friday afternoon. But even so, there was always time for some fun and laughter. This is truly a beehive of activity.
We fitted sloping shoulders, rounded backs, forward thrusting neck, apple and straight-shaped frames and large upper arms.
Any of you who do photography know that without exception lighting, every crease, fold, or wrinkle will look its worst, particularly in muslin. Just realize that in person the garment looks much better than the photo might portray.
And our sisters from Eugene and Portland, not only got their yoga pants completed (almost except the hem), they also designed and sewed their tank tops. I'm very grateful that they've given permission to show these photos.
Sorry these photos are dark - just simply not the best of lighting.
And do notice...NO gaping armholes. The SFD Bodice master pattern has a series of dots for sleeveless garments which raise and bring the armhole in slightly for a better fit.
My thanks to all of you for being such great students.
It always pleases me no end when customers write to in showing me their accomplishments.
This trumpet sleeve design was shared by one of our international customers - Cicilie from Norway. She makes belly dancing costumes and this is one of her adaptations of a Sure-Fit Designs instruction.
She used the details and hemline from the Angel Sleeve blouse - (see this page - 3/4 Length Angel Sleeve Blouse) but implemented these designing instructions only from the elbow down toward the hem.
Here's what her pattern looks like:
And here is what the resulting sleeve looks like:
Well done and beautifully lined!
And speaking of belly dancing, Cicilie makes costumes for both men and women. This 'dress' is called a galabia (galabeya) a traditional Arab style of clothing used by both men and women. It can have different names, depending on the country, but it is the same principle: a loose ankle/full length kirtle for both everyday wear and festive occasions. It may be decorated embroidery. The galabia has been taken into use as dance costumes for folkloric dances and if often heavily embellished.
For this galabia, she was inspired by the Elvis jumpsuit and
wanted a semi-fitted, more tailored look, but it still needed to be comfortable for substantial movement while dancing. To accomplish this for
David, the male performer, Cicilie used the Dress Kit armhole and sleeve (since
it is much closer to the underarm than the Shirt Kit pattern) and combined it
with the Shirt pattern. It turned out well and was totally functional for our
performing artist.
Here is a video of David of Scandinavia in a belly dance festival which took place in Stockholm. You'll see the galabia as well as his belly dancing performance. What a special treat this is for me to see the effects and positive results of sewing with Sure-Fit Designs world wide!
Cicilie, thank you so much for sharing your accomplishments with the SFD patterns. She says, '
It is quit incredible really! I have not got so much experience in
sewing and before this none in designing, but I have always wanted to – and it
feels like I’ve had a flying start!'
