Simplicity 2497: Sewing It Up

This is quickly becoming a saga. . . here's why.

Once you've made your muslin and checked your fit, your next steps should be selecting your fabric and sewing up the real thing.  This is where I made my potentially fatal error.

I decided I wanted a red dress.

I did not think at all about the composition of that fabric other than that I wanted a woven fabric-not a knit for this first dress.  I picked what I found to be the perfect red in Joann's that also met the qualifications allowing me to use a 60% off coupon.  I got a great deal on four yards.  (No, I didn't actually need four yards but just in case.)  

I pre-washed it and dried it and that's when I realized that my "perfect red" fabric was also a linen.  Or maybe a "linen"-I did get it at Joann's.  Linen is nice and all, but it is a stone BITCH to sew if you aren't that great at sewing in the first place and in any way inattentive.  If you are me, in other words.  It shreds if you look at it funny.  Not quickly or dramatically . . .  the threads just quietly unravel as you cut and sew it. 

Like dark, diabolical magic.

It also grows miraculously . . .  perhaps to compensate for its tendency to slowly disappear as you handle it.  It expands . . . almost overnight.

This should show you what I mean. The only length I added was at the bodice bottom.  This thing is huge on me and it shouldn't be.  I ended up trimming off four inches from the bodice sides.  That's insane.

And look at this sleeve.   What is up with that upper arm weirdness?  

Here it is with a lot of the bodice fullness removed and a last minute sleeve change.  The 3/4 sleeves just looked too weird so I did the short puffed sleeve instead.  

Better, but some things are still off:

• You might wonder why my waistband is so tilted.  Me too!  I have this problem a lot and I think I may need to add a different alteration to my repertoire.  I requested Fit For Real People from the library so hopefully I can find what I need there.  The internet's best advice so far has been . . .  This is in FFRP.   

• Where did all that back fabric come from?  I like the fact that the dress is not getting intimate with my back fat but something about this looks suspicious.  Like I'm trying to hide the fact that I am hiding the partially reanimated spirit of Voldemort on my back . . .  or something.

• Are these pockets low?  This is probably due to my lengthening the bodice.

• The zipper looks damn good from this side.  I tossed both the pattern instructions and the general guidelines for installing an invisible zipper.  I vastly prefer this method.

• This side zipper is also almost entirely unnecessary.  It's inaccessible for me-my T-Rex arms can't zip or unzip it easily while I'm actually wearing the damn thing.  Plus I haven't used it since putting it in.  There is enough room to just pull it off and on over my head.

• The puff sleeves are cute but they are a little snug.  I also made a mistake in the construction order and I have an exposed seam that should have been covered by the lining. 

I am feeling very meh about this dress now. . .  and it's a bit of a bummer because I was seriously pumped before.  

I don't think I will finish this as is.  In fact, I think I will take it apart, make some more alterations, and then put it back together.  I still love the color and at this point it's gotten personal.  I can't let the fucking pattern win.  It thinks it has beaten me!

I did a little more internet research and here's what I think I will do.  

• Raise the waistband back up an inch or so.
• Make a tilted waist adjustment
• Reconstruct the sleeves and add a little more ease.
• Remove the side zipper and put it in a center back seam*.  It will be a lot easier to fit and make changes once I do that.

I'll have to pick the whole damn thing apart and re-cut a few pieces but eh. . .  I can do that while listening to podcasts and thinking about all the stuff I haven't been writing for this blog.  

The plus is that it shouldn't take me long to sew it back up again once I get started.  I know how to do all the annoying bits now.  

*I won't share with you the various contortions that make it possible for my short armed self to pull up my own zippers.  It would be really awkward for us both.

Simplicity 2497: Fitting the Pattern

Simplicity 2497 is a Misses pattern sized 4-20.  Since this pattern calls for a woven fabric and does not feature any significant areas of stretchiness, I had to make significant changes to the pattern before I could even attempt a muslin fitting.  How did I know this?  I checked the finished garment measurements on the back of the pattern.

The finished garment measurements can give you a better idea of how much room you might really have in the bust-always a problem area for me.  The size 20 listed a 48 inch finished bust measurement including wearing ease.  There was no way that was going to fit my 44 DDD chest.

In fact, if you are top heavy in the slightest, and by that I mean a C cup or above, you may want to try doing a full bust adjustment.  There are excellent books and online tutorials with pictures as well as youtube demonstrations to show you how to measure and make your adjustments.

As you can see, my FBA added several inches to the bodice area of the dress.  I would say closer to five inches all together.  (Remember, many pattern pieces are doubled or cut on a fold) This FBA also added darts which I may or may not keep in the finished product.  

A good rule of thumb is to fit the most challenging part of the body first.  When it comes to altering patterns, I find that my bra size is much more of a factor than being plus sized and that once I have addressed that area, all remaining necessary alterations seem to flow from that point.  

Once I completed the FBA, I also extended the sides of the bodice front (the orange tissue paper) and the bodice back, and trued up the length of the bodice back (pink tissue paper) with the altered bodice front.

I completed my initial pattern alterations by adding the necessary inches to the waist band and to the skirt panels.

My next post concerning Simplicity 2497 will focus on fitting the muslin, where it will become painfully obvious that I omitted a rather important step while making a completely unnecessary change.

Simplicity 2497: Research, Research, Research

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Most of the pattern companies make plus sized patterns.  I own a few that I have yet to try out.  Part of that is laziness.  The other part is that some of them are just less aesthetically pleasing or they would be better suited to that rarest of plus sized creatures-the ten foot tall perfectly proportional giantess with curves everywhere except her belly.

In any case, I prefer dicking around with straight size patterns.  There's that moment of triumph when I make the damn thing fit.  There's also the thrill of slashing and taping and all of that . . . it feels like I'm going rogue.  I pretty much love anything that lets me feel like I'm going rouge.

The first step in fitting the pattern is deciding which areas will need the most adjustment.  If you are just starting out sewing garments, I recommend Simplicity's Simply the Best Sewing Book.  In fact, this is a great general sewing reference book that has a comb binding so it opens and lies flat.  You get a great overview of how patterns are created and sized, how to pick the pattern size best for you, and an overview of basic alterations you might make.

Check it out!

This book suggests using your high bust measurement to determine your size.  This little tidbit is what opened up the world of straight sizes to me.  If you use the high bust measurement, you can pick a pattern size that might only require a full bust alteration and the neckline and shoulders will still fit.

For those who might be interested in plus-size sewing, I really like, and use pretty much every time I work on a new pattern, Sewing for Plus Sizes by Barbara Deckert.  The photos and illustrations feature some banging eighties and nineties fashion, but you can pretty much find info on how to do anything you want.  I also like that there is a emphasis on alterations that might be especially beneficial to plus size people.

Check it out!

In addition to these two resources, I also do fairly serious internet research.  If you put a pattern title and number in google image search, you can find personal blogs of people who have sewn it before.  This is really helpful if you have the time.  If a pattern has some quirks, reading about others' experiences will help you plan ahead.

Pattern Review is another great web resource.   In addition to pattern reviews, you can see images of finished garments.  Additionally, questions posted on the forums are answered quickly by people who know what they are doing.

This pattern has some pleating on the sleeve and an inseam side zipper that opens into a pocket.  I researched both of those details as well as the full bust adjustment and adding width to sleeves and waist.