Bummer. Mostly NOT the right size pattern.

[cjsmith]

I'm transcribing a new neckline onto the shirt pattern I picked up the other day. I can't help but notice that while the bust measurement is barely adequate, the shoulder seam on this puppy is going to be somewhere around my elbow. I'm comparing with the old worn shirt whose neckline I'm stealing. That shirt already has the shoulder seams down my arms a bit, and this one's longer in the shoulder by at least an inch.

Guess I could cheat and just copy that whole old shirt. It'd do for this project. It's a simple enough design that I wouldn't even need to take it apart to draft its facings and sleeves. (Honestly, though, I should take it apart, if only to prevent me from continuing to wear it. It's dead, Jim.)

I need to learn pattern drafting for real. Not just the old transcribe-from-existing-clothing hack, not just the decrease-the-back-waist-length tweak or the move-a-dart trick, but stuff like how to draft a completely new armscye or crotch seam. I can do the hacks and the tricks. I can't draft entirely new inset sleeve designs. And to make a size 8 shirt with a size 16 bust, an entirely new inset sleeve is one thing I am definitely gonna need. A little dart, or even a big dart, is not going to solve this one without some sleeve mods.

Sewing might be the only context in which the word "crotch" is a perfectly polite word to say.

Comments

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Crotch crotch crotch crotch crotch.

I was trying to think of another context, but even the term "crotch rocket," for a particular style of motorcycle, is often (at least by me) used as pejorative. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

There's sort of "the crotch of a tree" but nobody I know would say that any more. That's at least two generations back.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

i was just going to say that :)

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

I still say that--but then, I use a lot of semi-archaic language.

[platypus]

Yeah, I thought of tree crotches too. I got the term from my mom, though, and she's 67. She was a bit older than usual when she had me, so her language tends to be more like that of my generation's grandparents than parents. I wouldn't be surprised if it's dying out.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I've heard my dad use that.

[kennita.livejournal.com]

What else would you call it?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Notch, or fork? That's what I'm thinking I'd hear now. Hey! I owe you an e-mail. Coming in a moment.

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

I've heard good things about the flat pattern drafting class that is offered at Canada College.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah? COOL! Thanks for the pointer!

[ohhjuliet.livejournal.com]

The last sentence of this post is the funniest thing I've read all day. hahahaha.

[shadopanther.livejournal.com]

Pattern drafting is something I've thought I might learn some day as well -- although I missed the panel that BayCon had on it last weekend.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

ladycelia gave me a book recommendation: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321034236/ref=si3_rdr_bb_product/104-9083090-5060714?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Apparently classic in the field. Pricey, obviously. I'm verrrrrrry tempted.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

you need a duct tape dress form (http://www.taunton.com/threads/pages/t00002.asp)! *graciously offers to assist*

or i could loan you my copy of "encyclopedia of modern sewing" copyright 1943. ;-)

or why don't you just move to my imaginary planet where all clothing is custom-made? it's a happy place...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Now THAT would indeed be a happy place! I am amazed at people who turn up their noses at anything not custom-cooked but are totally happy to buy mass-produced cookie-cutter clothes off a rack. Jeez Louise, I can eat the same lentil soup you can eat, but that no work with clothes. I really must be a lot harder to fit than just about anyone else out there.

I did a duct tape form once. It came out a fair bit bigger than me -- no surprise what with the layers of T-shirt and all. I cut it into about twelve strips and, using them for a pattern, whipped up a muslin for a corset. It was enormous. I resolved that on my next muslin I'd pull about 1/8" or 3/16" off every edge, netting me three to 4.5 inches of reduction but roughly the same shape and proportions. That was at least ten years ago. I never did that second muslin, and I forget what happened to it all. (Pity. It had been a cool T-shirt.)

[lindalee.livejournal.com]

I took a patternmaking class at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education years ago, and it was incredible. I do know how to do these things, not that I ever make use of it.

I've been whining about shirts myself, lately, noting that the average buttoned shirt simultaneously won't close over my bust and also makes my stomach look like I'm 7 months pregnant. Crazy...especially since I'm not even that big.

I'd suggest seeking out a class at an adult ed place or a community college or wherever you can find one. It'll change how you think about sewing.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Crazy...especially since I'm not even that big.

Exactly! Neither am I! I measure 39" around* and 30" at the ribcage / bra strap line; those are not crazy-big numbers. I don't even have all that much "volume". But it's the proportions, apparently. I guess 30" ribcages aren't supposed to have 39" toppers on 'em.

I absolutely want to take a class -- or to get this book. Either way. I want to UNDERSTAND this stuff. It'd be awesome. I might not use it all that frequently either, but I might be able to save the green shirt (which fit pretty well until the sleeves went on) or draft something good for this new shirt I'm doing now.
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[* 37" if I'm wearing the bra that fits well, gives me good support, and makes my back hurt like I wouldn't have believed.]