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janestarzYesterday I spent a lot of time drafting patterns. I've finished two orders recently, so it's time to get started on the next one. I've not been looking forward to it, mostly because I wasn't quite clear if the image I was forming in my head was the same my customer has, which makes pattern drafting an exercise in denying all the self-doubt. The front closure cost me extra brain CPUs because I redid it several times.
("Normaal gesproken" teken je 7 centimeter overslag aan voor een dubbele knoopsluiting. Maar is dat wel mooi voor een grotere maat? De knopen moeten wel een beetje bij het bustepunt in de buurt komen anders heb je een hele smalle dubbele rij knopen en een enorm lijf wat ernaast nog enormer lijkt. En dit is voor een very curvy maat 46 met scheve taillelijn, dus uitdagingen genoeg!)
I also tackled two basic blocks I've been wanting to draw for a while now, filled out the lists and everything. This was (of course) what my PMS-squirrelbrain started with as soon as I came in that morning (I have NO responsibilities! Nuts! Acorns!). In short, I was pattern drafting from nine to three-thirty, standing around on my feet and crunching the numbers.
By the time I had my third "and now I need to sit down for a bit" break, I wanted to do something fun. The pattern for my customer's coat was done, but starting on it meant having to pre-shrink the fabric and a lot of standing around. So I decided to just make myself a fun t-shirt top instead.
Which, of course, involved more pattern wrestling.
First I drafted a new basic T-shirt block. Then I started to doubt the shoulder line -- my last t-shirt block is now hideously too large in the bust, which involves the armscye, which you can't easily take in because then the sleeve has to come out, and....argh.
But my new basic t-shirt block does not have the adjustments for my wonkily rotated shoulder joint, or the adjusted shoulder seam. I tried copying the line from my old block, but since the waistline is higher up than last time (we measured it on the natural waist this time), and my bust has shrunk, my shoulder is now closer to my waist than before (less curvature to go over). So the waistline is higher up and my shoulder is further down. There's no telling how my shoulder should slope unless I make another muslin.
I didn't feel like working on a bustier (too much pattern drafting for something I might not wear a lot) so instead I picked up the only copy of Knipmode I currently have at the atelier, picked a stretchy top with an interestingly shaped hem, and was pleasantly surprised to be able to fit a size 44. It's the top from the cover of the november 2015 issue.
So more pattern drafting and standing on my feet. Luckily, I only have to correct the length of the garment as my back is 3 cm longer than other people's, so I added these in the waist. I also dropped the front neckline 3 centimeters. No fiddling with the armscye here!
Except that the sleeve looked rather 'formal' -- a high sleeve head, nothing like what you'd expect from a t-shirt. And indeed, as soon as the side seams were done I tried it on. For one, the shirt is rather large -- I suspect that was the design of the shirt. And the sleeve is indeed very formal.
So I threw it down in disgust and went home. Mission failed.
At the end of the night I browsed my old Burda magazines and picked out several models of t-shirts I want to try my hand at. Now that I've lost weight, I'm slowly getting back to more normal proportions and all I have to do to fit Burda sizes is lengthen the nape-of-neck to back-waist measurement. I might even get to re-use the top I tried making yesterday if I find a more fitted t-shirt and re-use the neckline.
In any case, today I will start on that coat. T-shirts will come another time.
("Normaal gesproken" teken je 7 centimeter overslag aan voor een dubbele knoopsluiting. Maar is dat wel mooi voor een grotere maat? De knopen moeten wel een beetje bij het bustepunt in de buurt komen anders heb je een hele smalle dubbele rij knopen en een enorm lijf wat ernaast nog enormer lijkt. En dit is voor een very curvy maat 46 met scheve taillelijn, dus uitdagingen genoeg!)
I also tackled two basic blocks I've been wanting to draw for a while now, filled out the lists and everything. This was (of course) what my PMS-squirrelbrain started with as soon as I came in that morning (I have NO responsibilities! Nuts! Acorns!). In short, I was pattern drafting from nine to three-thirty, standing around on my feet and crunching the numbers.
By the time I had my third "and now I need to sit down for a bit" break, I wanted to do something fun. The pattern for my customer's coat was done, but starting on it meant having to pre-shrink the fabric and a lot of standing around. So I decided to just make myself a fun t-shirt top instead.
Which, of course, involved more pattern wrestling.
First I drafted a new basic T-shirt block. Then I started to doubt the shoulder line -- my last t-shirt block is now hideously too large in the bust, which involves the armscye, which you can't easily take in because then the sleeve has to come out, and....argh.
But my new basic t-shirt block does not have the adjustments for my wonkily rotated shoulder joint, or the adjusted shoulder seam. I tried copying the line from my old block, but since the waistline is higher up than last time (we measured it on the natural waist this time), and my bust has shrunk, my shoulder is now closer to my waist than before (less curvature to go over). So the waistline is higher up and my shoulder is further down. There's no telling how my shoulder should slope unless I make another muslin.
I didn't feel like working on a bustier (too much pattern drafting for something I might not wear a lot) so instead I picked up the only copy of Knipmode I currently have at the atelier, picked a stretchy top with an interestingly shaped hem, and was pleasantly surprised to be able to fit a size 44. It's the top from the cover of the november 2015 issue.
So more pattern drafting and standing on my feet. Luckily, I only have to correct the length of the garment as my back is 3 cm longer than other people's, so I added these in the waist. I also dropped the front neckline 3 centimeters. No fiddling with the armscye here!
Except that the sleeve looked rather 'formal' -- a high sleeve head, nothing like what you'd expect from a t-shirt. And indeed, as soon as the side seams were done I tried it on. For one, the shirt is rather large -- I suspect that was the design of the shirt. And the sleeve is indeed very formal.
So I threw it down in disgust and went home. Mission failed.
At the end of the night I browsed my old Burda magazines and picked out several models of t-shirts I want to try my hand at. Now that I've lost weight, I'm slowly getting back to more normal proportions and all I have to do to fit Burda sizes is lengthen the nape-of-neck to back-waist measurement. I might even get to re-use the top I tried making yesterday if I find a more fitted t-shirt and re-use the neckline.
In any case, today I will start on that coat. T-shirts will come another time.
