Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Knitting Projects


A sweater for grand-daughter Hannah - this is called Granny's Favourite by Georgie Hallam. Downloaded from Ravelry. Knit in Cascade Superwash Wool in a double-knit weight. This was a very nice sweater to knit, and I even learned how to knit the sleeves on circular needles using the Magic Loop method.



I found the lacy pattern on the yoke easy to do, and then the rest of the sweater is plain stocking stitch. It did get kind of boring, but it is a good project to have on the needles when you are watching movies. 


My only concern is with the washing of this sweater. Since Hannah is one of 7 children, there are loads and loads of laundry and everything gets tossed in together. I think I will warn her to keep this sweater separate and I will wash it for her when it is required. Although it is washable, I don't think it will survive the grueling laundry in her household. The other alternative might be to put it into a mesh laundry bag to keep it from getting stretched out too much.


                                             



And on the needles now is this sweater.
The Harvey Pullover by Hannah Baker and in the Interweave Knits fall issue, also available as a download on Ravelry.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/harvey-pullover-2

                                            

I am knitting this in the recommended yarn, also my favourite yarn, Cascade 220 a pure wool worsted weight. I chose a heathered turquoise and bought it, sight unseen, from www.yarnforward.ca

When it arrived, it seemed a little washed out in colour to me, but it has grown on me and I am really liking it now. I don't usually knit pullovers and am not even sure how much I will wear it. But with an upcoming move to Ontario this summer, the seasons are different than Nova Scotia and I anticipate this will get worn come fall, especially since we will have a new dog that needs lots of walking.

This is also knit in the round and the front of the sweater is done in a Brioche stitch which is really pretty. Only four rows to the pattern, so not too hard to commit to memory and this can be knit while TV watching.





Saturday, January 28, 2017

McCalls 7470




From Palmer Pletsch patterns, McCalls 7470 offers a tailored shirt with front and back princess lines, a shirt-dress and the option of sleeves or sleeveless. 

Image result for mccalls 7470


I tissue-fitted this pattern as I did the previous knit top, following Pati's order of alterations. An alteration for high round back (3/8" at CB tapering to nothing at the shoulder seam). Then altered for a broad back, adding 1" to the back by setting it 1/2" away from the fold. Then a full bust alteration, spreading the pattern 1 1/2" which gives a total of 3" across the front. 

The result is a wee bit snug through the waist and hip area, but a good fit in the shoulders and bust. (Weight Watchers better kick in here). I didn't follow the instructions for the collar and band, preferring to use the burrito method for a nice finish. Somehow I goofed on the collar band and for some reason, I matched the band to the shirt at the wrong place and wondered why I had a hard time getting the band to fit the neckline. I ended up trimming off the band and just going with it as is. After all, I was treating this version as a muslin for fit, and used some cotton check that was in the stash. What I was aiming for was to get a good pattern for a princess-line shirt and dress. And now I know what needs to be done with this pattern. So it is being laid aside for that summer denim dress that will be so nice to wear.

One thing I noticed about this pattern and must remember is that there is too much ease in the sleeve cap. I will reduce that in the next version. Shirt sleeves should not require as much easing as these did.



Also I can see that I could gain the extra ease needed at waist and hips by letting out those princess seams in the back. I am straight at the waistline and don't need the shaping that this pattern provides. It does look nice though in the photo, even if I am not shaped like that.

I am on a shirt kick and am now making up Simplicity 1538.

                                        Image result for simplicity 1538
I compared this pattern with the McCalls 7470 and could make the exact same alterations to this one. High round back, broad back and then an FBA. As this shirt has straight side seams, it should provide the extra ease at the waist and hip area that I need.

There is something very satisfying about sewing shirts, they have the lovely details that I so enjoy sewing. I see lots of possibilities for this pattern, especially in print mixing. I bought a vintage cotton print yesterday and the lovely clerk at the store found me a second print that would work perfectly with it to give some contrast in the front band, collar and cuffs. How nice to find a fabric store clerk who has an eye for colour.

I google patterns now before sewing them to see who else has made the pattern and to get tips and inspirations. I was pleasantly surprised to find this shirt was on Lucky Lucille's blog, a blog that I really enjoy. She did it in a flamingo print and used black and white gingham as the contrast. Such a nice shirt. Just check out her extra bit of pink trim on the side of the band with the buttons.

http://luckylucille.com/2014/07/flamingos-and-gingham/

She has also made it up in the sleeveless version, but my favourite is her flamingo and gingham one.








Sunday, January 8, 2017

Pattern Alterations - there is always something new to learn


Since shortly after Christmas, I have been under the weather with this virus that is going around, a long cold that hangs on and hangs on. So last week, since I couldn't do much except sit around, I treated myself to a couple of classes on Craftsy.

I chose two fitting classes with Pati Palmer and her daughter Melissa Watson. One is for fitting shirts and tops, the other for fitting knit tops. This is not new material to me, but having this in a video format is a new way of learning. I decided to actually take a pattern and follow their instructions to the letter and see what the results would be.

I chose The Fearless Tee from Material Things, an old t-shirt pattern that I have used for years with success. I wondered if I could improve upon the fit.

                                                     Fearless T-Shirt 

First up, I went down a size, using my high bust measurement to select the size. As Pati explained, when patterns were first produced, the bust meant that measurement above the bust. She said think of a sculpture of a "bust" and that is what was meant by a bust. The measurement that we take of our full bust is actual a measurement of our breasts. Huh, that made sense to me. And if you read the disclaimer in pattern catalogs, they will tell you to pick the size by your upper bust measurement unless there is less than 2" difference between high bust and bust, because then either measurement will put you into the same size.

So down a size I went, which meant that there was no way this pattern would go around my body.
On to a tissue fitting, following the order specified in the video. First off, I saw something new to me: the need for a high round back alteration. I didn't know I needed one, but it became obvious that I did. I also needed a broad back alteration as the tissue would not reach to my center back.

So I altered the upper back, slashing the pattern and spreading it 3/8" at CB and coming back to nothing at the armhole. Then I slashed the pattern through the shoulder seam right down to the lower edge and spread it 1/2"  Another fitting with the tissue and I was amazed. The back now fit but what amazed me was that my shoulder seam was now straight. I have been troubled by a weird shoulder seam for years, but it is the reverse of all the fitting books. Rather than having to alter the seam at the armhole edge, my seam was pulling toward the back at the neck edge. Adding 3/8" to the high round back released that area and the shoulder seam was now sitting right on the top of my shoulder where it should be.

Altering the front was easy; I needed a full bust alteration of 1 1/4" to provide enough circumference so that the centre front would meet my center front. And this meant I now had a bust dart added to the pattern. As Pati says, if you buy a $200 designer t-shirt, it will have a bust dart in it. If you don't like the appearance of a dart in a knit, she advises trimming the dart legs to 1/4" and pressing it up, rather than down. I did all of this and the only remaining alteration was to shorten the dart by 1/2" as it was too close to my apex.

I sewed up the new altered pattern in a bamboo knit that I bought last year from Blackbird Fabrics. The fit was good, it could be a little tighter in the front but that is easily fixed by sewing deeper side seams.

I decided to compare the new altered pattern with the one I had been previously using, which was the same pattern, but in one size larger. At first, the differences don't appear that big. But they are significant. First off, I have a shorter shoulder seam, which is good. The new back is slighter wider in the armhole area than the old pattern, and the broad back alteration makes the entire back larger from the armhole down. Previously I had been sizing up both front and back to make this fit.
The new front is narrower in the armhole area, which is an improvement. I often find bagginess in garments in this area. The FBA gives me the added room at the side seam, without making the rest of the tee larger.

The finished results mean that I now choose the large size in this pattern, with 1/2" more in the back, and 1 1/2" more at the front side seams with extra length. Using the extra large size did give me the circumference that I needed but not in the correct areas. Basically I am a smaller size in the back than in the front, it would appear. You know, I should have seen this previously as I can recognize this in my youngest daughter who seems to have inherited my upper body. She is short-waisted with a full bust and a broad back. I can easily see that in her, but it took this tissue-fitting to see this in myself.

So the new alterations do indeed give the room where it is needed. So rather than just getting a pattern to fit around me, the alterations have given me a pattern that is narrower where required, broader where required, and gives the extra length to the front that a full bust requires.

I am impressed with the results and am now going to use this pattern along with the cowl from Sewaholic's Renfrew Top to give a different look in a similar weight knit.

I am eagerly awaiting the materials to arrive that accompany the course; each course gives you a pattern and the fitting manual; you also have access to the video as much as you wish to watch it.
I will wait for the blouse pattern to arrive to make the alterations to that and then I will tackle the princess-line shirt that I wish to make into a tried-and-true pattern.

Many thanks to Pati Palmer and to Melissa for their efforts with this video. I know that Pati has been fitting a bazillion bodies for the past 45 years and her experience is evident. She is now passing that knowledge along to her daughter Melissa who seems to have the same love for fit and sewing that her mother has.