The Best Fit

I am currently in the planning stages of a rather large wardrobe ‘upgrade’.  It will involve a lot of sewing, as I plan on making it all.  I have a few vintage pieces that will fit as I lose weight, but I need to dress the “me” I am now.  As I’m coming from a very limited wardrobe, it’s going to require a lot of planning.  I don’t want to make too much all at once, either.  So I’m starting with a few pairs of pants, a couple of skirts and a few shirts.

When I’m sewing clothes, a fair amount of time is taken in the fit. I am currently a rather odd shape with this extra weight, so patterns ‘straight out of the sleeve’ don’t work, just like most clothes off the rack. Extra room in the bust, changing the shape of the crotch, shortening the length, adding room in the upper sleeve and reducing width in the shoulders are just a few of the things I have to do with patterns at the moment.

So lately I’ve been looking for patterns that require less or easier alterations.

Easier alterations mainly means patterns that are easy to adjust through the shoulders and bust. Thankfully, some of the pattern houses are realising that not all women are a B cup. So there are patterns now that include seperate pieces for A-C (and sometimes D/DD) cup sizes. What happens when there’s no seperate pieces? Generally speaking, princess seamed items are easier to alter than darts, whether they come from the arm or over the shoulder.

The Butterick pattern has the seperate pattern pieces for the different cup sizes. I will be very interested to see how this turns out. The only thing I don’t like about it is that the ‘long’ sleeve option is only 3/4. So there will be some alterations done there.. but that’s fairly easy to do. I like that it has three collar/neck options and double darts.

The Simplicity pattern is one that I’ve been eyeing off for a while, purely for the vintage factor. The Jacket is a shoulder princess seamed number, which should be much easier to alter.  I have some Junior Navy crepe around here that would look good as those pants too.

I wish I was able to draft my own pattern easily, but I’m still trying to get my head around it. There is a place I can go and learn properly, so I may have to look into that later this year.

My MIL and I went out yesterday to pick up a few bits and pieces for projects we have in mind, so we trekked up to Craft Depot.  I enjoy going to Craft Depot.  They have a little bit of everything, some yarn, lots of fabrics, and heaps of haberdashery.  So there’s plenty to look at, even if you aren’t shopping for a particular project.  Like this Knit Skully fabric.  Isn’t it just a scream?  I wanted to grab some.. but couldn’t justify it as I had no immediate project in mind.  But I think I will grab some next time as it’s just awesome.

[singlepic id=136 w=200 mode=watermark float=right]First on my list was an accompanying fabric to go with some cute spectacles fabric she bought me a few weeks ago.  This pink reproduction vintage fabric was perfect.  It will be making a (wait for it) specs case.  I made one last Christmas for MIL, and now I get to make a funky one for myself!

[singlepic id=134 w=200 mode=watermark float=left]Speaking of funky, I found some great retro style cotton material that is going to be super cute for a shirt!  It’s definitely bolder than I’d traditionally go, but it was just so perfect for the look I’m going for, I just had to grab it… especially as it was ON SALE!

So I’m set for a few sewing projects when time and space permit.