Monday, November 5, 2012

sewing

Yesterday I finished sewing a new cowl neck knit top with some wonderfully soft knit fabric from Britex (aka Fabric Mecca in San Francisco).

It was my second one from this pattern and I had adjusted the pattern after the first top, taking in the sides and shortening it by a couple inches.

What I am coming to realize is that every knit behaves differently. The first top was a heavier knit so probably hung longer because of the weight.  However this new top is very lightweight knit and seemed too short! It also did not sit nicely across my hips/butt in the back - pulling across a bit.

So.... I added a godet (triangular shaped wedge) in the lower center back creating a bit more room.

Lucky me, I had a long enough piece of fabric to add a two inch band at the bottom.  I actually like the effect of having a banded bottom on such a lightweight fabric as the bottom hangs a bit better with the extra weight of the seam.

There is one thing left to adjust.  The pattern is a kimono sleeve and makes my shoulders look very sloped.  Time to revive the 1980's and add in some light shoulder pads.  I tried out a pair I had on hand that are too padded and I can still see the shirt will look better with pads AND bonus - they will balance out my hips a bit.

Ronda taught us how to make shoulder pads in tailoring (at Canada College) so I can pull out the class book and make my own.  My shoulders roll forward from years of leaning into computers so I need very little padding on the front and a bit more to balance out the back of the shoulder.

Once the pads are complete and installed I will post a picture. 






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