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From: HeatherL
Date: 11-29-2004, 05:54 PM (1 of 5)
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HELP! I adapted a pattern and, well, it didn't go quite well. I'm a relative novice (2 years sewing) but am braver than I should be about changing things I don't like. The garment I made is a nursing nightgown for my sister. I made one for myself last year, and it is freaking HUGE...including and especially the sleeves. The whole thing has a look like a church choir robe. I kept the yoke, and narrowed the bodice a bit. So far, so good. Then I tackled the sleeves. Getting them narrower around the arms was a piece of cake. Reducing the ease, though, proved harder. I used a vertical slash technique recommended by both Nancy Zieman AND Sandra Betzina (who certainly know what they're talking about, right??). According to instructions, I kept the height of the arch the same, and kind of re-drew the sloping sections. Well, my end result is that the tops of the shoulders look great--a nice subtle ease. But, egads! The fronts and backs of the shoulders are still obnoxiously poofy. It gives a really bizarre look! I guess my question is twofold. First, is there a way to fix the existing sleeve without recutting it? (And would it be worth trying?) Secondly, for future adventures...what did I do wrong? When it comes to drafting sleeves, I am woefully confused...and none of my books seem to address this particular problem. Thanks in advance for any insight! |
User: HeatherL
Member since: 03-13-2004 Total posts: 102 |
From: MaryW
Date: 11-29-2004, 06:54 PM (2 of 5)
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Hmmm, this is a very important part of the garment. When you reduce the ease, you reduce movement. Let me see what I can come up with. I don't see the problem with having lots of room for movement, especially with a newborn.
MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542 
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From: bunzino
Date: 11-29-2004, 07:13 PM (3 of 5)
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At least it's too big instead of too small!! Can you pin it on someone inside-out and see what can be taken in without causing more problems? nancy |
User: bunzino
Member since: 08-16-2002 Total posts: 119 |
From: paroper
Date: 11-29-2004, 11:36 PM (4 of 5)
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It has been a long time since I have done this type of alteration and I don't have an alteration book at hand but I believe that if the sleeves are made to poof at the top, there is also an addition of material toward the top of the sleeve otherwise your sleeve would be full but very flat at the top. I believe that to make a sleeve poofy you make several slashes and spread the sleeve head in several places while lifting the head so that there is the fullness that makes the sleeve stand "above" the shoulder and then "come down". If that is the type of sleeve you are dealing with, I think that you can take the sleeve loose from dart to dart and almost custom fit the sleeve to see where the extra fullness is. If you do it this way, you need to leave some ease in the sleeve for sleep and you need to move stretch the arm in all directions to make sure that you have enough built in ease to be comfortable. Clothes for sleep do not have to swallow you but they need to be full and allow for ease of movement. At any rate your garment will not be ruined until you have taken away too much fabric, so you can do some custom draping and see what happens. Quite often you can pull a sleeve you like from one pattern made by the same company and substitute it into another garment. The problem is that the fitting for night clothes is much different than the fitting for street clothing.
pam
Bernina 200e, Artista V5 Designer Plus, Explorations, Magic Box, Bernina 2000DE & 335 Bernette Serger, Bernina 1530 Sewing Machine, Bernina 1300 DC Overlock (with coverstitch) |
User: paroper
Member since: 02-03-2004 Total posts: 3775 |
From: Mother in Law
Date: 11-29-2004, 11:57 PM (5 of 5)
| I have Sandra's book Fast Fit and she says that your sleeve should only have 3/4 in to 1 1/2 inch ease in the cap. Try cutting down the ease in the cap and see if that works. I hate sleeves I don't know why pattern companies don't make patterns for real people like RTW companies do. Sleeves in Sandra's line by vogue and Butterick are more like real people fit. I wish I could help more. The problem I have is the sleeves are mostly too small on me. |
User: Mother in Law
Member since: Total posts: |
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