sewing a shirt
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I’ve been working on a shirt for me. I used My Pattern Designer which is a program that will draft patterns based on your measurements. A great program but I still haven’t mastered it yet or gotten my measuring exactly right. The shirt is a basic blouse (#112121) which has a bust dart, and two waist darts front and back for shaping. I chose the semi-fitted option.
  I think I have got my measurements sorted out now though. The thing with these programs is that of course, they only do what you tell them to, and if you put in measurements that aren’t quite right then the thing will never fit you!Â
This was my first attempt. I hunted around in my fabric store stash and found a suitable cotton. Light grey with a woven white stripe that still had the op shop tag on it - 2m for $3.00. A good choice because I kind of liked it (so that if the shirt worked out I could wear it) but didn’t like it too much (so I wouldn’t be too upset if I wasted it). I sewed the bust darts and waist darts, sewed the shoulder seam, then attached the sleeve and sewed the side seams so that I could check the fit.
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Almost right, but it didn’t wouldn’t have quite done up at the front, and a bit of checking revealed that my tummy was a cm or two larger than when I last took my measurements. I hate finding things like that out. So I remeasured myself in the crucial areas of bust, waist and hip and entered the correct measurements. I had initially gone off a measurement sheet from June - best to check that your body hasn’t changed before printing a new pattern out!Â
Trying the grey shirt on also revealed that somehow I had about 4cm (nearly 2 inches) of extra length in my shoulder area. Don’t know how that got there but important to know and easy enough to update. While I was at it, I made a change to move the bust dart up slightly. I printed out another pattern based on the corrected measurements and looked again for some fabric to make a test garment. No, I don’t have any muslin (calico) but I must get some.
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I found a nice cotton that was I had totally forgotten about. I saved it from languishing in the stash and cut out my new pattern. This one fit really well in the bust, waist and hip and the bust dart even pointed to the right place this time. The change to the shoulder measurement made for a proper fit in the shoulder and sleeves too. Things were looking good, so I went ahead and finished the blouse, adding the collar and facings and hemming the sleeves and bottom.
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The program has a million options and choices and I think I may have chosen a collar I am not too happy with. It was described as an “Open - 3″ collar and I will have to do some asking on the forums about collars and what the descriptions really mean. I don’t mind this one, but the back of the collar seems to sit away from the neck and I’m not sure it’s meant to do that. I have to add the button holes and buttons and then it’s done.Â
So it looks like I have got my first well-fitting garment from “My Pattern Designer” and now that my measurements are right I can theoretically draft any pattern and know it will fit me. Well, tops anyway. Still haven’t tried any skirts or pants.Â
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Lory Said,
Monday, October 6, 2008 @ 3:07 pm
They’re coming along nicely! I like your choice of fabrics.
Hugs,
Lory
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Tiff@Three Peas Said,
Tuesday, October 7, 2008 @ 5:36 am
The shirt came out Nice! I really like the pink fabric.
Tiff@Three Peas’s last blog post..Let’s Celebrate Fall!!!