A t-shirt refashion maybe

I picked up this t-shirt on clearance at Wal-mart. The embroidery caught my attention and at only $5 it was worth taking a chance. The style is meant to be loose, so the t-shirt itself is boxy. There is a drawstring casing at the high hip level to cinch it in. I did get compliments when wearing this, but it was not comfortable. The fit was just too sloppy for my tastes.

So I pulled out my TNT t-shirt pattern that I made a few years ago. My initial thought was to just cut down the shirt to match the fit of my pattern. Essentially using the t-shirt as a fabric rather than a shirt.

There are a few problems that stopped me. First is the casing. I debated on cutting out the casing and just having a band on the bottom hem but I was concerned the seam would be in a weird place. The next problem was the sleeve. There really isn't enough fabric to recut the sleeve.

Looking now at the picture, I wonder if I should take in the sides and call it good? What do you think?

Blouse refashion : shortening sleeves

This was another lucky thrift store find. This is an Eddie Bauer blouse with a print and interesting yoke detail. The yoke has narrow tucks and a narrow double fold ruffle that measures about 3/8 inch. The button band extends below the yoke at the bottom. (click on the picture for a better view of the yoke details. The buttons are fabric covered. The attention to detail and the construction make this a high quality blouse. There are 6 separate pattern pieces resulting in 12 cut pieces just to make this yoke! I'm still not sure how the seam with the ruffle is not bulky considering it is a folded ruffle.

As much as I liked the blouse, the combination of the print and long sleeves made the blouse feel like I was wearing pajamas. So, I closed my eyes (not really) and chopped the sleeves off. The new shorter sleeves were a bit wide, so I added elastic to pull it in.

I like this version much better - a fun new top for Spring.

A blouse refashion and study

I seem to be a woman obsessed with blouses. Ever since I set out to create a basic blouse pattern for myself, I've kept my eyes open to study many RTW blouses. I've made many purchases from the thrift store with varying types of details and construction. I purchased this blouse a few months ago. As it usually goes, there were many things I liked about this blouse while I tried it on in the fitting room but I did note it was a little too big.

The refashion part of this post is probably the least interesting and so I don't have any before photos. I pulled out my basic blouse pattern and measured across the back at the base of the armholes. I compared that measurement with the blouse and did some math. The blouse needed to come in 1.5 inches on each side seam. Hmmm. The blouse was much bigger than I realized and made me recognize that our perceptions of body shape and size are definitely skewed when in a store fitting room. Anyway, the sleeves are set in flat so I just sewed up each side, taking it in the needed amount.

As I worked on the alterations, I took some construction notes. The front button band is a cut 2 (or 4, 2 for each side). A ruffle is gathered to the band that faces out on the long inner edge. The bands are sewn together on the outside edge and then stitched to the front bodice on the reverse side. The band is then turned to the front and topstitched down. I suspect the ruffle is not pressed down prior to topstitching. I think the operator used the ruffle to pull the band flat, turning the seam allowance to the inside. There is probably some interfacing on the band piece with the ruffle. The whole operation leads to a neat, clean finished button band. The operator who made this is probably very skilled, especially with dealing the bias area near the neck band. Still, this process is easier than it looks.

The only problem with this style is the ruffle. Despite a good ironing with some starch, the ruffle wants to stand up and fall over the buttons. The blouse is still cute, but perhaps a narrower ruffle would solve that problem?

While the sleeves were set in flat, the sleeve cuff was set in the round. The cuff was attached from the reverse side and turned out and topstitched down. I don't believe there was any pre-pressing because you can see the operator used a stripe of the fabric as a guide to turn the seam allowances in. If I were making this, I probably would pre-press just because I don't have the practice. The collar neckband was constructed in the same manner.

Resizing Vintage Patterns versus Grading

The same reader from the previous post also asked:

Also, I found some info on resizing vintage patterns http://www.sensibility.com/pattern/resizepattern.htm thought it might be of interest.

I checked out the link and I do like the website. However, Jenny's pattern resizing tutorial is mis-named. She actually is describing a grading process. It is not a very precise method, but perhaps it would work for a custom or one-time project. I would still encourage my readers to learn a better method, especially for preparing patterns for production.

The idea of re-sizing patterns implies there is an inherent sizing problem which should be solved. If you buy a commercial pattern and you need a longer waist, then you would resize the pattern by slashing and spreading it longer to the required measurement. Jenny does describe such a process at the end of her tutorial.

Jenny goes one step further and shows how to alter an adult pattern into a children's pattern. The method probably will work, but it will require too much fiddling. Why not take a basic block the size you need and draft the same style?

I don't think I am being too hard on Jenny. She does have a nice website. Just realize her perspective is geared more to costumers and others who don't want to be bothered with details.

Fixing the neckline on Butterick 6030 sewing pattern

I started to deconstruct the Butterick 6030 pattern for my boy's shirt pattern fix. At this point, I am thinking it would be so much easier to start from scratch. More glaring problems showed up after looking closer. In the picture on the right, I lined up the shoulders of the shirt. I know, I did not align the pattern pieces along their true seam lines. In production sewing, though, the pieces are lined up along their cut edges, not sewing lines. If I did this, the sewing operator would bring this back to me as a mistake. Those edges should meet.

Also, look closely at the armhole shaping. The front armhole has a nice curve and the back is rather straight and flat. This was how I was formally trained in classic pattern making for adults. Adults require more shaping in front than in back around the arm. In children's pattern making, the patterns are made the same front to back, except for the neckline. This means the side seams, shoulders, and armhole shapings are exactly the same. Children do not require the extra shaping front to back. This is a typical industry method for children's patternmaking, especially infant and toddler. It is called the flat method by Aldrich.

Another problem not shown in the picture above are the side seams. The side seams swing out at the hem. I am guessing the patternmaker did this to accomodate an infant's protuding belly. Many babies have a belly until they get older. The assumption is that width must be added to accomodate the extra girth. The problem with Butterick's pattern is that it creates an a-line shirt. The photo on the pattern cover shows a plaid shirt. The side seams should be straight in order to match stripes and plaids. A basic shirt block already has extra wearing ease at the chest and waist. There is no reason to add even more room at the waist. I drew my side seams straight.

Here is my modified neckline. You can see the v-shaping more clearly. I rounded the neck, raised it at center-front, and made it smaller (my changes are in red). A 24 month old's neck measures about 10.125 inches. Butterick's neck measurement for a 24M is 15" - my modified neck is 14". I am thinking it is still too large. This is just my first rough pattern - I have a long way to go. Later, I will trace these off, with seam allowances. You can see I removed the cumbersome facing and created a double fold facing. Also, my back pattern is going to be exactly the same as my front, except for the neckline. You can see my back neckline above my front (red) neckline. I am going to double check neck measurements by measuring some necklines on some RTW shirts. When all else fails, see what your competition is doing.