Notes on Mentorship- Developing an idea into a garment- Raised neckline with radiating darts … Part 2

In may last Notes on Mentorship post I talked about how I developed the pattern and I showed you the pictures of the ‘mini’ muslins that were just to bust and then one to the waist.

In this post I will show you the final muslin that I made to double check the overall fit and show you the final garment!

I LOVE these radiating darts!!

Get ready for lots of photos!

 

The last muslin that I made was one that was basically full length but left off the sleeves and the hem facing and just did the bodice front back and the front and back neck facing. Normally in mock ups or muslins I omit the facing and just mark the finished neckline. However, because this garment has so much focus on the neckline and the pattern pieces are so strange, I decided that It was worth adding the facing to just make sure everything went together perfectly.

Shoulder collapse without the sleeves inserted.

You will see in the muslin pictures that there seems to be some funkiness with the upper bodice fitting. Consulting with my mentor helped me to understand that because of the final pattern shapes that much of the upper bodice was on the bias and that without the sleeves in the muslin it was sort of collapsing a little bit in that area.

So glad this issue resolved when the sleeves were put in!

The final shaping for the neckline is controlled and determined by several factors. On the back- shaped center back neckline. At the very top of the seam it bows in, mimicking a fish eye dart. There is also a shaped neckline dart from about mid back shoulder area. You can clearly see the bottom third of the dart coming to the point it a normal dart shape. The rest of the dart has been carefully ‘shaped’ to give me the shape that I want.

Front neckline facing- cut on fold at CF

Front bodice with neckline darts and inverted or reverse pin tucks

The rest of the raised neckline shaping is done at the shoulder. You can see the ‘swoop’ of the shoulder line, this also acts as an area for shaping.

Back neckline facing

Back Bodice pattern

 

 

 

 

The fabric I am using for the final garment is from Fabrics and Fabrics in NYC. It is a solid texture cotton pique in lime green with a nice amount of body to it and perfect for holding this neckline. I used the wrong side of the fabric. I decided on this by playing with the fabric and folding in where the neck darks would be and the ‘lines’ or ‘striped’ side of the fabric was better. I’m the designer so I can use whatever side I want J I love this lime green color and this fabric washed up and dried beautifully! Another great high quality fabric from Fabrics and Fabrics!

For the facings and the turn back cuff and the pockets I used some Liberty of London lawn that I had left over from a shirt I made a couple of years ago. I used a fairly lightweight fusible interfacing for the facings. Just enough to give it a little bit of extra oomph but careful to not over interface. This was done with testing a fabric sandwich to check that it was enough.

Inside out - front

Inside out- side

The other factor that I had to take into account was that there are a bunch of darts and seams in the neckline which also help to o give it more body and hold the shape.

I am super excited with this garment. Being able to take the design from inspiration to sketch to pattern development and fit to final garment has been such a great and rewarding process. Especially with a design that is tricky.

No good pictures of me in it yet, just this one peek. I am waiting for some dark green ponte to arrive so that I can make a pair of leggings. Plus, I am not feeling so hot with my pancreas so not feeling like a photo shoot would be fun this week!

I jumped on the Jumpsuit train! The Anitra Jumpsuit by Style Sew Me

 First off I want to say I was soooo happy this past Saturday when the election was called for Biden/Harris!!

Happy Dance!!!

On a Sunday afternoon a couple weeks ago my local Neighborhood Group, Sew Chicago, from the Chicago Chapter of American Sewing Guild got together for a 4 hour Zoom Sew Along. There were seven or eight of us and we started with a quick chat about what things we were each working on and then we sewed and zoomed!! Stopping periodically to chat or ask questions about something or other. It was quite fun! I decided to try this jumpsuit and I had pre-cut it out so that I could just have fun sewing and chatting!

 

Pattern: Anitra Jumpsuit by Style Sew Me Style Sew Me is a new to me indie pattern company that a friend mentioned to me and I decided to check out. I ordered 2 print patterns and this one PDF jumpsuit. I was very happy with the jumpsuit and there was even a YouTube tutorial to go along with the jumpsuit.

Fit Changes: None! I graded between sizes from top to bottom but certainly could have used one size smaller in the bottom. I used a large on top and XL on bottom but all large will be fine. In next version I will shorten the length about an inch or inch and a half.

Design Changes: None! I LOVE that it has pockets!!

Fabric: I wanted to use fabric from my collection but did not have enough of any one fabric for the entire thing. I used 2 different knits. The patterned knit for the top and the side back leg pieces and pockets were from an ITY border print. The leg/bottom back and front are from another mystery navy and black knit from my collection.

Both of these knits are opaque but lightweight. I would not recommend a bulky knit since there is so much gathering at the waist for the pants.

Pattern print on the fabric makes the back bodice very interesting.

Interfacing: none

Notions/Buttons/Zippers: 3/4inch elastic for the waist. I also tried to using the Coats Eloflex thread. This thread is supposed to be a ‘stretchable’ thread for knit fabrics to be used in the regular sewing machine. My machine does not seem to like this thread… It is almost like it is getting stuck in the tension discs and causes this squeaking noise!

Seam construction and seam finishes: Majority done on the serger with a 4 thread overlock stitch and a differential feed of 1.3. I changed up the directions for the gathering of the pants waist just a tiny bit. Since the seam allowance is 1 inch, I ran 2 rows of gathering stitches. One at 7/8 and one just slightly in from there. This let me gather the fabric right at the seam line and control the fullness as I sewed better. I still left the gaps at the side seams to reduce the bulk in that area.

Hem Finishes: Some of the hemming was done with a zig-zag on the regular machine and the neckline was coverstitched. I would have preferred to coverstitch the entirety of the hems but my machine is a convertible serger/coverstitch and too much of a pain to change in the middle of construction. But I am thinking there may be a way start with the coverstitch of the long leg pieces, change too serger and do all the construction and then go back to coversticth to finish the neckline and sleeve hems.  OR… just buy a coverstitch machine!! LOL!!

no wardrobe malfunctions!!!!

Overall Thoughts: I was quite surprised by how much I like this garment!! I was afraid that it would feel maybe vaguely like having too much fabric between my legs. But NOT AT ALL! I think this is because the depth of the crotch drop. It keeps the fabric from bunching.  It is very comfortable and super fun to wear!! I have worn it several times already and now thinking that maybe I can add sleeves for a more winter version. This is such a comfortable addition to my ever growing pandemic wardrobe of comfy clothes!

Happy Sewing!!

I hope everyone is staying safe! Washing hands, wearing masks, staying socially distant, no unnecessary indoor gatherings. I think it will get worse before it gets better. And to top it off my pancreas has decided to remind me that she rules the roost! Oh well, such is life with a chronic illness, never really know when it will show its ugliness.

My girls!!! The Princess and her mother!