New Look 6407: A new skill in the arsenal and a valuable lesson learned

My most recent make is a New Look 6407 in a purple floral shirting I bought in India.  Believe it or not, it was a men's shirting fabric.  I miss that about India: men can wear florals and everyone wears pink.  The fabric was a nice quality cotton which presses beautifully.  I am proud to say that I have been making good progress on improving my fitting. 



 

 

My Adjustments:

• I cut a size 14 and did a 1" FBA. 
• Narrow back adjustment
• Raised waistline up 1"
• Shortened the bottom of the back darts
• Made sleeve wider at the bicep (I did this before learning that I have been doing it incorrectly. Sigh)

 

 

The pattern only has cap sleeves or 3/4 length sleeves.  I lengthened mine to full length and added a cuff from Kwik Sew 3555 and then I did and learned something NEW!  I made a sleeve placket!  I used this article from Threads magazine.  It wasn't difficult and gave a really nice result.  I will use this technique over and over!

Orange kitty checking out my awesome placket

 

I had buttons in my stash that were absolutely perfect!!

 

I learned one more important thing while making this pattern.  When printing a pdf pattern, I try to save ink by only printing out the pages I need.  The lesson learned is this: when using a .pdf pattern, always make sure you have the entire pattern piece and that no little bits are hiding on the next column.  When trying to attach the facing to the fronts, they weren't lining up.  I was a little confused and initially assumed that I had traced the wrong size for the facing piece.  Nope.  Lo and behold, about an inch of the front pattern piece was located on the next column of printouts which I didn't notice.  I had cut both fronts too narrow!  It wasn't going to fit!!  I did not have enough fabric to recut the fronts so I added that narrow missing strip of fabric to each front.  Thankfully the small and busy print hides this little goof extra seam extremely well.  Truly, you'd have to have your nose up to the buttons to notice it.  If that were to happen, in the words of my mother "Meigan, if anyone gets that close to you, kick them!" 

I love this pattern and can envision many more versions in the future. 

Could it be? Bad Posture? Eeek!

 I've been having some neck problems lately.   It started a week before Christmas with a stiff neck.  We went on vacation to this (pictured below) amazingly beautiful place and my stiff neck didn't go away.  (Here I will insert a small rant about hotels only having feather pillows which are ridiculously uncomfortable for me).

Maldives

That's my little head at the edge of the infinity pool :)

The day after we returned home, my neck was worse, and I had extreme numbness in my right thumb and index finger.  Uh oh...that's a pinched nerve.  I called a physiotherapist (they make house calls here in India), who, upon his arrival, immediately told me that I wasn't standing up straight:  "Shoulders back like this! Head back a bit.  There!  That's how you should stand."  Me: "But...that feels so...unnatural!!" I have been hunched over so long that slouched shoulders and a forward leaning head was normal.  Darn computer work!  Anyway he helped stretch my neck, and referred me to an orthopedic spinal specialist.  After looking at my x-rays it was clear that I had a pinched disc in my neck which was causing the pain and numbness in my hand and arm.  I had a few more physio treatments and went in for an MRI (which is really NOT enjoyable btw).  The MRI showed not one but 3 bulging discs in my neck and one in my lower back (which thankfully isn't causing any problems-now).  All because I've been hunched over.  

Then I got to thinking about sewing, and my fit problems I had with New Look 6407 in particular.  Could it be?  Could those 'sloping shoulders' be fixed with (gasp) good posture?  Could my blouse fitting become easier?  Could my neck and hand feel better?  All with good posture?  Could I avoid future neck surgery?  Mind blowing.  

So stand up straight ladies, it helps everything!

http://all4women.co.za/health/perfect-posture-tips.html

Source

New Look 6407: A learning process

Lets start by saying that I like how this blouse looks from the front.  I made View E with the short sleeves and mandarin collar.  The back view, however, is a different story.  There are a lot of wrinkles…lots.  Once I figured out how to (sort of) fix some, I still had others.  After much research, (unfortunately after I got the blouse all assembled), I believe that not only do I have a sway back, but an erect upper back as well.  It seemed like there was just too much fabric between the shoulders and up to the collar.  I also think that I should lower the arm scythe a little since it seems like that might get rid of some of those underarm wrinkles I see on the side front. 

  

Here’s what I did to try and fix my issues:

• I raised the shoulder seam only on the back piece. 
• Let out the back waist darts, and side seam from the waistline down
• Extended the back darts to go higher up between my shoulders
• Sewed the back of the sleeves with a much larger seam allowance on the back piece

Now, it is wearable but not perfect.  Next time:

• Consult this super blog entry and do a proper muslin (no shortcuts) with  a swayback and erect upper back adjustment.
• If the first muslin isn’t great, I will do another one!!
• Lower the armscythe.  I will start with ½” and see how that is. (I will not forget to adjust the sleeve as well, so that it fits!)

Conclusions:

I like the look of this blouse, I will try it again, and it WILL come out BETTER next time.  Sewing is a learning process after all.  I need to concentrate on the process rather than getting so excited about a finished product.