Wednesday, December 3, 2014

My Attempt at Restyling Sure-fit Designs Top to Another Pattern

Okay, as promised, I am going to completely saturate this post with my latest creation.  For some reason, when I make a video, I manage to talk about everything in the world before I actually get to my actual topic.
This FIRST video is mostly about Jackie and Josie, my golden doodles and how they handle my choice of dog food.  To get to the part where I actually talk about my pattern, move the slider over to 5:19.  If you aren't interested in my dogs or my blouse, please spare yourself this video.

Here is the SECOND video I made, which is so much like the first, I'm not sure why I even made it.  Again, I talk about everything in the world.  I eventually get around to my first muslin, and I show it to you.
And here is the THIRD video I made for you which was this morning, and it actually makes some sense -- I hope.

You can certainly LAUGH at my amazing drawing abilities.  I sure did!!!

And here is a picture showing you the FIRST pattern I came up with which DID NOT WORK.  I made a HUGE mistake on this one.  This was BEFORE Glenda sent me the drawing that helped me so much.  I DID sew this together, and it DID come out okay, but it is a miracle!!!

NOTICE how LOW I placed the yoke line.  It is way too close to my bust.

It had a V-neck which I changed to a U-neck in the 2nd version.

NOTICE the bust dart is still in the side panel.  I KNEW I had to remove it, and I KNEW I had to cut to the bust point, but I had already disconnected the pieces and had not left a hinge at the bust point.  What I did here was draw in the APEX, cut the bust dart TO THE APEX, and then swivel the bust dart out -- all in the side panel after it was already cut out.

I guess it worked out alright, but it probably shouldn't have.  You saw in the last video above how it SHOULD have been done.

NOTICE how I cut the panels AROUND THE OUTSIDE of the waist dart.  When I sewed this version together, I realized that the blouse I was copying was much fuller around the middle and didn't have waist darts in it.

Following is my final reconstruct #2.

Notice how I have removed the waist dart curves in the pattern pieces below.  I just have straight lines going through the waist darts now.

I have cut the yoke line an inch higher up toward the armhole.  They don't appear much different in the pictures, BUT the pick below of the yoke has seam allowance included.  The one above does not have seam allowance.

The red blouse I am wearing in the last video is from the pattern pieces directly above.  All I did differently is I took narrow waist darts in the back by just pinching them out of the actual blouse.

And that is it!  It is fun.  I learn something new every time I make another Sure-fit Designs pattern.  Glenda Sparling is EXTREMELY helpful as all her followers know.  It is all about the FIT!

I wrestled so much with the original Silhouette pattern, it was ridiculous!  The collar gave me such trouble, I finally just cut it off and made it a v-neck.

Here is the original Silhouette pattern:


On the girl in the picture, the collar doesn't come close to touching itself around her neck.  ON ME, the collar overlapped in the center at my throat.  MAYBE -- just MAYBE -- I will try to add a Sure-fit Designs collar onto my new pattern someday.  I'll have to study Glenda's book on that task.

And here is the drawing Glenda made for me that helped me so much, and it puts ALL OF THE ABOVE together in a nutshell.

JUST REMEMBER,
MY yoke line is BELOW THE ARMHOLE.  This picture has it going THROUGH the armhole.
And I may be back tomorrow with a video of Terry and me.  She is coming over to quilt.

Hugs, Joy

7 comments:

  1. Hey Joy, Looks like you have been very busy the last few days. I so enjoyed your videos and am so grateful for your tutorial. The picture of your pattern pieces and Glenda's drawing makes things so much clearer.
    I had such a good laugh about the cat food and the girls. It was really funny when you where comparing their personalities to yours and Jerry's. Thanks again for the videos I just love them.

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  2. Lovely blouse. Your explanation was very good. And your diagram was great. I especially liked your explanation of the round back and sway back correction. I've read how to do those corrections lots of times and it was always confusing. Your explanation to overlap for the sway back and spread for the round back made the light bulb go on. Books often make it seem harder than it has to be, I guess. Thank you for all the tutorials you share.

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  3. Joy thank you so much for your videos and tutorials.Love watching them.
    Hugs Lyn

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  4. Joy...you have done a wonderful job of explaining what you did to move the dart and incorporate it into the yoke line and the princess panel. Thanks so much for sharing your joy of working with the Sure-Fit Designs patterns. And by the way, your red blouse fits you so perfectly (as do all the other ones), but in the red blouse you can see the yoke and princess lines as well as the perfection in the fit. Well done!
    Glenda...the Good Stitch!

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  5. I absolutely cracked up when you said, "Pretend this is the back instead of the front...." It reminded me of PS demonstrating something on the back using the front pattern. But......you did the demonstration very well.

    Actually, as I watched you doing this I realized that it is just about the same as I did on my SFD jacket pattern. However, I did put the yoke into the armhole and then curved it down lower to where I wanted the yoke line to be. I moved the dart to the armhole where I cut for the yoke. I also did a princess seam in the lower part because I wanted some shaping. The commercial pattern was all one piece for the lower portion. I was following one of Glenda's first videos on using commercial patterns with SFD. I haven't made the jacket yet, because several other things came up that had to be sewn right then, but the fabric is still setting on my cutting table. I wish I had time to sew all day tomorrow, maybe I could get it done in time to wear it for a Christmas party. Oh, well. Maybe in January!
    Jackie and Josie are so cute. You can tell that they both just adore you!

    Hugs, Phylly

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  6. Joy, I absolutely love your red blouse. I too have the Sonya pattern and have been reluctant to try it. Fitting Peggy's patterns has been less than a fun experience for me in the past. Seeing your pattern pieces including the facings is really helpful. Can you tell me the measurements of the button extension? I usually use half the diameter of the button plus the seam allowance. Thanks for your help.

    Donna in Asheville, NC

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    1. Hi Donna!
      I add the 5/8" seam allowance and the entire width of the button -- usually another 5/8".
      Hugs, Joy

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Hugs, Joy