Week 5:: Lez Top: finished

You might have noticed there is no "fitting and pattern modification" post. No, I did not forget, I simply did not make a muslin for this one. Why? It has been a few months since I made this one, but I really think it is because I made a similar top, except I cut it too low below the bust, so it did not turn out the way I planned. Since the modification did not really change the fit so much, I felt confident enough to just go with it. And it turned out really well.

Here is the inspiration, just as a reminder. And the finished item. ( I am still not ready for the sleeves).

Not much to say... I used a bias tape made of the same fabric to finish arms and neck. And I was in a hurry so I just serged the hem. That's it. A close up:

And here is how it fits the dress form. I planned to take more pics over the weekend, outside, but... Oh well. But it was also so foggy most of the time, the pics might not have turned out anyway...

Pattern coming soon...

Previous Week 5 Posts:

Week 5:: Lez Top: drafting front

Week 5:: Lez Top: drafting back

Week 5:: Lez Top: drafting back

The back will be the same as the Week 4, basic sleeveless top. The only difference is the amount taken in at the side seam and shaping of the side seam. Here are the steps:

Step 1: start with the sloper. Mark point A about 1/3 of of the neckline from the shoulder. Trace from A to midline, down midline and along the hem (waistline). Mark points 1 and 2 and trace from 2 along the shoulder line.

Step 2: put a pin into the tip of the shoulder dart and rotate the bodice clockwise until point 1 matches point 2 (basically closing the dart). Trace from A (point A on the bodice, see below) toward the shoulder and down the shoulder to point 2.

This is what you should have at this point.

Step 3: Draw new shoulder: B to B1 is 4.5 cm; B1 to C1 is 5 cm. Draw a new neckline and arm opening. Take in 0.5 cm at the side seam. Draw a new sideseam parallel to the original (blue line on the pic above).

Step 4. Add length (I added 20 cm from the waistline (just extending the sideseam and the midline by 20 cm). Now let's shape the sideseam. Draw a notch on the new side seam 10.5 cm down. Extend the notch 1 cm in - this is just for shaping. Draw the new side seam (in red) from the top of the side seam, to the notch and then down to the hem line. I added a bit of room at the hem - just about 1 cm from the original side seam).

Step 5: taking care of the leftover dart at the neckline. I drew a deep neckline, but there is still a bit of shoulder dart left - about 0.5 cm. Instead of drawing in the dart and having it as a part of the pattern (and having to sew it), I redrew the shoulder seam, taking down point B1 about 0.5 cm along the neckline.

Step 6: make sure that the neck and arm curves are smooth over shoulder seams. Put front and back together at the shoulder seam and check. In this case I had to smooth a little bit (see blue line above).

That's it. Next is the finished top...

Previous Posts:

Week 5:: Lez Top: drafting front

Week 5:: Lez Top: drafting front

This one was too hard to describe, so I will try with a name. Lez top. Sleeveless top, cut under the bust, with gathers instead of the bust dart. Here is the inspiration:

(This is from a book - Sewing Recipe - I recently bought and find very helpful for sewing tips and techniques).

Before we start drafting the front let me come clean about something... I already made this top. A few months ago. You can see the whole project here. However, I started from a different pattern, not the sloper like I will do here, so the steps will be different. I am doing this because I need some time to create e-patterns for Weeks 1 through 4. The plan was to create them in one size and post for you to download and try.

OK, lets start. First, copy the front sloper:

This part is the same as in Week 4 challenge so you can look there (step 3 and step 7) for details. Draw in a new shoulder seam: A to A1 is 4.5 cm, and A1 to B1 is 5 cm. Draw in a new neckline - in this case, same as Week 4, I did a deep neckline - point C is 13.5 cm down the midline. Also, draw points D and D1. First square down from A and to the left from C. Draw a line from the intersection of those two and BP until it intersects neckline. That's D. D1 is about 0.5 cm away from D along the neckline. These two are needed to tighten a deep neckline. If your neckline is not deep, you can omit D and D1.

Now let's move on to the sideseam. First take in 0.5 cm (blue line parallel to the original side seam). Then draw a notch on the new side seam 10.5 cm down. Extend the notch 1 cm in - this is just for shaping. Similar as in Week 4 challenge. Draw the new side seam (in red) from the top of the side seam, to the notch and then down to the hem line (where you put the hemline is arbitrary, in my case it is 20 cm down from the waistline). I added a bit of room at the hem - just about 1 cm from the original side seam).

The last thing to do is draw in the line where we cut the front pattern into top and bottom part. This line (empire waist maybe, or a bit higher? I wanted it to be just under the bust) is about 5.5 cm down the side seam (red horizontal line). Notice that we have not moved the dart yet. This is because it will be moved only into the top part of the front pattern. Now cut the pattern out and then cut along the red horizontal line to separate the bottom and top part of the front pattern. The bottom stays as is, no more modifications on it. We have a few more things to do at the top...

Draw in a line from BP straight down to the bottom.

Then cut out the bust dart and the little triangle between BP, D and D1. Also, cut along the line down from BP. That's where we will move the dart to, and the extra volume from the neck (D - D1). Cut almost all the way to BP, but not through. This way the three pieces stay together at BP.

Now close the bust dart and the the D-D1 "dart" and open under BP. Trace all around.

Draw in the new armhole, smooth the neckline, and connect and smooth the new dart. This will not be sewn in as a dart, instead we will use gathers. Gathers will extend beyond the dart - in this case the * are placed 3 cm to the right and left of the dart legs. Gather between those two points. Cut this out and you have a finished front. Two pieces:

Tomorrow the back...