I'm almost done with Butterick 6574 -- just need to hem it. While the fit is okay, it's still loose through the bodice area, even after taking out quite a bit. I've decided that I can do better (or at least want to try), so my next project will be another version of it with a few more tweaks to the fit. I don't have any formal knowledge of pattern alterations, other than flipping through Fit for Real People. But I'm encouraged by how much my changes for the first version helped.
My re-drafted bodice pieces are pictured here. For the first version, the one I'm almost finished with, I added some darts to the back bodice, but didn't actually redraft the pattern piece. While the darts help a lot, I still have some extra fabric in the back, and the set of the straps is still too wide. I'm thinking right now that one source of my perennial gappy back problem could be my shoulder blades, which jut out rather than being on the same plane with the rest of my back when I'm standing at ease. The rest of the problem is just having a narrow upper body, I think. Anyhow, I took out a wedge from the upper back by rotating the pattern piece. This should bring the straps in a little closer, which I also need. I also made the dart I added at the neckline a little straighter and deeper.
I did alter the bodice piece for the first version, but I decided that I should tweak it a little more: on the the almost-complete v1 of the dress, the shoulder straps look fine when I'm standing still, but because the straps fall too close to my arm sockets, they get wrinkled when I move my arms. So I moved them in about a half-inch more. Looking at the second picture here, you can see how much the strap position has changed from the out-of-the-envelope version!
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