Two of My Favorite Posts

I am between projects right now. Susan Khalje is coming to town to teach her Couture Sewing Class next week at my studio, so I think I'll revive the skirt to go with my bustier and try to work on that while she's here. Of course, I also have to continue to work and go for radiation treatments (more on that further down) while she's here, so I think next week will not be the most relaxing for me. Oh yeah, and I'm single parenting this weekend. Oh well, it's always something, isn't it?

Anyway, I haven't had a ton to post about this week, but I got to thinking. I had asked readers of this blog what their favorite post is, and the winner of that highly unscientific poll was Cancer Chemo and What I Wore Part 4. While I like that one, and I'm proud of the post, I actually have two posts that I like better. From a day-to-day usefulness perspective, the two that I think are the best are:

The Right Bra Makes All the Difference

and its sequel,

More on Bra Fitting - Bring a Tape Measure

Whenever I work with students or the occasional private client, one of the first things we talk about is fit in the bust area. Different bras give different results in fit, and I think it's always good to remind yourself to check the fit of your bra. The general rule of thumb is that a good bra will last 1-2 years, depending on how you care for it. I hand wash and hang dry all my bras. It preserves the shape and extends the life. I advise strongly against washing bras in the washing machine, even in one of those lingerie bags. The agitation does bad things to bras. And face it - bras are expensive, so its worth the slight extra time it takes to hand wash them. I use shampoo on mine. It works just fine.

I Study Nuclear Science/I Love My Classes...
Last week I started radiation treatments. I've been mentally prepped for this since I was first diagnosed, so they don't scare me. The only major hassle with them is that, instead of 6 hours every third week, which was what I spent at chemo, I go Monday through Friday for 10 minutes per day. That includes the amount of time it takes to get changed out of street clothes, set up, zapped, changed back into street clothes, and out the door. If you are ever looking down the gullet of 6 weeks of radiation treatments, do yourself a favor. Try to go to a location that is convenient for you. I know it's not possible for everyone, but it does make life that much less stressful.

Parting Shot - Pincushion!

Speaking of Susan Khalje, did you know she sells the most fabulous notions on her website? This wrist pincushion from France is one. This is the BEST pincushion I've ever used! I love it because it's big, and because the bracelet is made of metal. So unlike wrist pincushions that have velcro fasteners, it won't snag your shirt or whatever fabric you happen to be working with. I highly recommend this. NAYY, of course. Oh, and her pistolet French curve is the best for patternmaking!

Happy sewing!

Elsewhere in Ann-Land

Can I just tell you how happy I am to get back to my sewing machine? I sewed up the muslin of the bodice for Vogue 8593. I started out with a size 12, rather than my usual size 14. I've found lately that Vogue has been running big through the shoulders on many of their newer designs. This is no exception. I sewed it straight from the pattern (just the bodice). I was right to start with a 12. It would be too big in a 14 at the shoulders. So I'll morph it out to a 14 below the arms and do a FBA. Here's a shot on Shelley:

 

It will need some work, but that's okay. I'll probably get a bunch done tomorrow on it. This pattern only requires 25% stretch on the cross grain, so rather than a knit, I'll use a stretch RPL. This muslin is made with leftover fabric from my son's ballroom dance pants.  Here's a picture of the back:

I really like the lines. I'm debating whether to make it with sleeves or sleeveless. I'll decide on that tomorrow. So far this is quite easy and goes together quickly. I think Linda had some issues with the fit of the bodice so I'll go check out her review on her blog.

Thank you to everyone for your wonderful words of support. It's been an interesting last few months, and it's not something that I'll talk too much about (though you may end up with wardrobe updates after each session!), but I wanted to let you know, and hopefully help some other people.

Parting Shot: Green Nails!

Every now and then I like to cut loose with my nail color and break away from my usual rotation of natural tones or reds. Yesterday, Christina put this really cool green on me (how un-Valentines, eh?). It's "Jade is the New Black" from OPI's new Hong Kong collection. On top of it, she put a coat of the sheer silver polish from the Christmas collection (sorry I can't remember the name). I wore it to our annual "Sick of Winter Party", which had its largest attendance in years. It's been a looong winter, and we aren't getting hit with as much as BW and Philly are. It was a blast and much needed!

Happy sewing!

McCalls 5971 - Making Adjustments

In my post on Wednesday, I noted that the armhole for McCalls 5791 is drafted for the cap sleeve version. I'm making the 3/4 length sleeve, and the armhole was so low to make movement of my arm near impossible. So using a very unscientific method ("how many finger widths higher should it be?") I decided to raise the armhole by 1/2 inch (about 1 finger width) at the side seam. Since this is a princess seam garment, I added 1/2 inch in length to both the side front and side back pieces, tapering to nothing at the notches. In this picture, you can see the resulting muslin pattern. When I was done, I measured the resulting armscye seams to compare against the original. I wasn't sure if I needed to adjust the sleeve. Here are the differences between the original measurements and the raised armhole measurements

Original SF Armscye: 4 1/16 inches
Raised SF Armscye: 3 7/8 inches

Original SB Armscye: 4 11/16 inches
Raised SB Armscye: 4 5/16 inches

Clearly, they are measurable, but I think I can get away with shrinking them them out of the Loro Piana wool. The biceps measurement on the original sleeve is just right for me. If I take out any width on the sleeve to bring it down to match the raised armhole measurements, I'm afraid it will make the sleeve too tight.

An interesting side note to this is that raising the armhole alleviated much of the pulling of the neckline at the shoulders. I'll still put lingerie guards in, but they aren't as necessary as they would be if I didn't raise the side seams. Once I did the fitting, I took the muslin apart and pressed the pieces. I'll use that as the bodice muslin for the garment. This will make it a lot easier to match my plaids.

More tomorrow, and have a happy and safe Halloween!

PS - as you may have noticed, I did a little housekeeping  on the blog. The column on the right was getting a bit unweildy, so I updated it. I moved all the blogs in my blogroll to the new format, which shows blogs as they are updated. You can click on show all to see all the ones in the list. I had to do it by hand, so there's a chance I missed a couple. If you feel like you should be on the blogroll and I left you off, or if you just want me to add you on, send an email to me and I'll be happy to get you up there.

Getting Back on that Horse

After boo-hooing for a while over the stoopid frickin' self-induced hole in my pants, I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and started on the muslin for my McCalls dress. I'm going to make it using the same plaid Loro Piana fabric as the stoopid frickin'  doomed pants, so I will wear it and get great enjoyment from it, despite my previous efforts. And thank you to all who gave me suggestions for what to do with it. The best was to burn it, but I hate the smell of burning wool, so I'll pass. Lah dee dah, life is grand and I'm all that and a big bag of stoopid frickin' chips!

No, seriously, thanks to all of you for your support and tea and sympathy. I decided that the best way to get over my mistake was to get right into the muslin for this dress. I made just the bodice muslin since the flat pattern measurements on the skirt seem right on for me. And I found a couple of interesting things about this pattern so far.

The pattern is specifically drafted with different pieces for B, C and D cups. Normally on a princess line bodice that's drafted for a B-cup, when I do a FBA, I need to lower the bust point as well as add to the pattern pieces. On this pattern, I don't need to; it's already factored into the draft, which was  a nice surprise. Second thing to note is that the neckline on this baby is wide, both in the front and in the back. For most wearers, I recommend putting lingerie stays in so you don't end up slipping it off your shoulders. You can buy them from Banasch's or you can easily make your own.

The third change that I'll need to make is to the sleeves. If you look at the line drawing, you'll see that the pattern has both a 3/4 length sleeve and a cap sleeve. It's clearly drafted for the cap sleeve. The 3/4 sleeve (which is what I plan to use) was obviously an afterthought. I say that because McCalls uses the same armhole for both versions. The cap sleeve version has a lined opening below the bottom of the sleeve, so you can freely move your arm. Unfortunately, they drafted the sleeve to fit that hole. So the armhole is low and restricts movement. Also, the sleeve is tapered so it is fine at the bicep (for me anyway), but very narrow at the opening. So I have to raise the armhole so I can move my sleeve, and I will add between 3/8" and 1/2" at the sleeve end so it doesn't cut off circulation in my lower arm when I bend my elbow. I should add here that I don't have very big forearms. This is one of the very few times I have ever run into this problem.

I'll do one more muslin to test the changes, then I'll cut into my fabric. More to come!

Happy sewing!

More on Bra Fitting - Bring a Tape Measure

Not too long ago I found myself in need of new, ahem, foundation garments. I am going to be on TV in the not too distant future, thanks to DS' ballroom habit. When we got the date for the film crew to come to the house, I decided it was time to purchase some serious suck-it-in-and-push-em-up underthings. As you know, I am a firm (pardon the pun) believer in Getting Properly Fitted for a Bra. This time, I headed to the local Nordstroms. And here I found some interesting things that may help you in your quest to look good.

I worked with a very nice young lady who measured me. Now here's interesting factoid number one: every store has their own fitting measurement "standard". For instance, at Lady Grace, to get your bra band size, they measure around the upper chest, also known as the high-bust. At Nordstroms, they measure around your ribcage right below the bust. I find this interesting because my band size varies slightly with these different measurements. With the high-bust, I fall between a 34 and a 36. Using the ribcage measurement, I'm squarely in the 34 size. This isn't entirely surprising to me. I work out 4 times a week and I have pretty large shoulder and upper back muscles thanks to that.

After getting the bra band size, the nice lady at Nordstroms then took my full bust measurement (Lady Grace does this too) to determine the cup size. Then she went off to get some bras for me to try on. Which brings me to interesting factoid number two: bra size is just a number/letter combination. Case in point: she brought me several different styles of bras. The 34 DD in the Natori fit me well. The 34 DDD (what???) in the Chantelle fit me well. In Felina's world, a 36C fits me better than a 34 DD. My favorite Lise Charmel bras, which fit beautifully, are 34D. Go figure (oh man, I am just full of awful puns today, sorry). The serious point of this is that each manufacturer, like RTW clothing manufacturers, uses their own fit model, and sizing is not consistent between brands.

Once I found a couple of bras that fit, the nice lady at Nordstroms went out to get a tee shirt to try on over them. I like this approach; it lets you see how the bras look under clothing, and it takes some of the incipient humiliation out of the situation. I tried on the bras with the shirt and noticed something which brings me to interesting factoid number three. Different bra styles/manufacturers lift and separate differently. Here are a couple of examples. When wearing the Natori, I measured my shoulder to bust apex. 12 inches. It's a minimizer, and we'll get to that later. With my Felina, that same measurement is 11 1/2 inches. With the Chantelle: 10 1/2 inches. Sign me up for the Chantelle, babies! It's like I never had kids.

Interesting factoid number four is that different manufacturers/styles also move you around so the distance between your bust apexes is different. Back to the Natori. As I mentioned, it's a minimizer. So what it does is it pushes them down and apart. In commercial sewing patterns, the bust apex is 4 inches from the center front. With the Natori minimizer, it pushes that out to 4 1/2 inches. I have another bra, a cleavage building balconette style from Felina, that brings that measurement down to just about 3 3/4 inches. This is important because if you sew a garment without taking these things into account, you're going to get wrinkles on your garments where you don't want them.

So the moral of this story is to try on lots and lots of styles and lots of lots of manufacturers to see which one fits you and your body the best. Also, and I know we've all been told this before, but it bears repeating, wear the bra that you will be wearing underneath a garment when you do the fitting adjustments. The right bra really does make all the difference.

Happy sewing and fitting!

The Right Bra Makes All the Difference

That is a truism whether you sew or not. There's a great quote from the movie "The Devil Wears Prada". Stanley Tucci advises Anne Hathaway, "Always keep the girls pointing forward." That sounds simple enough, but the reality is that many, maybe even most of us don't adhere to that. And it's not our fault. We haven't been measured properly.

I'll use myself as an example. Last year, I went to a chain lingerie store, I'll call it Valerie's, to buy some bras. The sales clerks in the store all dutifully carry their measuring tapes. I had not been measured for a while, so I asked for a fitting measurement. She whipped the tape measure around me and declared "36 D".

Now, I am busty, but I have always been somewhere in the 34C-D range. I was a little startled that I had (in my mind) gained that much weight and size since 2006. But I figured she knew what she was doing, so I bought several bras. After wearing them for a time, I noticed that my clothing didn't fit as well as I thought it should. At that same time, I was making a lot of knit tops and dresses to showcase Gorgeous Fabrics (and me, of course). Since knits are much more forgiving, I ignored the problem. Then I made a fitted jacket, and noticed the problem right away. I even received an email from a friend about it. This friend is someone whose judgment and advice on fit are always spot on. She is truly an expert. She had seen a picture of me in the jacket, and she commented that the girls seemed to be headed south of the equator (the equator being the bust point on the pattern). In making the jacket, I had used all of my standard alterations. They had worked just fine on the prior garments I had made. I started wracking my brain. Is it advanced age and gravity? Did I gain a whole lot of weight all of a sudden? What had changed?

I took a full set of measurements. Waist, and hip were the same. Bust was slightly larger. Maybe I should be glad that, if I am gaining weight, I'm only gaining there? Then came the most telling measurement: the shoulder to bust point. On most days in the past, that measurement for me is about 11 inches. This time? 12 inches. A full inch below where I was expecting it. If your bust point, or the fullest part of your bust, is above or below the bust point of the pattern, you'll get all sorts of distortion. That was happening here, and Els spotted it right away. I began to suspect the new bras I had purchased. Sure enough, when I put on one of my old bras (I like French manufacturers. This was a Lise Charmel), sproing! Right back where they belonged, 11 inches (actually 11 1/8 inches, but the bra was old, ya know?).

To test my theory, I went to another lingerie store. This one is known in the Boston area as being THE PLACE to get fitted for a bra. They have the reputation for taking 10 years and 10 lbs. off any figure, and the women who work there are no nonsense about the types of bras that work for various figures. I asked the manager to fit me. She quickly but carefully measured me and pronounced, "You're a snug 34C." I told her about my last measurement. She cast a gimlet eye in my direction and said, "Honey, if you wear a 36D, your bra band and boobs will be sitting at your waist. That's just too big." She then proceeded to pick out several bras for different needs ("This maker is good for when you want them to look really perky. This one is great for under tee shirts. You don't want padding, honey, trust me. You don't need it and it will just make you look fat.")

One hour, four bras and matching panties later, I really did look younger and thinner. The moral of the story is, get yourself to a good bra fitter, and get properly fitted. You'll stand straighter, look younger, and your clothes will fit better.

Happy sewing!