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Altering Fashion Pattern: Side Panel Blouse

Well, now let's do some fashion patterns and this is a blouse that got three options, so we're going to start with option number one, which is a side panel and a side panel is a scene that comes along the side of the bust not centered over the bus ah princess seem a true princess seamus centered over the bust and it's been a a little bit of discussion between side panels and princess and that's why we decided to do this pattern and show this I have a jacket that has a side panel which is very easy to see and the pattern did not originally have a dark and I've added a dark in this pattern the side panel version of the blouse those have a dart in it so this is jeanette pattern all pen to go ready to go and try on so let's give it a whirl and see how it compares to the alterations we did in the basic bodice back it does come to the centre back the neckline doesn't come to the neckline so that member we did a high round and a low round so we have to do the same alterations but I say it if ...

you have a high around and low around you're just going to do it so way do it that we're ok for with so it's around look at the front and on the basic bodice we added an inch in three quarters to the front the basic bodice on lee had three and a half inches of these in the pattern. This pattern has five and a half to these so it's a luther fit and we might not need to add as much to the bust adjustment and it looks like the cut edge really comes to your center front so let's see what the difference is here. It's an inch and a quarter so rather than an inch in three quarters we're just going to add an inch and a quarter two full bust. Marty, can you just tell us again where you started and how you pre penned in pre fit some of this? But where? How did you start that before not altered it all, not altered it on this. Is this the pattern? Gotcha that's, you would pin it together just like this? Um, remember you're pinning with it right side out, same sticking out if the scene is on the inside. It adds bulk so you don't get a good idea of what the fit really is. So that's what we've always fitted with the seams on the outside and see this wrinkle here that says, I need some help, so by the time we do the two back alterations that will be fixed thank you so since she was okay and back with I'm just turning around and checking the front with, and it looked to me like the cut edges, it looked like same to you comes to a center front, so we're just gonna add that difference because this is the truth in front let's slip on the sleeve while we're here. This particular sleeve is a two piece leavitt has a seam down the middle of the arm and it has a little vent at the bottom, so it generally is looser and fit, then most sleeves and for a lot of people, this is a fabulous leave if you have a full upper arm because you can't let out this scene, you can let out here, you can let out here and you can let out a little in underneath part, so you get more room and I've had several ladies in my class is that just tell them to buy this sleeve and put it in everything, and they do, and it works. It works and nets, it works and woven so it's great, so we're back to the alterations to the back first, when you do a high ground or a low round on a two piece back, the alteration goes through both pieces line. The line here and goes all the way over to here and what I find works really well because I have to do this all the way all the time for me so I'm very accustomed to alteration is I overlap the pattern piece and pin them together about an inch from the line on either side so they're overlap just a that point of the line and then put it on the straight of the grid as usual and cut through both pieces and we're going to lift the same five eighths we did before that's why if you have to do this just do it it's the one thing you can do before you try it on now what I'm going to do because I need to keep it consistent I'm going to slip one piece of tissue under the top part that's why upended about an inch away from the cut line and then slip under the other piece that way it's sort of like it's a one piece back but it gets the proportions correct in the alteration now can un pin that piece and finish taping and then we do exactly the same thing with the high round and I am going to move the line again it's tactically this center back is cut on the fold however the line is one inch down below the lowest neckline just like it's supposed to be but when we're doing a larger size means the linus pretty low so I'm going to do it chlo sir to the neckline seem can you can see there's not very much distortion at the neckline just like before slipped the tissue under the top layer now what will what you'll find is because of the low round and putting the bottom heart on the grid but because of the low round look what happens at the top of the neck here we have of quite a distance from the centre back and the most common way to take care of this is tow addison iraq theme and so it curves to fit your back sometimes you can get tricky and do other things and I do on occasion all ad tux I might do pin tucks this case I did gathers can you see the gathers? They literally gathered with gathering stitches to fit the next band you could do um darts so you can be creative in most cases I like a centerback scene because I like it shaped to fit. So this pattern I did not call for a centerback scene but it works just fine and you can see how it shaped so let's add a centerback scene I was thinking rondo asked about shortcuts and this may or may not be a shortcut, but if you didn't want to add the tissue centerback scene and you're positive that you told them you were headed and if you do that, then just put a pin going across the top and bottom and that will remind you not to cut down along the edge and you could also draw a chalk line of five eighths but then put a big note on your pattern that when you cut it next time add five hates and cut it with the scene mean there are shortcuts in the more you do it but I have set not added that and then I cut it off forget getting very well just forget so you can just make the blast north once that's your shortcut it's a great blouse so it would be I tend to be a basic staple in your wardrobe everything looks different in different fabrics and colors and prints on a while you could even make it long if you want a shirtdress I've made that pink jacket about ten times in different fabrics. Of course marty used to teach our, um feasible tailoring workshop but after about what twenty five years nancy has agreed to do it and you did your first one on your own here in seattle last year and you got rave reviews it's hard I want to teach because it's very complex and you've got fit and technique and everything to deal with, but once you've made a jacket you could make anything and I think the students realize that improves their sewing back together I didn't take these as much as I normally tape because the seam allowance isn't this crucial dia have perfect this is a two piece back that she's in the low around high round and one thing we tried to do in each chapter in the book it's after we did the standard like fullback and that alteration ui seok how do you do it in pomona raglan sleeve er whatever but time we wrote first wrote the book there were no regular sleep designs out and so we really had to guess and you know but now there are regular sleep so we can really practice what we preach and probably improve upon it back aside and smooth basic we did an inch in three quarters and this war just doing an inch and a quarter so it is a little less for the full bust on one of the clues to whether a pattern is a side panel is where this peace comes at the side so right here and so it's not anywhere near the bus turn this way princess needs to be a princess needs to be closer to the apex so this is done in ready to wear they add a dart why don't you talk about that nancy this is new information that we learned yesterday yeah um I I don't know how I stumbled on this information but this little dart added to a side panel is known as the dior dart um and that is because christian dior is credited with being the first person to actually add a dart to a side panel as just a fitting future and I found this information I think somewhere on the internet I suppose I read a lot of blog's about sewing and pattern making and design and I'd like to figure out what you know where designs come from and on dh that's how I stumbled on it so if you're interested in more and do your dart just google it and you'll be amazed what you find out doesn't that cool so what happens in this case is you have a little dart it's just a short dark not a great big dark this is not going all the way to the side seam it's just going to the side they don't line three it's just covered with a dark blue line from the paper from the grid exactly on the grid line one time what made us realize that we can't say just go in and make an inch and a half for best alteration on everything was the girl from tacoma washington had been the fit workshop and she had quite a full bust so we had her a couple inches and she came to another workshop and she showed us a jacket she had made it was oversized jacket and she just had gone ahead and added the two inch best when she had these I mean the jacket was out of heavier fabric just like stiff with all that extra e she didn't need it she probably wouldn't have needed more than a half an inch besties because there was so much besties in the oversized jackets so we steadfastly say try on the unaltered tissue and then determine your amounts you know what to look for now but just take the time to try on the unaltered tissue and both marta and I still do that after all the years that we've been tissue pitting ourselves so that's why we say you can't you can't just lay that basic on top of a pattern and this is what it's going to be the thing he would be so complicated to explain how to do it that it just wouldn't be worth but we finally convinced vogue in the seventies that thank you I think the people that benefit from fifth period are people with full bests the very most because they really can't buy ready to wear that fits them oil appear if they're going to button it or have it fit around the bust it's just gonna be too big and they have to accept it if they don't so so our happy campers are always the ones that have full bus we love full busted people wasn't one workshop we had like fifteen people and fourteen did not need a full best suggest they're all b's maybe always on my mind during class ever full bust people are so thankful and grateful to their teachers and they're so excited and you might be wondering why we don't talk about a flat chested or small busted it rarely ever comes to play it seems like they're just really aren't that many a's and if there are a cz often they wear a padded bra to have a little bit more shape and so the pattern just outside the pack envelope you know fitz and fine we had one gal who did writing costumes and writing costume's supposed to be perfect and she was very tiny and flat we did do just the opposite instead of spreading it we just lapped it and the dark got smaller got narrower with and then we had to shorten it on the side you know I guess I used my hope fill this in here waited more than an inch the same with narrow arms although I did do an article for vote powder magazine on making smaller because they kept saying keep talking about sure what about smaller what just doesn't come up that much? But then my daughter was making ponte aidan it jacket and she didn't like the sleeve to be have any e's in it she wanted it to be fitted and that was probably the first time that I've ever done the reverse instead of pulling under arm and widening the upper arm we pushed and narrowed it and it worked great it just doesn't come up but then you know we'll skinny people don't often show up in our workshops either are people of perfect figures don't see this jew up except our friend from creative lives meg we had to do hardly anything so now this starts just a little deeper than it used to be might be just a wee bit longer we'll put it on to see I can do these alterations fairly fast you may think it's taking a long time but let me tell you I'm doing really fast it often takes somebody the whole day to do the alterations it's not unusual in a workshop because you're learning it to me it's just automatic I have to do all of these alterations to myself plus I have to do a broad back so and then I have to add to the hips and then I have to do this and I have to do that so once I've done all those alterations I do want to use the pattern more than once absolutely and I'll definitely do this one again I love this is a brand new top and I just love it e m s you do get faster so the frustrated when you first start out it seems like it's awfully time consuming but just look at the benefits something that actually fits you and you can take great pride and wearing it I used to think look how long it took me to make this garment like twenty hours whatever happened to be took me twenty hours and I started thinking how many hours of where am I going to get out of this? Hundreds probably and it only took me twenty hours to make it that always made me feel better about that fitting in construction sometimes the fitting time takes longer than sewing it like this probably took about a half hour we've got one two, three four seems sudden sleeve him the longest part was putting on the binding well it's looking more like you this internet and you didn't have to do a sleeve alteration so that's really all we had to do now you can make four five glasses there might be something else we'll see we'll see that they might have to do a little of this a little of that well that looks through so much better than home there across the shoulders did you see the arm hole to that soothe? Yeah, that works that looks however we're we're a little ways from the centre back so we need to let out the side. You also probably want to think about how long it is it is probably a little long for you in this part the waste comes to your waist basically in the front but it's your fear shorter in this part of your body might want to shorten. Probably. Yeah, probably least, too. Maybe two and a half inches. Maybe about here. Finish length or they're finished length. First win. So that's finished length. Where the daughter. Okay, so that's center back right here. We're one probably two and a half inches from remember, this is a scene so that's the centre back. So we need to let out the side to allow for that and it's another added chuck, a three inch piece will be better because of them. Oh, the curved that'sthe e you straight at a chunk it's kind of a new term it's actually not in the book it's in some pattern envelopes, but it's not in the book use it cut little pieces of tissue, but it just seems easier. Just don't make the chunks are larger than what you're going to need because, um, you don't want to go back at another church picked for the chunk, so just add more. You'd always take it away and it's easier. Just add these two straight pieces when you have a curved pattern and then you want to make sure that the original cut edges are lined up marta, so disciplined. Pinning the pins pointing down so they don't fall out and I find myself a lot of times I have a pant or something laying on my cutting table and shoot it's like wrong way the waist is up here in the legs air down here but I pin right handed so I pin with the pin's going up and sit down and they fall out depends on the fabric so you had to pick up the pants flipped them over so you could easily pin with the pins pointing down I'm just guesstimating where the side seam might be like like I said before I like to have the pins there and rearrange them rather than trying to pin it on the shape because it's hard to pin it on somebody wait a little more turn toward the camera me toward the audience miss a little you know what I forgot to do what I just realized sweetie what no when I looked at her arm hole here I forgot to shorten across here and here so we have to do that before we finish up with the lord of the dark probably accept that that here is the arm hole and it should be up a little bit don't you think so yes we have to do that shortening that what you want before that pretty well where she lifts her arm a little bit you can see that it's hanging down quite a way down here by the time you get to the stitching line and it would probably ok when you've got a sleeve interview really comfortable, maybe no actually be harder, harder to raise your arm broke because of the arm hole is too low, then you're lifting the whole garment and sometimes you can't move so small a closer arm hole actually fits better so he only certain did it half an inch of her basic bodice. So how much would you need to shorten more in matters that three of the basic bodice and wanted to do a half in this on a little sway back looks like a half time measured in yesterday's there's so many things to look at, you just have to keep it together. Well, there is an art to drawing two lines a certain distant apart and bringing them together. We've done that a couple times way have done it no, don't be too hard on yourselves if you're let's just say you did it and you didn't do that, you didn't catch it early on I mean it's, I could make a huge difference, but the more you know, I don't know I when I'm fitting people, the more I fifth, um, the more I find, but I don't always catch everything the very first time I have a student in a class because I'm getting to know you and sometimes I don't seem to see something in a basic but when you start getting looser fashion something shows up like this and I will say oh, you know, maybe we should have been doing that all along all along but you know you're happy with the garment but then we start perfecting things but it's better than no alterations at all and it's better than a lot of ready to wear that you'd buy it doesn't fit you we haven't found a brand that knows exactly you know well you don't in nineteen ninety five the president calls called me and said, you know what? This year the baby boomers are turning fifty and they are a huge population we need to come up with a pattern that will fit baby boomers better and he said you could do it and I'm sort of like ching to change it well, I went home and I really thought about how could we make a pattern that would fit every baby boomer over fifty better? And I finally had to go back and said I can't it's not possible but then I got to thinking, what can we do if we can't make the fit better? How can we make it easier to fit and that's when we decided well, what if we make it easier by putting lines on the patterns for altering and uh and then we started adding tissue fitting to the pattern guide shoots and so I think we've made it easier but not better I think it's impossible to have a pattern that would fit everybody better and I have a beautiful picture from a pant workshop with six lady standing in a row and they all started with a size eighteen pant pattern just like if you were all twelve and you all started with twelve pattern but because different you are and I took a picture with them because they were all so totally different but that's where they started and it's a really good slide just a show that it's pretty hard to make the perfect pattern for everybody impossible so so don't blame the pattern cos I hear a lot of people say they don't fit well they could fit me better you know? But they can it's better for them to have a standard stick to the standards that when you buy your size twelve you buy you ten and you buy your fourteen that you I know pretty much what you're getting do you like that better? I mean you've probably heard people say that's why I like the standard because I know what I'm getting you know it after work with minutes a few to learn to fit you and see how you're different from that standard but then fitting sort of a breeze it's a breeze wants you yeah, I want to get it and when you put yourself did nancy teach you to do two shooting yeah and that was the first time we'll tell us about this you have something you really told me? I have um I did learn tissue fitting for nancy I I went when I was a child let's start way back I my mom taught me to seoul and used it treadle machine I still have that great fun so I was in grade school did the junior high high school home economics and then started and as an adult and I did sewing in fits and starts so I and in those days I didn't really have to alter a patter very much it was nice that I started getting older things didn't fit very well and then I learned that there was such a thing as is this in the earlier stages and then I was introduced to nancy and I started working with the palmer pletch patterns and and I've been doing that ah sense in classes and um it's been a couple of years since I did it and I almost feel like I'm having to re learn it again but it's still you hear the same thing over and over again and pretty soon you become familiar with it but I've learned that it's really enjoyable to create a pattern and have it fit well and it really it it satisfies the soul it's the creative person with inside you it feels your tank thank you thank you nancy at least five six and I don't know we never stop learning no I think I just I think you have learned a lot in one workshop but it's there's so much more there and we always tell our students when they come in on friday for a four day workshop that at the end of friday you're going to be confused we're throwing a lot of information at you were talk not a lot of terms but by monday we'll be so smart could you now altered several patterns and you're on your road and and it's just amazing what you can learn but then if you don't use it you lose it for a while was like riding a bicycle back on think she's ready to go oh you didn't do the front way just handed a piece is turned turn around we'll just pin the front you can do that it's a little high bad bitch in the ray on it'll be fine yeah we'll know because we have the reon cutout ever try hon but if ray on the drop that dart's often do drop so wei don't worry too high ok did a sway back tuck on that looks pretty good don't you think it's this way that yeah that looks great it looks like a blouse perfect how about forward children she need that I put your arms straight down looks like a little yeah a little bit forward let's turn to the audience it's just a little back from the centre of her arm so we'll just go with it let out the back and taking the front is that more in the center for those who said you could see straight on so well do you know how to do that now what I wanted to show wass um we've done a high round a low around and a sway back on the center back piece this is a question we always get because the center lines are now distorted the grain line I wanted to lay that back on the table and just talk about it a second weigh already I saw that the center back um seem wass crooked that's why we added a centerback scene right because it was a fold and we made it a scene so that's still a semen that works but the side back also gets a little out of whack still pinned together I trim it do you want a one inch side seemed just in case or that they're the same your cut together while it's still pin they're the same you're not trying tow distort it you don't have to market you know you have a one and she have a one inch this pattern piece take out has a grain line marked on it, and the grain line is now crooked if we went with hair see it's crooked, so when I would it's a very short grain line, I would have gone a little higher with it, but, um, what I usually do is that bottom of the arrow on the top of the arrow I put in the same place, so I measure from the salvage or the fold to the top of the arrow in the bottom of the arrow, and that works. You can also draw a new line, so the grain line when you have a sway back and a high round on a low around, especially the grain line, gets completely out of whack and that's okay, okay, now we're ready to cut it out of fabric and pin it together for a fabric fit. Since since we're so smart, we already have that now center front is generally five eights and five bates it's an inch and a quarter that's what they way had is an overlap, so I just bring them together in penitence, five eights and debate sometimes it's different I love this fabric, I'm running right back, I don't find some more degree is a great color for you, everybody really I don't think I changed the back at all, no moony put things on centerman you shoulder and usually you'll stay stitch the neck and clip it so that it can come up high is it supposed to but if you don't sort of get it on right you're not going to see whether it fits or not so now look at how nice she looks in that way just pull it down a little bit make sure the centers the shoulders were right it's wonderful it's perfect darts we've just yeah I'm going to shorten that tio I think that maybe wasn't meant to be there anyway but don't go out too far maybe stop back stop maybe it cordovan inch from where the pin is going in just so it's not coming all the way to your point looks great, huh? Now go ahead do the sleeve and then I have to tell you something this is back this sleeve has a has a deep him that then pulled back so it's a cup so it looks like it's really long but it's actually three quarters I also want oh no mentioned something else we haven't made a change in her shoulder seems to look fine so if we're going tio I don't think it's showing that we need to um I just pin this together and what I have to say about batik is it's really hard to tell right side from wrong side because it goes through so much and when we got all them pinning it uh wrong sites together I pulled this up and I said does that look like the right side to you? Well either side can be the right side the songs use the same throughout but you and I sort of looked at and said you know that looks more like the right site well the good thing is now she doesn't have to unpick innit and repent anything's we haven't made any changes so you can just so so in a fit both sides I say do you talk teo inadvertently and the seam in the back see how nicely that curves to her body and yes it added a seam but who cares now you could cut it on the fold and you could transfer an ad necked art but we generally prefer the scene but you could do things like marta said you can addle dart's here if you cut it on the fold and it's too big a cross here gather it or whatever a choice that you can make but this is great with your glasses always where you glasses with this so whatever you do to the front piece you have to do to the facing piece so this has been shortened to the chest and lengthen where we did line three which we just add a little the length of the body to make sure it was the same length then we have interfacing facing in the collar get interfacing and you want to put that on before you so because it stabilizes everything so it hang straight on this is a really great interfacing per slippery and smooth fabrics get um is very lightweight and actually shear you can see through it we call it shear it has crosswise give and lengthwise stable so what we recommend when you have a pattern with a facing and this shows here as a fold on facing is that the stable direction goes cross wife so when you put your buttonholes in because the buttonhole goes in horizontally on a facing you put the buttonholes and you don't get wavy buttonholes are stable can you just explain what interfacing is for people who might be new she's the interfacing guru my first job out of college was the international interfacing company on by the way after we cut off of it we actually just folded it and put it back in the bag so we know what we have so that's why this um this is a what is called a uh weft polyester if usable interfacing the way I have to serve a combination between and knitting a woven it's a net with a weft yarn woven across and this one happens to be all polyester it does not need pre shrinking and for some reason when you fuse to lightweight fabrics which I would pre shrink the ray on but if he fused to the lightweight fabrics it it just adds body a little bit of christmas the fusing agent doesn't go through and it doesn't pucker in after it's washed it was something around you could feel we found just to be amazing and facing uh it comes comes uh sixty inches wide by a yard and you get a lot of blouses collars and friends out of this it's just called perfect few sheer and it's a line actually that mar tonight developed when we got very frustrated with it sinks and we didn't want so many we have four and two of them you pre shrink and two of my polyester and you don't need to pre shrink um but they're great if you two of you or three of you are making blouses to view and I think that you need to know about that have you tried it before? Not sure trying that one in the seattle area is just about security you tell him that she has yes jeanette you have used that because I insist all my students use it it's really the best thing well you know that's fabric I mean this the color would work on everybody in this room is just such a great print and I have a hard time finding prince that I love and this is just super so glad you like it too but now you get to sew it yes on the instructions and the guy I cheated pretty clear this long. Well, we've done our first fashion pattern, yes, and it wasn't nice to see how the basic related to the fashion, and if she does another fashion, there's going to be a lot of relationship as well, and another win the same thing. So the more you do, the more you'll find the consistent consistencies, and I think you all, um, have great figures, and that little bit of alteration just makes enhances everything, and it will hand your clothes beautifully, and marty doesn't such a good job. I feel just like I'm on a vacation here, she says. Yeah, wait, do you do pants? All right, well, thank you so much again, marta and patty, and our next lesson, we're going, teo, look at creating our fitting, a nit fashion pattern. Is that correct? Alright, fantastic, well, thank you all. Thank you.