This is the second time I've made Vogue 8649, the first time I made up this pattern I was less than satisfied with the fit. Around the time I was making it Shams and Robin had written letters to the Big four pattern companies (I'm sure you would have read them) voicing some of the issues we sewists have in regard to the way their patterns fit. Weeeell... I must say that I wholeheartedly agree with them!!
This particular pattern is designed to custom fit for your individual cup size and the first time I made it I followed Vogue's directions to calculate the correct size. I'm a DD and according to the instructions for taking my measurements I should be making the size for a C cup, which I did. I know the pattern is designed for the inclusion of shoulder pads, which BTW I don't really care for, but since when is 'gridiron armour' classed as fashion wear? It's the only way the C cup sizing would have fitted me. I mean, really, what the...?
Fortunately I decided that had the top fit me I did actually like it so thought I'd give it another go and make it with the three quarter sleeve. I had bought a few great knits a couple of weeks ago and this one was perfect. A great combination of colours and a fabulous animal print.
Having decided to make another one, if I wanted this one to fit me better then some alterations were in order. To remove the excess fabric would be difficult with the kimono style sleeve so I started by checking if there was a finished bust measurement on the pattern. Yes! Great! Checked this against my measurements and the amount of ease I like and decided to go with the A cup fitting. This reduced the front length more in line with how I like my clothes to fit. But what about the back you ask? That's a good question. I laid the front pattern piece over the back piece and found that I needed a size 10 for the length and a size 14 in width. I traced off a new pattern piece using the 10 at the shoulder and the 14 at the underarm. The lower section was a good fit so no alterations here.
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| Back view - no excess fabric. Yay! |
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| Sleeve shaping Ignore my muffin top made by freshly washed jeans - this is about the top |
Needless to say after making these alterations to remove the excess fabric I'm really happy with the way it turned out the second time around. I'll get a lot of wear out of this one and it's perfect for my new job.
What about you, do you need to make such drastic alterations to get a good fit?
Details:
Top; Vogue 8649, my review of this pattern here
Jeans; Just Jeans
Shoes; Wittner
This does look terrific on you, and good for you making the effort to achieve such a good fit. I can see just by looking at the envelope illustration that I would have to make MAJOR alterations to that design to fit me, so I probably wouldn't even try! (blush)
ReplyDeleteI thought with the custom fit sizing that it would fit so much better than it actually did, so even though I did make it work I probably wont be making it again. There are so many more patterns out there that could potentially be better :)
Deletewell your top has ended up looking good so worth all the trouble. love the print as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I couldn't resist the print when I saw it. I just had to bring it home with me ;)
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