Jul 21, 2014

Tied up - pattern alterations


In the previous post I wrote about the knotted dress I'm sewing for a friend. After I published the article we had a fitting where we altered the pattern on several places to make it fit nicely. In my opinion, the major issue this pattern has is its length, since it was drafted for extremely tall women, and the bodice panels need to be cropped to make the dress fit. The friend is 175 cm tall, but the front and back needed to be cropped on several places.

I have to add that the friend didn't think the bulky knot was an issue, so we decided to fit the pattern and make the dress.

Štepalica: Pattern alterations for the knotted dress

I will describe the changes we did on the pattern, but I have to warn you not to take this tutorial as a definite user manual; I strongly advise you to make a muslin first and fit the pattern according to your body. You can use this tutorial as an idea reference.

We noticed several problems with the dress:
  • the armholes were too big, the side seams stood too low at the underarm
  • the friend has broad shoulders, so we had to alter the shoulder seams
  • there was some extra width and length of fabric on bust, so we needed to remove the extra fabric
  • there was some extra length of fabric at the waist (the bias) seam, the bodice panel was too long
We made the alterations in several phases. First we adjusted the armholes so that we could see how much and where the further alterations were required.

This is how the original pattern looks. I won't talk about the sewing process now, but I might write about it when I make the dress.

Štepalica: Pattern alterations for the knotted dress

I altered the armhole and reduced some of the bodice length by cropping the bodice between the neckline and underarm. I drew two parallel lines as shown on the picture below, distanced approximately 2 cm. Then I cut the pattern along the lines and joined the upper and lower parts together, thus removing the extra length.
I applied the same alteration on the back bodice panels. I also cropped the sleeves by removing the length from the sleeve head.

Štepalica: Pattern alterations for the knotted dress

Then I altered the shoulder seams. I cut the pattern at the shoulder and rotated the cut-off piece to the side, keeping the armhole curve continuous. This widened the shoulder seam while kept the armhole intact. I adjusted the shoulder seam by redrawing a line that connected the neckline with the armhole.
I made the same alteration on the back bodice panel.

Štepalica: Pattern alterations for the knotted dress

Once the armholes were adjusted, the pattern looked much better. There was still some extra fabric length, but not as much on the breast as it was on the waist. A bit of the extra fabric was removed by closing the pleat on the left side of the bodice. I pinned the fabric in places where it seemed appropriate and then transferred the changes to the paper pattern. The result was as shown on the pics below - the left pleat was closed.

Štepalica: Pattern alterations for the knotted dress

Štepalica: Pattern alterations for the knotted dress

After this alteration you could see the dress would look great. There was some extra length of fabric left along the bias seam, so we removed it as shown on the pictures below.

Štepalica: Pattern alterations for the knotted dress

Štepalica: Pattern alterations for the knotted dress

Finally, here is a comparison of the pattern before and after our interventions. What you can't see on the pictures are alterations I did on the remaining pleats. I lengthened the center pleat and added a new one that goes from the right breast (left side of the pattern on the picture) towards the center of the knot gathering.

With these changes, the dress looked great and the friend was pleased. Note that we haven't altered the length of the side seams.

Štepalica: Pattern alterations for the knotted dress

I am yet to sew the dress and we should have another fitting then. The friend has left to a vacation meanwhile, so I'll write the next post of this series after she's back home.

Related posts

Zavezana - izmene kroja


U prethodnom postu sam pisala o ovoj zanimljivoj haljini, koju šijem za drugaricu. Nakon članka je usledila proba, pa smo izmenile kroj na par mesta, kako bi bolje pristajao telu. Po mom mišljenju, najveći problem kod ovog kroja je to što je modelovan za visoke žene, pa su krojni delovi za torzo prilično izduženi. Iako je drugarica visoka oko 175 cm, trebalo je da skratimo prednje i zadnje panele na par mesta, kako bi sve stajalo na svom mestu.

Moram da napomenem da dugarica nije imala nikakav problem sa čvorom i zadebljanjem materijala koje se nalazi na struku, tako da smo rešile da kroj korigujemo i nastavimo po originalnom planu.

Štepalica: Korekcije kroja za haljinu s čvorom

U daljem tekstu ću opisati koje smo izmene morale da napravimo na kroju, ali vas upozoravam da u ovom slučaju korekcija nije apsolutno egzaktna, i da svakako morate na svom telu da isprobate kroj, kako biste znali gde i koliko isti treba da izmenite. Ovaj tutorijal neka vam posluži samo kao ideja i neki okvirni vodič.

Kada smo sastavile haljinu primetile smo nekoliko problema:
  • otvori za ruke su bili preveliki, bočni šav ispod ruke je stajao jako nisko u odnosu na pazuh
  • drugarica ima široka ramena, pa je trebalo korigovati ramene šavove
  • na grudima je bilo previše materijala, trebalo je ukloniti višak
  • na struku, tj. kosom šavu koji spaja gornji i donji panel, je materijal prosto visio - torzo je bio predugačak
Korekcije smo radile u nekoliko etapa. Prvo smo korigovale otvore za ruke, kako bi se tačno videlo gde i koliko treba dalje menjati kroj na grudima i struku.

Dakle ovako izgleda originalni kroj. Neću, za sada, ulaziti u detalje šivenja kroja - o tome ću možda pisati kada budem šila haljinu. 

Štepalica: Korekcije kroja za haljinu s čvorom

Otvor za ruku sam smanjila tako što sam kroj skratila za par cm u predelu između okovratnika i pazuha. Nacrtala sam dve paralelne linije, kao na slici ispod. Zatim sam kroj isekla duž tih linija, i spojila ga ponovo, uklonivši višak materijala. Kroj sam skratila sa oko 2cm. 
Istu izmenu, i na istom mestu sam uradila i na zadnjim panelima, kao i na rukavima.

Štepalica: Korekcije kroja za haljinu s čvorom

Potom sam korigovala širinu ramena. Isekla sam kroj u predelu ramenog šava, pa sam isečak zarotirala u stranu, šireći kroj u ramenom šavu. Pri tom, liniju otvora za ruku nisam povećavala niti smanjivala, jer sam isečak držala fiksiranim u predelu otvora. Rameni šav sam potom korigovala novom pravom linijom.

Štepalica: Korekcije kroja za haljinu s čvorom

Kada smo korigovale otvore za ruke, kroj je mnogo bolje izgledao. I dalje je bilo viška materijala, ali više ne toliko na grudima, koliko na struku. Deo tog viška smo uklonile tako što smo u potpunosti zatvorile faltu na levom kraju kroja. Ovaj korak sam odradila tako što sam špenadlama pričvrstila materijal tamo gde mi se činilo adekvatnim, a potom sam izmene prenela na papirni kroj. Rezultat ove izmene je bilo zatvaranje falte na struku, kao što je prikazano na slikama ispod.

Štepalica: Korekcije kroja za haljinu s čvorom

Štepalica: Korekcije kroja za haljinu s čvorom

Nakon ove korekcije, videlo se da model ima potencijal da sjajno izgleda. Ostalo je još malo viška materijala, duž samih kosih šavova, pa smo i taj deo kroja korigovale, kao što je prikazano na slikama ispod.

Štepalica: Korekcije kroja za haljinu s čvorom

Štepalica: Korekcije kroja za haljinu s čvorom

Konačno, evo poređenja kako kroj izgleda pre i nakon naše intervencije. Ono što na ovim slikama nisam prikazala je to da sam središnju faltu malo produžila, a dodala sam i još jednu, koja ide od desne dojke (leva strana na slici) ka sredini nabora za čvor. 

Sa svim ovim izmenama, haljina je izgledala odlično, a drugarica je bila zadovoljna. Primetite da dužinu bočnih šavova nismo menjale, tako da zadnji paneli nisu mnogo korigovani - sva izmena je bila vezana za otvore za ruke. 

Štepalica: Korekcije kroja za haljinu s čvorom

Dalje me čeka šivenje, pa još jedna proba. Drugarica u međuvremenu ode na more, tako da nastavak ovog serijala sledi kada se vrati.

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