Modified Darts - and sleeve ...

Well it was a shame that my sewing class was cancelled at the end of March - when I went back to class last week I got some good advice about my fitted blouse. The back darts were puckered and the bottom of the blouse swung out like a peplum - a good look on some but not me - and it wasn't supposed to!

My tutor advised taking out the darts (and hem) and she re-pinned them so that they went all the way down to the hem of the garment. The dart fullness was also a little too low at my waist, so I raised that by half an inch or so.

In addition, I asked whether the sleeves were correctly set-in. My tutor is aware that I am striving to do things well, so she advised me to remove the sleeves and re-do them. Oh dear! Anyway, when I originally sewed the two rows of stitching to be gathered at the top of the sleevehead, I reasoned that the first row would be better just inside the seam line - at 1/2" in fact - as then it wouldn't get caught in seam. I did the second row a further 1/8" into seam allowance.  However, my tutor advised that the first row should be ON the stitching line as this allowed the sleevehead to be set-in better. So, I unpicked, pressed and re-did the gathering and the seams. There must be an easier way! After I sewed in the sleeves, I then overlocked the seam allowances, which I hadn't done previously.

I also slightly modified the front princess seam above the bust point as I felt there was a little excess fullness there - I took in 1/8" from front but not side front. This did involve unpicking overlocking but it got done and re-overlocked.

So, here is what the back looks like now:

Ugh! Truly, it looks better in 'real life'!! If I had ironed it after washing and drying it, that might have helped too!

I'm going to ask the tutor what all those lines mean - but she has said she's no fitting expert so she may not be able to help. Any ideas? I'm most worried about the parallel diagonal lines which go from shoulder blade down and out to sleevehead. Is this a sewing issue? Or a fitting issue? or both?

The dart fullness is still slightly puckered but I can live with that.

I was going to wear the blouse last night but I had a different bra on and the front just didn't work. Either I have to get a whole new set of bras to hoist me up or when I re-do this blouse, I have to lower the bust fullness a bit. Probably a combination of the two. I do need new bras - my size has changed since losing a bit of weight and my bras are no longer supportive and the cup size is too big in some, but not all.

I will take to class tomorrow, but I really have had enough of this blouse for the moment. I'm less happy with it than I thought - it looks a little more formal than I thought it was going to and so next time, I'll make a more casual shirt which will fit better into my lifestyle.

Happy sewing!