Cashmerette Concord V neckline alteration

Cashmerette Concord V neckline

 I took my Cashmerette Concord tee tunic with V neckline to class a few weeks ago as I just couldn’t wear the top - the neckline was just so loose and baggy, due to me having used too long a band length. I took apart, tried to redo - but it was no better. I decided that if I could find the fabric, I would re-cut the band to the length I measured after pinning it appropriately -  a lot shorter than it was originally. I also planned to cut the band slightly wider as I find the neckline too low and too wide, despite having raised it. However, after lots of searching I couldn’t find the fabric. I think I may have given the rest away when I thought I had finished the top. I now give fabric to Chris for her pouffe (stuffing) but at that time I was destashing scraps elsewhere so there is no option to retrieve. The end result was that I HAD  to make this band work somehow!

 

This time, I uses a zigzag stitch around the neckline -
first time, over the overlocking, I could only get a straight stitch to work

Each term in class, we choose some goals. My goal this term should have been armhole and neckline finishes! I’ve had so many problems with them...

I managed to get the original band, now shortened by around 4”, to work on the Cashmerette tee.

The most worrying part was the point of the V, which had extended - that is, the snipping appeared to be longer and the fabric was wider at that point. However, I stay stitched to the new point. Then, using the length I had chosen from the previous attempt, I stitched the two ends of the band together as per Cashmerette’s instructions. I marked off quarters on that and on the neckline. The band was narrower in some places where the previous overlocking had cut some off, so I had to be careful to pin accurately - at least as well as I could.

I panicked that I had got it completely wrong, as my band seemed MUCH too short, until I realised that by machine basting the two layers of the band together at the seam edges, I had stopped it stretching. After I removed that stitching , all was well. (my original band was hand basted, and while it could stretch more than this machine basted one, perhaps that contributed to the band being far too long)

Then I chose to follow a particular stripe while I was sewing, using a very narrow zigzag stitch.I didn’t  get my wish to make the band wider as that just wasn't possible using the original band  - but at least it’s not too much narrower!

As the seam at the back, that is between the band and the body of the tee, is much narrower than previously as the fabric had previously been trimmed and overlocked, I chose not to overlock it this time. I then top stitched around the neckline using a wide zigzag stitch in pale blue, as I did on sleeves and hemline. Clearly, a coverstitch machine would have given a much nicer and more professional finish - but I don’t have one.

It’s finished - at least as much as I’m ever going to do on it. I still find it too low for my liking so I may choose to wear a scarf or a big necklace with it! At least it seems to lie better. Only time will tell, of course.

The finished neckline. It is far from perfect but is hopefully now wearable

Cashmerette Concord Tunic and my first stretch V neck

Cashmerette Concord tunic

I’ve finished the Cashmerette Concord tunic I decided to make using very similar striped fabric to my first T.

This time, I used the pattern pieces I had already altered to fit but had to further alter them to the required design.

I wanted the V neckline. Fortunately, Rory looked at the pattern and asked me if I really wanted the neckline that low. Needless to say, I didn’t and raised it by about an inch but could easily have raised it more.

I wanted the longer length with the split hem sides and the curved bottom hem so added the pieces back on to what I had, altering them to fit the rest of the pieces. I also had to alter the facings.

I decided to go for the sleeves with the tabs.

V neck

First, the V neck. Yes, I would have preferred it higher than this but it’s okay - just that I realise that as I’ve got older, I prefer to be more covered up. I had open heart surgery to fix a congenital lesion in 2000 and at first I didn’t like to expose the scar. It’s fairly invisible now and doesn’t bother me at all - my issue now is, I think, just ageing skin and wondering who wants to see that! That and dislike of revealing bra or bra straps - that’s clearly an age thing as many youngsters don’t seem to care about this.

I pretty much followed the pattern instructions to construct the V neck. They were easy to follow. As my neckline was a different shape from the pattern’s - longer because of my height and the V higher because of modesty, the neckline band was obviously not the correct size. I did baste and measure, but in the end, my neckband is a bit longer than it should have been and the band is rather loose - more at one side than the other which is strange as the band was measured and put on symmetrically. I had gone ahead and overlocked the seams on the inside before I realised the extent of the issue but decided not to alter. I tried to steam the band to shrink it a bit and that perhaps had a little effect.

I think I stretched the band when applying, sadly.

The pattern recommends topstitching from the right side to hold down the inside neckline band. I was unable to do this even after several attempts - my machine just wouldn't have it! I had been using a zig zag stitch. Rory advised that as the neckline was fairly wide and would not be under any strain, that a straight stitch would work but to sample if first.  This worked! I was able to use my edgestitch foot which meant that things were kept straight.

Facings

I had to alter the facings because of the alterations I made to the original tee shirt pattern.. Perhaps because of this, but also because I intended to insert the sleeves in the round rather than flat, everything was a touch trickier - I had already sewn the side seams.

I managed to top stitch the hems in place using a large zig zag stitch.

I had to fiddle about to get the facings to end in the correct place. My front and back don’t seem to be at different levels (I thought back was going to be longer than front) so I’ve done something wrong somewhere. I need to adjust the pattern for the next time.

Sleeves

The pattern instructions have you insert the sleeves flat then sew sleeves and side seams in one go which would have been fine had I been happy with the sleeves.

I had altered the sleeve cap to give more height and in line with my previous alterations. When I basted them in place, I found excessive fabric and a couple of weeks back asked Rory to pin them correctly. A huge chunk of fabric was eventually removed. Much more from the back than the front as is usual for me.  I couldn’t actually remember (hangs head in shame) whether I had already adjusted the previous pattern for this - perhaps I hadn’t and this was the result, combined with the increased cap depth.

By this time, I had permanently sewn the sleeve seam and overlocked. I had not put on the tab at the suggested time as I knew the sleeves would need to be altered. I now turned up the hem and zig zag topstitched and sewed the modified sleeves in place, and overlocked the raw seams.

I added tabs separately. I simply sewed on a button, taking the thread through all layers. I have hundreds (thousands?) of buttons - who knows where they’ve all come from!! I remember as a child, playing with my grandmother’s button box. That was great - looking through all these buttons for a suitable pair was a bit more frustrating! I eventually found a pair.

Thoughts on finished tee

• I’ve already mentioned that I could have done better with sewing on the neckband. I’ll try again and I’ll also slightly raise the neckline and bring in the neckline a bit - this tee will not hang on a hanger.
• I actually find this tunic length a bit too long for my preferred style so I would shorten in the future.
• At the moment, it is a little tight around the high hip (bit too much of a tummy at present!). Because of my foot being in the moonboot, I’ve had little or no activity and zero ‘exercise’. I won’t adjust yet. The tightness looks a bit worse than it might because of the length.
• I like the fabric and the colours.
• My stripes don’t match as well as they should have at the armscye as a result of chopping off all that fabric from the sleeve head.
• I will wear it but hope I don’t keep reaching for a scarf to cover my decollete!
• I’ll make another.

I wore it to sewing bee today. It felt comfortable but the neckline looked really bad when I looked in a mirror after I had been wearing it a few hours.

Today was first day back to sewing bee because of my foot. Seeing these photos makes me realise just how long it is since I've had my hair cut! Way overdue but visit to hairdresser wasn't possible. Excuse my hair and my trousers which I wore because they fit over the moon boot.

My tutor there confirmed that it looked as though I had stretched the neckband more on one side (which she otherwise liked very much! she also liked the sleeve tabs). I had asked if taking up the shoulders would work but she said the issue was with the neckline not the shoulders. She didn't feel it was worth re-doing and suggested trying to shrink which of course I've already tried, as I explained to her.

E suggested I should give it to her if I don't get on with it - or even if I do! (Several things have gone on that direction in the past)

Verdict - imperfect but wearable. This is my first V in stretch fabric so I'm not beating myself up about it!

I'm doing this entirely from my phone so I'm not sure how well it will work.

A 'funny' story? AKA Cashmerette Concord part 3

Well, not that funny tbh!

I have done two previous posts on the Cashmerette Concord tee shirt and was still far from happy with the result. I made another tee incorporating the changes - and still wasn't happy. I was going to throw my attempt as a wadder but my sewing tutor see suggested I persist after making a few changes to the armhole/sleeve area.

The big disadvantage to these changes was that my careful stripe matching was to no avail!

The sleeves were too short so I added a band, which I like. Otherwise pretty standard. My tutor agreed with me when I said that some of the lines at the front suggested I might need a FBA - though I used the G/H cup size (I'm DD) and it certainly didn't feel tight.

Nevertheless, I persisted and finished the tee shirt. In class, I used a coverstitch machine for the first time for the bottom hem and perhaps fortunately for my pocket and my house, I can't see that I need one of these. Maybe also because my result is pretty shoddy! Okay from the outside but not great inside. I like my insides to look good but it's not absolutely critical.

This was months ago. I didn't blog about it. I went on to other things, put it away.

So what's the funny story? This week, I went into my wardrobe, pulled out a tee shirt and wore it all day with no concerns. Only when I took it off at night did I realise this was the Concord tee I had finished but ‘abandoned!’

Lesson here?

None of my RTW tops are perfect - this self criticised top is probably better than most. I know that I'm overly self critical (and know I'm not alone in this) and am trying to change. Not to drop my standards but to accept that things can be ‘good enough’. That's what I was trying to do with my murder mystery outfits (see previous posts) - not putting in more effort than was warranted by a likely once worn garment. In fact I will probably wear them again and I can as they are well constructed; the time I saved was in fitting not in construction. David always planned to wear his yellow jeans again. There are fit issues but he was happy, they were certainly good enough for the event and I'll change for the next pair I make him.

So I resolve to continue to do my best but not to sweat it if things aren't perfect. That's my plans for 2018 and for the red silk dress I'm making Helen at the moment. A future green one might be better. Don't they say you have to make something is it 3 times before it goes smoothly and you get it right? There are also more TNTs  on the cards. I say more but in fact I don't have any as yet!

I hadn't got around to making the necessary changes to the Concord pattern from the last lot of adjustments and hope I can remember what they were - otherwise there won't be any more!

Epilogue

I decided to put the top on for some photos and immediately saw lots of flaws. It IS wearable. I'm not making any changes to it. Note to self - don't be so hard on yourself!

I wore it to sewing class. The tutors agreed that it might not be perfect but what RTW garment was and I would have worn that as a RTW with no concerns. True -  probably.

Today I got rid of a lot of garments that were in the adjustment pile - I was just never going to get around to them. The pile was mainly RTW with various fit issues but included some worn out polo shirts where I had planned to recycle the fabric to make child’s tees and a few me-made items that are not worth any further effort.

I also donated around 60 metres of fabric to my sewing class. Around 45 metres was stretch lining type fabric bought as toile material when I was making Helen’s wedding dress and the rest was upholstery fabric and some fabric left over from makes. I still have all the toiles from the wedding dress - these are next to go.

I’m joining the 2018 RTW Fast, starting 1st January. So anything I don’t have now, I’ll have to make! First on the list and this time I’m determined to finish is of course trousers! My weight has gone up again as I can’t exercise at present due to a flare up but hopefully I’ll start to get it under control after Christmas. I got to the stage of being ready to make up a pair of trousers in fashion fabric but then I ran out of time - hopefully it will still be okay. So - January.

I love my Nettie bodysuit!

I'm pretty late to the game with the Nettie bodysuit by Closet Case Patterns - a pattern I seem to have had for ever! However, I finally took the plunge. I decided on this pattern as my project in my sewing with stretch fabrics class at Centre Front Studio, which has just finished. Other items sewn in class were pretty panties with lace waistband and lace edges round the legs, a Lycra leotard pant, a simple tee and of course several practice samples.

I downloaded the Nettie pattern and printed and stuck together with no issues, though this will never be one of my favourite pastimes! I also downloaded the sew-a-long. The pattern comes as a bodysuit and a dress (very short indeed for me!!) with sleeve and neckline  variations. I decided to make the bodysuit with long sleeves and high back and front necklines. I decided against the bra insert for my first bodysuit (there will be more!). I had the pattern in my stash for a long time and I noticed that the sizing had changed slightly after a certain date - trouble is I had no idea when I actually bought mine though I thought it was probably before the date given. I therefore decided to make the bodysuit using the  larger allowances on the basis that I could always take in if required. I made up to the size given for my measurements and it was just perfect! I won't need to change this for the next bodysuit, unless of course I use a fabric with less stretch.

As I’m 5” taller than the person the pattern was designed for, I increased the pattern length - but later had to shorten it again after making a toile. I ended up with the front longer than the original for my size but tapered to no increase at the sides and the back a little shorter in the centre, to accommodate my very curved back (a bit like a sway back I suppose), tapering to no reduction at the sides. These are not unusual changes for me but I was surprised at how long the pattern was. In addition, my tutor suggested adding quite a bit extra fabric to the back of the bodysuit at the bottom to provide more coverage there as the bodysuit narrowed quite quickly. I also had to lengthen the crotch extensions (?) - the sections that fasten between the legs. My lower torso is very long, however. I'm long from shoulder to bust, short from bust to waist due to a high waist and very long from waist down.

I mentioned that this was my class project, which I was doing in class, so I followed my tutor’s instructions rather than the sew-a-long instructions (which were very good). This meant that I sewed things in a different order and used different techniques. The main difference was to the finish at armhole and legs. Oh, and I then decided to miss out the sleeves as I thought the fabric pattern was too much to have sleeves as well - and I reckoned that as I’ve had so many sleeve problems recently I’d leave them off! So I had to finish the armhole edges too. My tutor recommended the same technique for all of these. I cut a binding, on the cross grain, the stretchiest direction, and attached this on the round to the neckline by sewing right sides together. Once I was happy with the length and stretch etc, I overlocked the edge with a wide stitch. This overlock stitch was then used as a guide to fold over the fabric to the inside where I pinned it. The edge was not turned in (almost a little like a Hong Kong finish at this point). I then used a zigzag stitch on top of the binding, the bottom edge of the zigzag stitch just touching the junction between binding and bodysuit. My stitching may not be perfect but it’s fine. Then the excess fabric in the inside was trimmed away - I got to use my nice sharp duck bill applique scissors for this. The armholes got exactly the same. The legs were slightly different as they were sewn open but also because they required different amounts of stretch at different bits of the leg. There is no elastic in any of these but the fabric is beautifully stretchy. I don’t have a coverstitch machine so that didn’t come into the equation.

I started writing this before I had quite finished the bodysuit - I still had to put the fastenings at the crotch. As I used high neck front and back, I didn't get away with just sewing a seam here though i did try! Having looked at the various options, I hoped to use a bra fastening - I didn’t have one handy which is why it took so long to be finished. I had to slightly modify the crotch extensions as one was wider than the other, so I unpicked and narrowed that one. I couldn't get a suitable bra fastener - I needed one with 3 hooks and eyes and I could only find 2 locally - too narrow. I tried corset fastening but that didn't work for me. In the end I used fabric extensions. I tried to use poppets (the kind you hammer in) but that didn't work either and in the end I resorted to hand sewing on poppets, which I preferred to hooks and eyes. It has worked okay but next time, I would slightly shorten the crotch extensions and I feel there is a bit of looseness.

I love this bodysuit and will make more. Perhaps with long sleeves as I originally intended next time. I love the height of the neckline so will probably stick to that but I won’t be making the dress. I think I would cut away the front legs a bit too.

In the class I was also making a simple top from stretch jersey, using a commercial block. This wasn’t really very successful - I didn’t like the fit and was going to have to make lot of changes. I wasn't inspired. The Nettie was a much better fit and Rory, my tutor, suggested that all I needed to do was to shorten the Nettie pattern and I’d have the pattern for a perfectly fitting tee. I may need a little extra ease if I use a less stretchy and more medium weight fabric. So that’s also in my plans.

Rory, btw, doesn’t feel I should have abandoned my Cashmerette Concord tee (also taken to class) so that has been resuscitated and is only nearly dead! I have a couple of changes to make but am doing so to the tee I made rather than starting again. The fabric is nice and if I can manage to salvage something that will be a bonus. I was having big issues with the sleeves - but it seems that may be salvageable. I had considered a sleeveless version but the armholes are too baggy for that. Sleeve problems have haunted me for months now - you’d have thought I’d have sorted this but regrettably not.

A post note - the tee is a wadder

I took the blue tee shirt (Cashmerette Concird) to class tonight - see 2 previous posts.  I found it very uncomfortable as after wearing it for no more than a few seconds and a bit of  movement, it would start to ride up and the front neck pushed against my throat and it felt tight and uncomfortable under the arm. There was excess fabric in front of the armscye.

The neckline was puckered in part because I hadn't trimmed it adequately (taking shortcuts as this had been a toile). I snipped the neck and that helped the neckline issue - it lay much better and the puckers diminished. Though I still found the shape odd, which I put down to the shoulder seam being too far forward for me.

My assumption was that the tee shirt was too tight, hence it riding up to a smaller part of my body. I put this down to the fabric being firmer with less stretch than the original, though still meeting the stretch criterion specified by the pattern. . I wondered if the folds of fabric were an indication of needing a FBA. I wasn't sure about other issues.

Rory and Dan agreed the tee was too tight. There was distinct tautness across the front. They were also concerned about the shape of the sleeve, though additional fabric at the front bodice would help this. They thought the armhole was a bit small and high. The other ladies in the class thought there was too much fabric at the back, as I had, as I could grab an inch at each side just behind the side seam.

I decided it wasn't possible to make further changes to this tee that would in any way improve the fit.

Rory felt that the pattern needed rather more change as the too far forward shoulder could be amplifying the issue and asked me to take it to class to get checked before making another.

I no longer have this tee shirt. You're surely not surprised! The other ladies in class asked if I couldn't wear to garden or do the vacuuming. However, I said it was really too uncomfortable. Rory said I was a perfectionist. I don't think it needed a perfectionist to reject that tee!!

Will I make another? I'm really not sure. Is it worth it? I'm really not sure. I rather feel I would be better starting with a closer starting point. I'm really not sure, though. Certainly, I have no plans for one over the next few months.