Date: 11/21/09 2:45 PM

Okay folks,

I have made Jalie 2005. After reading the reviews I went up two sizes from my high bust measure...which is about my bust measure.

I eased out the side seams to give me more room at the hips and that was the only change I made.

The results- good generally. the bicep is a bit tight and I plan on modifying and doing an adjustment a la FFRP.

The shoulders fall maybe a 1/4 inch off. The bust is fine across but I got that gapping thing going on at the shoulders/sleeves. See pics here.
.Front shoulder/sleeve

Back at shoulder

I am trying to figure out if this is because I need to do a FBA or it is because I am petite - (5'3")

I am concerned about going down to size x - high bust measure because then the sleeves are really really not going to fit. I like how they fall now. That is good.

Any help is appreciated. I am an experiential learner and while I am pouring over FFRP, I seem to be missing things cause I don't get it all. I did read some FBA stuff on the site and that has helped a lot. I just need a little coaching to help me get this to fit perfect. I really like it. And think I am well on my way.

TIA

Reply to stretch queen
Date: 11/21/09 6:01 PM

Maybe a little of both the length and the FBA!

No expert here, but I have struggled with those same folds. I am 5'2" and a 34D or 32DD, so I know of what you speak!

I have been working on a tshirt from Ottobre Woman 2-2007. I started with a 36, grading out to a 38 below the armhole in the waist and hip area. I'm not sure how this compares to the Jalie sizing (which I found very, er, tight in the couple of Jalie tops I tried); I think it's maybe an R-S-T kinda combo?

Anyway, on my Ottobre T, I originally did a 1/2" sloping shoulder adjustment. With the sloping shoulder, you just draw a diagonal line from the neck edge of the shoulder to a point 1/2" below the original line of the shoulder at the armhole edge. Then you lower the bottom of the armhole a corresponding 1/2" and redraw. This was done on both the front and back pattern pieces. Well, that worked pretty well for the folds at the armhole, but the bust still seemed tight and then the neck got a little strange. Today I just did a new top where I undid the sloping shoulder adjustment by making the shoulder line less angled. But I didn't put back on the 1/2" I originally removed. So it was the same as if I had shortened the armhole area by 1/2", although I did it at the shoulder rather than by taking a fold midway down the armscye, which would be a more correct way to do it.

I also added more room at the bust by drawing out a curved line at the side seam where the bust is, on the front piece only. It's like a bump, shaped like a shallow reversed letter "C", which is then eased into the back. That gives a little extra room. I had read that you should make a maximum of 1/2" of bump, but that hasn't seemed to give me enough extra, so today I did a 1" bump. Much better!

The combination of removing extra length in the armhole and giving more room to the bust seemed to help me a lot. I wouldn't advise you to go up another size. Also, if the shoulders seem too wide, you could just trim off a little from the pattern.

I hope that's all clear! Good luck. These t-shirts are really hard. I must have made about 30 by now (from different patterns), and I'm still searching for the elusive perfect fit.

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Virginia
http://asewinglife.blogspot.com

Date: 11/21/09 6:46 PM

Just FYI: the sleeves on this t-shirt pattern are tight, tight, tight--even if you are using the "right" size, so don't pick a size based on what you will have to do to the sleeves. They are pretty easy to adjust for ease.

I'm no fitting expert and I can't really tell if you need a FBA because I can't really see how this is fitting over your bust. The wrinkles don't seem to be pointing to your bust. Some of that wrinkling at the armscye is because the shoulders are too wide (and, maybe also if the sleeves are a bit tight.) Some of it in the front, anyway, is the unsewn dart that is part of all tee-shirt drafts. I found it especially pronounced in this Jalie Tee when I made it up.
-- Edited on 11/21/09 7:00 PM --

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I am going for a level of perfection that is only mine... Most of the pleasure is in getting that last little piece perfect...Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just keep showing up and doing the work.

Chuck Close, painter, printmaker, photographer

Hope has two lovely daughters: Anger and Courage

St. Augustine

Reply to stretch queen
Date: 11/21/09 7:14 PM

The close-up photos aren't all that helpful but I did look at your other Jalie review and it looks like you have sloping shoulders. This would cause the wrinkles in the armpit.

I would suggest cutting the smaller size for the shoulders and neck (Size X) but the larger size everywhere else. This is what I do with Jalie. The way the patterns are nested it's easy to transition from one size to the next. This plus a sloping shoulder alteration will help. In addition to this I think a small FBA may be helpful but it's really hard to tell from the close-up photos.
Good luck

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Belinda. Melbourne, Australia
http://sew-4-fun.blogspot.com/

Date: 11/23/09 2:37 PM

One of the first things I would do is get those shoulder seams up on your shoulder. In both this top and the other review you did, the shoulder/sleeve seam is hanging off your shoulder.

Secondly, if you are petite, check to see if you need to petite the fabric between the shoulder and bust. Take a fold all the way across and see what that does to the armscye.

When doing tops or dresses, start the fitting at the top. Everything hangs from the shoulders, so if the shoulders are not fitting correctly, other things won't look right.

After you get the shoulders correct, you can evaluate the need for an FBA and, if so, where to put the FBA. Until the shoulders are correct you won't even know where to put the bust point.

Patti

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Patti in SLC

Date: 11/23/09 4:21 PM

Thank you everyone. I am actually sitting at my kitchen table feeling very stupid about FBAs. I have read trimmel's blurb and FFRP.

Sewinggeek: I wondered about this petite thing. In the Jalie pattern if I do a petite adjustment the armscye will be way to high. As it it just hit correctly.

Also by off the shoulders do you mean the seam extends beyond the pivot point of the shoulder?

Perhaps I am one of those souls who just needs to go to a class to learn. Would it be helpful to rip out the purple shirt I did and just do a petite tuck, sew it up and see how that is?

So far I like the Jalie the best, the NL 6735 the next best and Vogue Sandra's Tshirt (can't remember the number) the least.

Sigh.....I will be happy when I figure this out. I even traced my body on a big sheet of paper a la FFRP and I learned I am very proportioned. But don't know how to figure out the petite up top thing. Sew much to learn!

I think without everyone here, I would have given up long ago.
thanks

Date: 11/23/09 4:25 PM

Meant to ask...when you do a FBA in a pattern without a bust dart, do you then have to put one in?

The book FFRP is confusing me.

Reply to stretch queen
Date: 11/23/09 6:12 PM

Depends on how much of a FBA you have to do and the style of the top. Sometimes you could get away without adding a dart, or you can rotate it into some other feature, like shirring or gathers or into a seamline. Most of the time, I add 3/4 - 1 inch and I can make the existing darts a little bigger. If I have a much bigger FBA, I'm redrawing everything anyway, so adding a dart is the least of the issues.

When I do a FBA, during the process there is the creation of a dart somewhere. Whether that dart gets closed and moved somewhere else or left where it is depends on the style and my personal preference at the time. For example, a princess style will be first altered with addition of a dart in the side, then that dart is rotated to the princess seam so the final product doesn't look much different from the original design lines, but I have room for my body when I close the front. If I have a top with a single bust dart, I may make a bigger, single dart more or less in the same original location, or I may add a shaping dart where I think it will be more flattering, like a waistline dart to make the top less baggy or a maybe dart under the lapel of the jacket, where it won't be seen, but I have the additional room I need.

If you haven't heard of the Palmer and Pletsch Full Busted DVD, and you will need to learn FBAs, the DVD is worth every cent. It is a Must Have for anyone who needs to learn the process of FBAs. NAYY. I wrote a review as did several other people, so you can check them out.

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Fictionfan