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Centre-back seam on non-fitted tops Strange feature in RTW - any advantage?
shermarama Advanced Beginner NETHERLANDS Member since 1/19/10 Posts: 35	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 2/24/13 11:04 AM I've recently bought a couple of RTW tops that have a vertical centre back seam. They're both unfitted, loose styles in jersey (they wouldn't fit me if they weren't) so I'm a bit confused about what the centre back seam is for. It makes slightly more sense on one of them, since it has a triangle of lace at the top of the back, with the centre seam dropping down from the point of the triangle. But the other is a very drapey, wide-bodied shape, with unfinished hems and a longer tail at the back, and it seems very unlikely that the seam is there for shaping purposes. So what else could it be for? Having said all that, I've got some knit fabric that I'm planning to make a similar-ish sort of top out of - wide at the shoulders, possibly a bit batwing around the sleeves, and probably also with unfinished hems - it's a loose knit with a slightly rough texture, so neat hems would look out of place. But I'd like to get a bit of shaping into it, narrowing the side seams lower down, and I wonder if putting in a centre back seam would help with that?
westmoon   Advanced Beginner IRELAND Member since 9/7/11 Posts: 289	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 2/24/13 11:12 AM Anything weird like that I tend to assume comes from the desire of the manufacturer to minimize fabric yardage per top. For example, if the width of the fabric is such that you can only cut two complete back pieces but you could cut 5 half-pieces. ------ http://sewingnovice.blogspot.co.uk/ One woman. One sewing machine. One giant stack of fabric. What could possibly go wrong?
tourist   Intermediate BC CANADA Member since 7/23/07 Posts: 5477	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 2/24/13 1:35 PM I agree. I was just debating putting a CB seam in a top the other day as it would have given me a lot more yardage to play with. It would probably also affect the drape of the back since the middle of it is stabilized by the seam ------ http://bgballroom.wordpress.com to follow the progress on my next ballgown.
shermarama Advanced Beginner NETHERLANDS Member since 1/19/10 Posts: 35	Login to reply to this post In reply to tourist << Like this post Date: 2/24/13 2:27 PM Ah, yes, yardage does make sense. I wonder if the stabilising effect is significant, though? For something that's longer in the mid-back than it is at the side seams, it might stretch in an odd way below the side seam level if the centre seam wasn't there.

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