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Posted on: 12/31/18 2:40 PM ET
I recently made two projects that had the same recurring problem: the front neckline was so tight it actually choked me, which isn't comfortable at all. I'm not sure how to solve it.
Project 1: Velour Top by Burdastyle (not finished, only muslin)
Project 2: Jackie Dress by Victory Patterns (finished)
EDIT: I just posted a review here
EDIT: Pictures of the fitting woes
I consulted "Fitting and Pattern Alteration" (Liechty, Rasband and Pottberg-Steineckert, 3rd ed), the closest solution to this might be a forward head adjustment. However, I'm not totally sure. Adjustments I thought of:
* lower neckline curve
* Project 2 (Jackie Dress): add about 1.5 inches (in all) at the sides of the two front pieces. I managed to squeeze out 1 inch by moving the buttons to the very edge so I could breathe. However, a horizontal bulge of excessive fabric mentioned by user etheletter then appeared, about 2 inches down from the collar line.
* The shoulder seams seem to be in a correct position, but I do have prominent shoulder blades though.
What do you suggest?
I'm a longish-time lurker and am very glad of your reviews, it helped me a lot when buying and sewing patterns! Thank you for your suggestions :)
-- Edited on 1/3/19 at 6:14 AM --
Project 1: Velour Top by Burdastyle (not finished, only muslin)
Project 2: Jackie Dress by Victory Patterns (finished)
EDIT: I just posted a review here
EDIT: Pictures of the fitting woes
I consulted "Fitting and Pattern Alteration" (Liechty, Rasband and Pottberg-Steineckert, 3rd ed), the closest solution to this might be a forward head adjustment. However, I'm not totally sure. Adjustments I thought of:
* lower neckline curve
* Project 2 (Jackie Dress): add about 1.5 inches (in all) at the sides of the two front pieces. I managed to squeeze out 1 inch by moving the buttons to the very edge so I could breathe. However, a horizontal bulge of excessive fabric mentioned by user etheletter then appeared, about 2 inches down from the collar line.
* The shoulder seams seem to be in a correct position, but I do have prominent shoulder blades though.
What do you suggest?
I'm a longish-time lurker and am very glad of your reviews, it helped me a lot when buying and sewing patterns! Thank you for your suggestions :)
-- Edited on 1/3/19 at 6:14 AM --
Posted on: 12/31/18 3:19 PM ET
Do you find that the shoulder seams sit not on your shoulder but BEHIND your shoulder? In other words, is the entire bodice sliding back?
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Cheers!
Posted on: 12/31/18 3:24 PM ET
In reply to sewingirafe
I don't like any kind of high tight necks actually. If you don't either, I think on the Burda Velor top you could make the middle of the front neck maybe 2 or 3 inches deeper and lower and just taper that up to the top of the shoulder. You would have to cut the band on it longer though, to cover that. The Jackie dress though is a style thing and to change it a lot would make it look a lot different with that tall funnel neck on it. But that would bug me too actually. So on that one, I think I would do the neck the same, but have the middle center front bodice piece of the dress front cut off maybe at least 2 inches shorter and way shorter than the back and sides of it. So it would still have the tall sides, and then an actual drop off of several inches to the shorter and straight across front neck section of it. So I guess you could call it a uneven or stepped neck then. But, to do that, I think would be still sort of keeping with the style lines of it, and still look fine and sharp, but give you lots more space and breathing room, if you don't like stuff on your neck.
Posted on: 12/31/18 3:48 PM ET
In reply to sewingirafe
Got a buddy who can look at you in profile and see if your earlobe is over the ball of your shoulder over your hip joint?
And does this show up in only a few high neck patterns,or virtually all for you? Does the front neck want to climb with movement?
And does this show up in only a few high neck patterns,or virtually all for you? Does the front neck want to climb with movement?
Posted on: 12/31/18 4:09 PM ET
In reply to kayl
What does it imply if the front neck wants to climb with movement?
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Let be be finale of seam.
Posted on: 12/31/18 4:15 PM ET
In reply to sewingirafe
It could be a back issue causing this. Do what Kayl suggested to see your profile. I get this if I do not do a high round back adjustment and that fixes it. My back is also a bit wider than most patterns so I sometimes need to add to the back. If it is merely a neck issue, you will need to adjust the neckline. I usually have to make my necklines smaller not larger but it is pretty simple to redraft a neckline.
Posted on: 12/31/18 5:11 PM ET
You mentioned that you have prominent shoulder blades. In my alterations I have noticed that when men have a jacket with the collar lapels bunching up at the front they usually have very square shoulders. Normally a shoulder seam is sloped a bit, but, if your shoulders are very square the front gets pushed up because the shoulder can't sit down where it should. In a dress or top with a round neck it would cause the neckline to cut in to your neck. Hope this is helpful.
Posted on: 12/31/18 5:21 PM ET
In reply to sewingirafe
Take some photos of yourself, or rather get someone to do it, of a side view. It's usually either a forward neck, or it's a high round back or sometimes it's both. The back needs more fabric so it pulls from the front and in the process a higher neckline will choke you. If you wear a lower neck you'll find that shirts are always pulling to the back.
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www.nancyksews.blogspot.com
Posted on: 12/31/18 5:33 PM ET
In reply to sewingirafe
You do most likely have some sort of posture issue. Rather than rely on the opinion of a friend (unless you have one that you feel would be good at this) use your smart phone on the self-timer with the "selfie" setting to photograph yourself. Wear rather snug clothing ( or very little) and stand near a door frame to establish that the camera is as level as possible.
I have learned to lean the phone against any manner of surfaces to do this and it has become my most useful fitting tool. Taking reflected photos in a mirror is no where near as helpful.
Studying my posture was a real eye opener for me. You may even be able to do exercises to improve posture issues from things like working at a desk at a computer.
I have learned to lean the phone against any manner of surfaces to do this and it has become my most useful fitting tool. Taking reflected photos in a mirror is no where near as helpful.
Studying my posture was a real eye opener for me. You may even be able to do exercises to improve posture issues from things like working at a desk at a computer.
Posted on: 12/31/18 6:00 PM ET
In reply to Marie367
Quote: Marie367
It could be a back issue causing this. Do what Kayl suggested to see your profile. I get this if I do not do a high round back adjustment and that fixes it. My back is also a bit wider than most patterns so I sometimes need to add to the back. If it is merely a neck issue, you will need to adjust the neckline. I usually have to make my necklines smaller not larger but it is pretty simple to redraft a neckline.
It could be a back issue causing this. Do what Kayl suggested to see your profile. I get this if I do not do a high round back adjustment and that fixes it. My back is also a bit wider than most patterns so I sometimes need to add to the back. If it is merely a neck issue, you will need to adjust the neckline. I usually have to make my necklines smaller not larger but it is pretty simple to redraft a neckline.
I second this suggestion that this may be a back issue.
I have personal experience with Choking Tops---
I could pull a top down and settle it on my shoulders and it looked fine. As I moved around the top would slip back and start choking me. Tug, tug, tug. Walk around. Choke, choke, choke.
It seems counter-intuitive, but the problem for me is that I have a rounded back, which makes my back longer than the pattern is designed to cover. A "industry standard pattern" does not have enough fabric to adequately cover the shoulders and back AND ALSO provide enough fabric for wearing ease. As I moved around, the back of my garment would "steal" fabric from the front in order to provide enough room to cover my back.
A rounded upper back, a wide back, or prominent shoulder blades can give you a similar experience for the same reason: You need more fabric over your back and/or shoulders to provide adequate wearing ease. Simply moving the shoulder seam will not fix this problem if you do not also add more ease in the back.
Fantastic Fit for Every Body : How to Alter Patterns to Flatter Any Figure by Gale G. Hazen (OOP but used copies are available for a reasonable prices; I see that Amazon seems to have new[?] copies available[??]) covers this alteration (pages 156-159; you may be able to see is via Amazon's "look inside" feature). The author said that many of her clients needed this alteration ("60% of women over 40"). Gale calls it "the Emily" named after a client (Emily) who needed this alteration.
What amazed me was that I needed to extend the back neckline only 1/2-inch to provide enough ease to completely eliminate this problem. I do this alteration on ALL patterns. I've posted about this before; you can find a summary of the alteration is this post (Shoulder seam issues--How to correct?)
YMMV,
CMC
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