Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Chanel Jacket 3 - Petite Alteration

Are you tired of these posts yet? I'll cut into fabric tomorrow. Not the good stuff, mind you, but boucle I want to make into a jacket.


So, let's see. I put a tuck in it on the front, sleeves, and back. I didn't take it apart to do these alterations. I did it while they were all sewn together so the intersections are a lot wonky. I took them up by about 1/2" and I have so much more range of motion. It's amazing how much difference a tighter armscye makes. Obviously, I'll have to move the dart down. It was pretty right on in the other photos but it's too high here.


Back wrinkle is still there. I'm going to tackle that on my next muslin. I think Debbie Cook is correct in that this is a boxy jacket and I'm not boxy. I want to keep the boxy feel so I'll play with the side seams until it falls correctly.


The bust area looks funny but I think most of that is from the dart being in the wrong spot.


You can see there is much less pulling across the front with my arms out.


Here are the alterations. I'll take the tuck in the chest and I'll move the dart. Here is where I need help. Is moving a dart really as simple as slicing the dart out and moving it down?? I read a couple reference books and they reference this technique.



I promise there won't be any more muslin photos in the next couple of days. I have some cute embroidery stuff to show you.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am in the middle of my muslin. I am second guessing all my alterations! The cause and effect of all my changes have me dizzy!

Your muslin is looking great. You are right it is a boxy jacket so it shouldn't be too fitted in the back. I am envious that your alterations are almost done! hurray!

Sharon said...

You are correct about moving the dart, you draw a box around the dart, cut it out move it down the required amount, sticky tape it in place and fill in the whole above with paper.

I am also not boxy, and quite frankly I haven't seen it from the back. So I need to take a photo of my previous jacket on me from the back and see what it looks like. This could be opening a whole new can of worms LOL.

Amy said...

I think the muslin photos are interesting. I'm still trying to figure out this fitting stuff, so it's great to watch someone else working through the issues presented by their muslins.

You should see all the new lines and taped on bits of tissue paper on my jacket pattern. It looks like a crazy quilt.

LindaNan said...

Dawn, what about putting dbl ended darts in the back to remove some of the boxy-ness and then using Debbie Cook's instructions for moving a dart to side seams. The back will still be "flat" for quilting the lining, but it will have a shape.

Every time I tried a boxy style jacket, I looked like, well, a box.
LindaNan

Rose said...

Keep those muslin posts coming! I'm starting on mine today and do learn from what you are doing. Yes, moving a dart is that simple. I usually have to make that adjustment.

Diane Drexel said...

I have an idea on your back wrinkles. You have what some sewers refer to as an "oval" torso. Meaning, when you turn sideways, you disappear! Perhaps the arm scythe is too deep for your figure. When you make sleeveless tops, do you sometimes get "flaps" in the underarm area? Same problem. Do you think this may be causing the back wrinkles?

Maggie said...

Dawn, maybe some small shoulder pads to get rid of the wrinkles? A great reference book for fitting is FITING COMERCIAL PATTERNS- THE MINOTT METHOD by Jan Minott. I took a master seamstress course at the local college and we used this book. It has hundreds of drawings of problems and how to correct them. It may be OOP but it's a worthwhile investment.

Anonymous said...

Dawn
It's a shoulder adjustment that is needed, for those back wrinkles. You need to raise the back shoulder line at the outer armhole point, this will also raise the back underarm seam. and eliminate those wrinkles. I think you have a slightly square shoulder. Look in a fitting book for square shoulder adjustment. I hate to tell you this but you have to adjust the shoulders before everything else. After you do that you may not need the tuck in the front of the bodice that you made. Hope this helps. I recognized it because I have the same problem.

Dana said...

Yes, about that dart. I have to make it on every single garment that has a dart like that...and it works!

Nancy K said...

Did you fit this with shoulder pads? That would account for some of the wrinkles in the back. Also your cf is hiking up, so you'll need to level this off or figure out why it's hiking up. Other than that the fit looks really good.

Trish said...

I know this is an old post...but I just saw it! :) The back wrinkles are telling you that the center back is now too short. Ya know how you sewed a tuck across the back to shorten the armhole depth? Well, if you had only sewed the outer ends of that back tuck (like armhole darts) but left the central area alone (untucked), you probably would not have gotten the wrinkles.
Then, to eliminate these new back armhole darts that you would have created, you could rotate them to the shoulder (where they could be sewn as back shoulder darts).
Also, I think the front tuck is also causing the central front area to be too short. Instead of sewing a tuck across the upper front, what if you had just raised the front armhole and increased the size of the bust dart to compensate for the extra sideseam length? Ya know, draw a box around the lower armhole area (like you did around the bust dart to move it) and move that box UP the amount of the tuck...THEN, just widen the bust dart by the amount you raised the armhole.
TMI, right?
I admire your sewing...you make beautiful things and lots of them!

Anonymous said...

Appreciate your taking the time to write this type of useful blog, it's been beneficial.