You've probably thought by now I've given up on the SWAP contest, but I haven't. I've gotten a bit distracted but also have been working on enlarging McCall's 7883. It's five easy pieces.
People sew for a number of different reasons. One of my many reasons is fit. My shoulders and collars of my tops, dresses, and jackets pull toward my back. The round neckline of this pattern pushes on my throat giving me a chocking sensation. This unbalanced problem causes the blouse to look a bit maternity. The front hem ends up being shorter than the back and poofs out. I've seen this look on men also. I found the solution for this in this alterations book from 1976.
The author, Kerstin Martensson, made the first pattern produced by KWIK-SEW. The illustrations are fantastic.
I sliced both the front and back pattern pieces from a point halfway between the shoulder and the bottom of the arm opening all the way across each piece. I overlapped the back decreasing the pattern by one inch and separated the front pattern by increasing it by one inch.
I haven't cut the sleeves yet, but I will need to change the shoulder mark.
This blouse is cut from gold silk charmeuse. I'm using french enclosed seams; a technique I don't use often. The smaller the seams, the stiffer the seams are. To keep the drape soft, I started the first seam by placing wrong sides together and stitching 1/8 inch away from the edge.
I sewed a second seam with the right sides together stitching 1/2 inch away from the previous pressed edge.
