#hacking a pattern

Changing Up the Sweet Tee: Pink Worsted Malabrigo

I was explaining to some knitting friends that I made the Sweet Tee by Mary Jane Mucklestone, but that I had changed it by skipping the stranded work, re-sizing it, making it in worsted weight yarn, and adding a large seed-stitch cowl. Which raises a philosophical question: did I really make the Sweet Tee?

What I did was take her directions for a bottom-up yoked sweater and do a recalculation to shift from negative ease (i.e. skin tight) to positive ease as semi-fitted, and from DK weight yarn to worsted yarn. All of which worked out perfectly so far as the fit. I suspect that, as a long-timer dressmaker, I am so used to altering sewing patterns that I am not as intimidated as some newer knitters might be.

The only difficulty came in adding the collar which was based on the Capelet Tank by Cathy Carron which I have made before as a summer top. I had not reckoned with the much greater weight of the collar in a heavier yarn. I will explain how I coped with that later. There were comic moments.

The whole process was so satisfying, despite the stumbles, that I am now eyeing any knitting pattern anew. As the willingness to refit and alter patterns seems to have been far more encouraged in vintage knitting books, this is merely an old tradition revived.

You can find both Sweet Tee and the Capelet Tank on Ravelry which takes only a simple registration to access and is a font of knowledge via the postings by the more thoughtful makers: https://www.ravelry.com/

Calvin or Claire? Vogue 1793 from 1996

The question comes from my recent spotting of a very similar draped neckline in an image of Claire McCardell from the 1950s; she was an American designer who died far too young. I like this neckline because it has the crossing of the fronts above the bust which means it neither catches the bust nor droops down too low at the neckline as many surplice or wrapped bodices can do.

True, from what I can tell McCardell’s neckline seems to have been a raised neck in the back which is easier to sew, while Klein’s acts like a shawl collar, that is, the front bodice has an slender piece which extends around the neck to meet in the back. Which is an improvement to my eye because I find it fits the neck better.

And McCardell’s dress had set-in sleeves while Klein’s are dolman. Which is not an improvement to me, as it takes up LOTS of fabric, especially when you use a fabric with nap which I did with this velour. This pattern would take up much less fabric done in a fabric without nap as you could place the pieces far more closely together. McCardell did use dolman sleeves often, especially when she was placing a cotton plaid on the bias which she liked to do. You can see how dolman sleeves would make life much easier as the matching of the plaid was then limited.

And another difference was Klein used giant shoulder pads as this dress does. Women’s wear sported giant shoulder pads starting in the late 1980s and it continued into the 1990s. It was an era when women were moving into corporate leadership and apparently we all thought we would look more formidable if we dressed like linebackers. ;-)

In any case, it makes for a very nice dress and I have made it multiple times without the shoulder pads, and without the center back zipper by always using knits which makes it easy to pull on. I added a godet to long slit at the back hem.

BurdaStyle, March May, I meant May, 2022 (it is freezing where I live)

This issue is ready for summer sewing. On the cover you see a lively shirt dress #102 in a red, white and blue print that is the subject of one of the full sewing lessons included in the issue. As you can see in the sketches, the unruffled version appears as #102. The other full sewing lesson offered, which includes inserting a zipper, is for the high-waisted trousers #113. Of course, portions of these lessons are applicable to other patterns, and they are in addition to mini-lessons found in the Glossary at the back of the sewing instructions for all the patterns. 

My favorite of the issue is a dress #107 with draped collar, surplice bodice, cap sleeves and a skirt cut on the bias. They show it in the solid color and also in a print, and it would work for either work or play depending on the color or print you choose. If you prefer a different skirt than bias cut, it would be easy enough to swap it in. I am thinking that something with a few soft pleats would echo the gathered that marks the collar. If you prefer a bit more sleeve, it would be easy enough to extend them. The easy blouse #109 (which becomes the top for the jumpsuit #108) also has simple gathers. It makes the most of a fabric choice with some drape, such as a soft rayon challis or cotton voile or silk crepe. I am always keen on easy ways to fabrics that drape well.

As you can see from the sketches, there are several plus-sized dresses including surplice styles and a sheath. Really a lot of choose from in this issue including children’s wear. This issue does include all the patterns as a series of coded lines printed over on one another. So you need to trace them out on your own paper. It takes more time, but you gain some twenty-odd patterns in multiple sizes.

Borrowing a Skirt: Vogue 2530

This is the skirt which harmonizes so well with the Capelet Tank that i featured last Monday. I made it from a 2001 pattern offers both a straight skirt and a half-circle skirt, and I have taken to borrowing the latter whenever I want a flared skirt. I then use a waistband taken from another pattern. I substituted the buttons down the back in favor of zipper. (Buttons there are truly a terrible idea for a dress closure as you must both lean on them and sit on them when in a chair--ouch). I have made this skirt with and without the hem flounce for spring and summer skirts. And I have noticed how fabrics with different levels of drape create a wider or more slender silhouettes

The most slender is this rayon crepe in a print that is really large. Such a print would overwhelm my frame unless pared down to a skirt, and I made it ankle length so I didn’t have to cut up the flower motifs any more than was necessary. Placing such large motifs is always tricky. (Question for fabric designers: Why not shrink all these over-sized prints and make everyone’s dressmaking easier?). I got rid of the center back and front seams, and placed one large, complete flower on the right hip.

I underlined the rayon print with a Bemberg rayon lining and came to regret that choice. Although both were rayon, the crepe was far heavier than the underlining and they each stretched a different amount as they hung waiting to be hemmed. So they were level at the seamlines and then off by inches at various points around bottom edge, so the hemming was tricky. Even in the photo it looks uneven though it looks fine when worn. Next time I will make a separate lining.

BTW, I have also made the halter dress, although that was years ago now. And learned from that to muslin halter tops as shoulder length and squareness of shoulders affects the fit as much as mere bust size.