Loving the Sunshine

 We are having warmer days. The daffodil shoots are up and the skunks are out of hibernation. Our dog got herself sprayed this week. 

Friday night and Saturday, my sister-in-law Amy kept all 6 girls and the Skooter Pies, and I spent the day sewing a shirt for myself. It was pretty fun to finish a project. The house was weirdly quiet though. I kept catching myself listening for babies to wake up.  I finally turned on some music.  

This was my beta test  or my “muslin”.  I used an old piece of fabric that has been acting as a tablecloth for several years and was ready to be retired.  After measuring myself and the pattern, I cut a size 12 neck and shoulders, graded it out to a 14 on the sides and put a size 18 sleeve in.  

( Trying to figure out what size pattern to make from my measurements makes me feel a bit like Frankenstein’s monster–such a hodge podge of mismatched parts!).   

My muslin took until noon to create, and then went into the trash because the sleeves were too tight, the neckline was too tight across my chest, and the neckband gaped in back.  

For Try #2, I decided to trust the pattern maker a bit more.  I made a straight size 16 bodice, but I needed a size 24 sleeve because my upper arm is just big compared to the rest of me.  So  I learned how to alter a sleeve skye to fit a larger sleeve. Thank you, you tube.  I also took about a 1/2 inch out of the back neckband to hopefully fix the gap problem.  

I lucked out and the shirt fit me very well, and the neckband lay flat. Perhaps I may have been able to get away with a size 14 bodice–I think it would fit through the shoulders better-I have narrow shoulders compared to the rest of me.  Also I’d like to raise the neckline an inch, but I couldn’t figure out how to Saturday.  This morning I had an idea of how to do that and keep the pretty pleats.  Next chance I get, I’ll try it. 

The nice thing is that once  I have my pattern perfected, I’ll be able to crank out a beautiful top in a couple of hours.  My trusty dusty 20 year old Bernina 1008 is still going strong and handled this slub knit very well.  I used the overlock stitch (#12) and a needle for stretch fabrics.  

This pattern is from Hotpatterns.com, a little inde pattern company run by a husband and wife.  The wife designs and the husband does all the printing/folding/shipping.   I ❤ her patterns, all of which are graded from size 6 up to size 26.  Unheard of elsewhere! Also, she starts with a size 14 and grades up & down from there, so the patterns begin by being closer to what a real person is shaped like than the big 4 pattern companies’ patterns. That really helps if you are a Frankenstein monster or a human who has been pregnant a few times.  

 This top is called “Everybody loves the Sunshine” HP1193. It’s very forgiving and so comfortable! I need at least 3 more !