Saturday, January 25, 2014

It's finished! (finally, lol)

I am more than pleased with this Alma. Especially since so much work went into it!

But, some quick words about my photo shoot. Mr. Sunny's friends are moving from OK to WI and will be staying with us about a month until they find a place. Therefore we had to clear out K's room so they could stay there. K's bookshelf ended up in my sewing room :( where I like to take pictures. My other favorite spot is in the kitchen/dining area. However, because the dryer is broken, that spot is filled with drying racks and clothes. lol. Chaos I tell you! New dryer will be here Wednesday. Friends (with their 3 yr old) will be here next week. Lets hope I survive.

Onward. Here is the progress of the alma for me.

Whew, that is a lot of work!  Much thanks to all your patience and help!
It all paid off. I love the fit of this one.

My hair? oh yes, chopped 10 inches off :D It feels so nice. 

 Here is the final breakdown of alterations:
  • 1/4" added to sleeves to add in a bit more room - result is they are much less restrictive. 
  • Front and back:
    • 1/4" sloped out from neckline tapering to 0" at bottom hem
    • 1/4" square shoulder adjustment
  • Front alone:
    • 1/2" added to center darts to lengthen them
    • curved the bust dart -drastic improvement
  • Back alone:
    • 3/4" swayback adjustment
    • 1/4" taken out across entire back, horizontally at waist
    • 1/2" added to hips



Fit is spot on except a tiny poof in the back above my waist. I'm wondering if I have a "narrow" back or maybe even a short back (? lol) and feel like putting in a fish eye dart there. But it isn't terrible.

Also, I wanted this to be short sleeves, not cap, but couldn't get the sleeves to feel right - they were super restrictive (Joy, I needed to perfect your sleeve cap flattening technique here).

On my other Alma the zipper bugged me quite a bit. So I put in the zip upside down, when closed the pull tab is at the bottom (my waist) now and not in my armpit pissing me off!  Plus, I added a zipper shield so the scratchiness doesn't get to me. This feel so much better now.  Here are the fly shield pics.


Stash used for this: 2 yards

Stash used in 2014: 6.5

Fabric out: 6.5
Fabric in: 17 yards :( sorry! I couldn't pass it up. I got a box of wovens and knits for only about $1.18/yard including shipping - and it was nice big pieces of 2-3 yard chunks. That is too many cheap clothes to pass up!!) lol.  Oh well.  I'm still using up my stash. I have a huge pile of "to makes" on my sewing bin.

Let's get back to knits, they are so much more fun.

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~

12 comments:

  1. Hooray for finishing your Alma :) You have a beautiful fit for all your hard work. I like the idea of the upside down zip, I did this on my washing line cover (I know that's not quite the same lol) but it is so much easier! & 10 inches of hair - wow, that must feel different! Sounds like you are about to be very busy, so hopefully it will be easy to manage. Good luck with your visitors!

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    1. Thanks Philippa, I almost didn't finish it - it was sort of exhausting! lol. Funny how the position of a zip makes all the difference :) And thanks on the hair!

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  2. Whoa! You nailed it, Kristin!! Looks fabulous! I'm super impressed with the zipper shield too - that kind of thing always baffles me :-) Also - your hair looks great!

    I won't tell anybody you went off your diet ;-)

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    1. Thanks Gail! The shield was embarrassingly easy. I made a rectangle of fabric and then sewed the right side to the SA only where the zipper is. hahaha. too easy. I also sewed across the top and bottom, but only on the SA.

      And thanks! weirdly I like my hair long in the summer, and short in the winter.

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  3. Wow!!! You did a fantastic job! I love the fabric you used for this top! Now that you have the pattern just perfect, you can make more for summer!!! :) I'm starting to get bored with sewing for winter and ready to move on to summer items. LOL Not good since it is finally getting cold where we are and summer will be a long ways off!

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    1. Thanks Shirley :D I am bored with winter sewing too. Bring on the warm weather !

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  4. The top looks wonderful! Side zippers on dresses and tops often bug me too. I'll have to give your technique a try.

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    1. Thanks Cindy! - I hope the zip shield helps you out as well :-)

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  5. This looks so good and what lovely fabric you picked! Might the slight puckering be fixed with a tiny sway back adjustment? It really isn't noticeable but in case it bugs you, you could try that next time. And where on earth did you get all that inexpensive fabric from???

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    1. lol. I have to laugh because I've already taken a 3/4" swayback and 1/4" out of the total length across the back. But yes, I'm sure I'll address it next time because it will bug me ;-)
      the fabric? let's just say, don't join a fabric destash group on Facebook with the intention of getting rid of some yards. you will most definitely end up with more instead... hahahahahaha
      Thanks!

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  6. Wow, it does look great and I like the fabric for it too. Hopefully you're able to figure out the sleeve restriction problem if you make another version. With square shoulders, it's so hard to figure out exactly where the problem is, too. Sleeve cap height might be part of the problem...or maybe you need more room in the shoulder blade for the arm to move forward, or more height in the shoulder seams. I feel like I've made a lot of progress with square shoulder alteration, but sometimes those cute little woven sleeves never work. I wonder if the sleeve itself might need more shoulder space, too, if the shoulder seam is set closer in. Blergh...

    And good luck with the company! In the middle of winter! (:

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    1. Thanks Joy! I do wish I could get the sleeves under control. I prefer the short sleeve to the cap. The shoulder area is a difficult one to mess with.
      and thanks, the company will be fun. sigh. ;-)

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