Friday, March 7, 2014

Style Arc Issy Top: Another Alteration (The Centre Back / Neck)

It never pays to speak too soon. There I was all high on me, having merely tried on the Issy top, and not yet having worn it in the world. Now that I have worn it, I have found a new fit dilemma.

Don't misunderstand, my cheetah-print version is the most wearable of muslins, but it's still a muslin. See, a semi-regular challenge has reasserted itself in this pattern. The back neck falls backwards as if there is too much fabric lengthwise. It appears, however, on experimentation, that the issue is about back and neck width. I'm narrower in this place than are the dimensions of the original pattern.

Here's the thing, when I pull out a dart that starts on the collar and moves into the centre back of the top, the issue resolves itself.



Below is a makeshift pinned-up version for a quick visual. Ignore the pull lines, I didn't organize the top well on the dress form so it's caught on the fabric of the form. Of course, in the finished version, the neck will come together evenly, not askew as it shows below:

 

But this alteration is not that simple to enact on the flat pattern, given that the neck band has a highly unusual construction. It has to be done on 2 pieces (back and front) .

As you can see in the (unaltered for this fix) version (below), there are two tabs on the front piece that come together to produce the collar band, on the top left and right of the pic. Fold lines indicate how the neck doubles on itself.  The sides, parallel to the fold lines, eventually form the piece of the collar band that attaches to the neck of the back piece. What is challenging to imagine is how those neck tabs come together to form the back neck unit. Effectively, the top parts (on the diagonal) form a seam that will run perpendicular to the neck of the back piece. Trust me, it works.


Now here's my altered flat pattern version of the collar band (remember - this is on the front piece of the top):

Part A of the Centre Back Narrowing alteration
What I had to do, and it was really counter intuitive, was to determine how to cut the collar part of the dart wedge, seen in the photo, second from top. It involved removing fabric but also tapering it to form a slightly arrow-like shape.

Below, you can see a loose representation of how that arrow will eventually dart into the back piece. Of course, when you seam the collar band to the neckline of the back piece, you have both tabs connected and folded over - I cannot represent that visually with the paper which won't mold like fabric.

Part B of the Centre Back Narrowing Alteration - the centre back dart.
In total, I had to take out 3 inches of fabric in the collar band tapering to a 2 inch dart on the back piece. The overall length is about 4.5 inches stopping at the part of my back that gets a bit round (and therefore needs more width/length). I'd prefer to make 2 smaller darts, but I truly have no idea how the back neck would adapt to 2 darts.

Another alternative is to make a centre back seam (currently the back is one piece) and just remove the paper at the dart.

I'm kind of amazed that the required alteration is so relatively extreme - especially given that the cheetah-print version looks pretty good (this issue aside).

I also wonder what this means in terms of how I fit into tailored jackets - for example the Janet (with which I had so much trouble in the collar area). I don't recall having this dilemma with patterns other than those by StyleArc, but then, I didn't know as much about fit a year ago as I do now.

Pls. note: I have completely made up this alteration. I don't know if it works yet. So I suggest you let me take the risk and provide more feedback once I do.

Today's question: Does any of you have a really narrow upper back, more so at the centre point (spine) than at the shoulders? How do you deal with it??

16 comments:

  1. Hi,

    I wonder if you could split the dart intake by 2 & then move it to the centre of the shoulder. So you then have 2 smaller darts at each shoulder to balance thef fit. It might also make it more comfortable to wear than having bulkt at the top of the spine.

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    1. Hi There FF: I wondered about this, given my concern that this is a dowager's hump scenario, but because of the odd construction and way that the back neck attaches to the collar band, I don't think it will work. I will consider it further, however. Thank you for the feedback! And what I thought is that I'd just cut the dart after sewing it in. May look meh on the inside but if this alteration works, I can figure out a prettier way of doing it next time - putting in a centre back seam, for example.

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  2. p.s. This is alteration is ususally referred to as a dowagers hump (not glam!) Threads has a couple of articles on how to fit and alter patterns for it.

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  3. Holy cow! You are my alterations twin (who would know???) I have this exact same problem in everything I sew.

    If there is a center back seam, well, problem solved. But if there isn't, it's more challenging. I have to confess that one method that has worked very well is a bit of a wildcat procedure. See here: http://fivemuses.blogspot.com/2011/06/two-stitches-forward-one-stitch-back.html

    Lauren of Lladybird posted this week about the dowagers hump/rounded back alteration, but after looking at it, I don't actually think it is the right one for my issue.

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    1. I don't think it's a dowager's hump either, interestingly enough (though I'm willing to be proven wrong). And I actually wondered about you as I was writing this! I have a slightly rounded upper back at the height of my shoulders (much less than some due to many years of yoga). But I'm beginning to think I have a very erect neck and spine above that shallow area. S, my fitting friend, has been exploring this idea with me. I'll keep you posted as I figure things out!

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    2. Yeah, I think with the dowagers hump, you have to add length (the problem being that there isn't enough to go up and over and then curve back in at the neck - so the gaping is caused by the fabric being pulled down and away from the nape in order to go over the rounded back). But I find that on me, there is excess fabric pooling.

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  4. There may be extra fabric at the back of your neck, but unless you really have a hump where that dart points, it's not the real source of your issue. I can usually pinch out extra fabric there on RTW and the actual problem is the shoulder point to shoulder point measurement. Theirs is bigger than mine so the fabric just collapses around the neck. Ugly sight. You might want to try measuring to see if this could also be causing problems for you.

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    1. Alexandra's idea sounds quite possible to me. What you could try is to unpick shoulder seams and flatten/smooth out the back of the neck. The shoulder seams would be now too wide to line up withthe front shoulder seams, so redraw the back nneckline and shoulders inwards to match the front again? (This could be gibberish/nonsense). Hope you find the solution :)

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    2. Oh and I have seen this technique mentioned by people who actually know what they're talking about so it is a thing ha ha.

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    3. Alexandra sent me an excellent photo to explain her alteration - will definitely try it (if I can get it to work with this bizarre pattern piece). Thanks for your corroboration Jo!

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  5. Oy, I have the opposite problem - too much width in the back! So no constructive input from me. Guess I really just wanted to say hi :-)

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  6. If your issue is an erect back (shoulder), then your shoulder seam needs to be more level (horizontal) than what the pattern provides. My quick and easy fix for this is to slash the pattern perpendicular to the center back to the shoulder point (intersection of the shoulder seam line and the armhole seam line). Then overlap the slash at the center back edge as much as needed to get the correct shoulder angle. I usually overlap about 5/8". This doesn't shorten the back neckline, it just removes some excess length from the upper back of the pattern.

    I don't usually need to make any adjustment to the collar, though you might want to test it to be sure. I also don't make any change to the front shoulder.

    Lois K

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    1. Lois - excellent feedback. When next I go back to this pattern, I'm going to look at this as a possible fix. I do think the collar is the big challenge with this particular design (on me). It's totally floppy due to to much fabric...

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  7. I'm not surprised that the top looks good even if the alteration is extreme. That is the beauty of knits and their ability of to hide most everything, which is of course why on a woven jacket you can't get away with the fit not being perfect. Based on the way the Janet Jacket fit you, I’m pretty use you have a super erect neck (and great posture!) so if you add a narrow back to the mix it makes sense that there would be extra material there. As to how to fix it, my narrow back adjustments often end up being taken out of CB, even if I then have to add width at the sides of the garment, but then you and I have very different shapes (I, for one, have a forward neck and the worst posture ever!).

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    1. Ah, the beauty of knits for sure! Who would think that good posture can fuck you over :-)

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