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??