Sunday, January 29, 2012

The Watersdown Mansion of England, 1936


Oh, why hello there. Welcome to the party.
 
 

I hope you're enjoying your time at the Watersdown Mansion. 
But, I must let you know...There's been a murder.


What? Oh, don't blame me. I'm innocent.
 

Am I more convincing from this angle? 
It's my best look on the big screen.


    Truth be told, it was probably one of these people. 
 They all look rather suspicious.

 
 
 But, never mind all that. 
  At the end of this whole affair, I'll still be enjoying my new dress.
  Toodle-oo!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Takin' Back

No really,  take in the back. Of your blouse.

 
  I like to go shopping as much as anyone, but lately there have been very few garments I'll wear as purchased. I'm much happier with a garment if I feel like it fits my body, and often I'm just a few seams away from making something on clearance look like a million bucks.

     I'm pretty used to taking in the waists of shirts and dresses, but I've had problems with bulging backs. I always figured the backs were simply too broad and that was the reason for the funny poofy look (grandma's blouse meets hunchback of Notre Dame-style). So, on this blouse, I extended the back darts to take up excess upper back width.

    The part of this story that wasn't fitting is that I already have broad shoulders, and the shoulder seams weren't falling down. When I took in extra width from the back, I lost a lot of mobility. Like, the kind you need to drive.


Me, driving in the blouse. In Britain, apparently.

So, I ripped that out and thought in another direction. Instead of taking out width, I took out length between the shoulder seams and the bottom of the armhole.


New dart indicated in pink/red. It was about 4" (10cm) uptake on mine.

  
Et voila! No more quasi modo. The paisley design hides the seam nicely.

Before & After

And now I can go on with my life without shirt-deformities. Thank you, sewing machine!


-Hannah Jean