Sunday, November 14, 2010

Sloping a Drafter

Or is it drafting a sloper...hmm...

So I got this book recently off of Amazon.  I can sew a lot of things, but I want something that will make it easier for me to do that.  So I got this:

The Practical Guide to Patternmaking for Fashion Designers: Juniors, Misses and Womens

and this:

Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified

And dove right in!  I should probably have started with the simplified version...but I have never been one for simple, always choosing the most difficult pattern in the book to start with.  So I took all the required measurements off of the dress form I made based on this video:

How-to make a Body Form

I drafted all of the bodice pieces, front and back, using some brown packing paper, which is pretty thin.  I put it up to the body form and pinned it down along the lines, but it doesn't quite fit.

So here's the problem:

The sides don't match all the way and the shoulders stick out funny.  Am I just supposed to smooth it out and make it fit, then take it back to flat and re-draft?  Can anyone out there tell me how to modify this thing?  I would think I could just add an inch and a half to the sides, but I'm not sure.  So...does anyone know what to do about this?

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Here I am! A new blogger! (knit gloves)

Hello world!  I am Amy.  I'm a grad student in biochemistry and an avid creator.  Sometimes I think I'm in the wrong place, but I'm going to stick through it and see what happens.  My true love is my creativity, but something's got to pay the bills, right?

So while the name of my blog includes 'sewing' this is not going to be strictly sewing.  I dabble in far too many artsy craftsy things, so I will be posting any and all of my creations.  Lately I have been sewing and knitting, but I have also just picked up spinning.

As my first post, I am going to show off a pair of mittens I am working on.  I got two balls of mini mochi rainbow sock yarn and found a cool pattern for it.  I only get chances to knit in classes and in my borrowed spare time (I don't sleep nearly as much as I should...).

I've never made gloves before, so I figured I'd start fingers down!
 

I thought I had pictures of the in between stage when I added the thumb and fingers, but it turns out not.  Instead, here's the mostly finished back side:

Palm side:
 Close-up on the pattern (I got it here: Jeannie's Sewing, Knitting and Beyond):

I couldn't figure out what I wanted for a cuff, so I went with I-cords and cables:


The cuff is slit on the thumb side of the wrist and I made I-cord loops and knots as closures.  I'll post the completed gloves when they're finished.  I have been writing down the pattern, so I'll post that as soon as this first one is finished!

Until then, I hope to continue blogging and showing you my pieces.