Whenever Coach doesn't talk to me I feel a bit bereft, but then when she does I feel overwhelmed. Today after lessons she found me and gave me the comp packet for January. Already? I told her we'd narrowed down music, and I'd cut it and see what she thought. This also made me realize that this year's comp outfit was going to be a challenge, and I needed to get going.
There's no boy's skatewear on the market, unless you count the black velvet uniform, er, shirt. This is expensive and boring. And boring. So let's make one.... it's not all that hard.
Tonight I did the first steps. I know that the fabric we liked doesn't stretch much, but I hate the way knits look on the ice. They don't look crisp. Boys need to be crisp. So my plan of action is to cut the shirt a size or two too big, and alter from there to allow room for movement yet give me the look I want. And yes, there will be bead embellishment. Beads go on before the shirt gets pieced together. So, to put a fine point on it, I only get one shot to get it right.
I've decided to try this plan first using the Halloween costume. Let's see how big that shirt turns out, and we'll see if it will work for the not so stretchy fabric later.
Let's get out our Jalie pattern, shall we?
Oh that's confusing.
What you need to do is match the size you are to the size on the pattern. So go measure your subject. Stitch is technically a size 7 with the waist altered in, but today I'm going to cut a Size 9, or pattern size M.
Wait! Don't cut this pattern! You're going to trace your size, saving your pattern paper for another day! Get out your tracing paper, which is about $14 a roll from your fabric store.
Now, even though I'm not going to do the gathered sleeve, I'm still going to cut out the whole pattern for it, just in case I can reuse this later. I'm also marking the short sleeve cut, since I think the compulsory outfit should be short sleeved. Transfer all markings, fold and grainlines. Also mark which piece this is, how many to cut, and what size it is. There's no boy's skatewear on the market, unless you count the black velvet uniform, er, shirt. This is expensive and boring. And boring. So let's make one.... it's not all that hard.
Tonight I did the first steps. I know that the fabric we liked doesn't stretch much, but I hate the way knits look on the ice. They don't look crisp. Boys need to be crisp. So my plan of action is to cut the shirt a size or two too big, and alter from there to allow room for movement yet give me the look I want. And yes, there will be bead embellishment. Beads go on before the shirt gets pieced together. So, to put a fine point on it, I only get one shot to get it right.
I've decided to try this plan first using the Halloween costume. Let's see how big that shirt turns out, and we'll see if it will work for the not so stretchy fabric later.
Let's get out our Jalie pattern, shall we?
Oh that's confusing.
What you need to do is match the size you are to the size on the pattern. So go measure your subject. Stitch is technically a size 7 with the waist altered in, but today I'm going to cut a Size 9, or pattern size M.
Wait! Don't cut this pattern! You're going to trace your size, saving your pattern paper for another day! Get out your tracing paper, which is about $14 a roll from your fabric store.
Don't get expensive pattern paper! Go to Blick and buy a roll of yellow tissue paper, affectionately known in the architecture world as "butt wipe." It's the same stuff at a quarter the price.
ReplyDeleteLive and learn, thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteYou may already know this, but from one seamstress to another, FYI: two sizes too big will likely have armholes that are too large -- and those can't be altered to be smaller once the fabric is cut, since a bigger armhole has cut away more fabric than a smaller one would. Same with the neck hole. All other seams can be taken in to reduce the size of the garment, but if you are cutting the fabric larger for room to play, then you need to be sure to cut the armholes and neck holes smaller to ensure that you have that room to experiment. Good luck!
ReplyDelete