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| slopers and freshly drafted patterns |
But now let's talk about ease--wearing ease, that is. After making a muslin for my sheath dress, I was surprised to find that the ease I added for a semi-fitted silhouette was too much. In accordance with Sunni's suggestions for her semi-fitted dress (the very look and comfort I am seeking), I added 3" of ease to the bodice, adding 1/8" to each princess seam and 1/2" to each side seam. The result was not a comfortable yet fitted looking bodice, but a very baggy bodice. Granted, Sunni's recommendation was for 2-2.5" of ease at the waist and I added 3", but it was the chest and armholes that looked much too loose. I ended up pinching out an inch from each side seam, effectively removing the 1/2" of ease I'd drafted in specially and leaving only an inch total of ease still drafted in at the princess seams. The fit was still quite comfortable but not baggy.
As the toile fabric was a fairly heavy, firmly woven cotton-poly blend, I don't think the roominess can be attributed to stretching, and the day I fitted the bodice was not on a particularly skinny day, so I'm wondering--is ease relative to the size of one's frame? At 5'1" tall and barely filling an A-cup (um...just keeping it real here), I'm thinking that the same 3" of ease distributed over say, the "average" 5'6" tall B-cup figure wouldn't be as obvious as it distributed over a petite frame like mine. Ease can best be considered proportionally, I think--although I'm still a bit perplexed as to why my "semi-fitted" specifications are a full two-inches smaller. Anyway, in case this was some fluke, I'll cut my dress with generous seam allowances and adjust the fit on my actual dress if necessary.
By the way, my woolens are out of the freezer and airing out. I'll give them a good brushing before popping the affected ones back in the freezer for the second time and then give them all a good dry press. Hopefully that will deter any further pest behavior. I was happy to find a Threads Magazine article on reweaving and am eager to try it out on some of the pieces!
1 comment:
I have been trying to figure out ease too . By the sounds of it, I'm about the same build as you, and the 10cm of ease Aldrich puts in her "close-fitting sloper" is _at least_ an easy fit on me. I draft 6cm total ease into my bust, waist and hip measurements on my sloper and the result is much nicer. It works out at about 7.5% of my bust measurement. I wonder if that percentage works for other people. How much ease do you like in your sloper
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