What Works and What Doesn't

Warning, this is a long post. I have a lot to talk about.

The past two days have been a battle with the Tessa Sheath Dress pattern. I know there are people out there who are fans of the Love Notions patterns. The Facebook group has 54,000 members. I’ve tried two of the patterns and had issues with both, so I am not sure this line is for me. It’s either that or a whole lot of operator error, which is entirely possible.

My issue with the Laundry Day Tee was that I chose the size to make based on my high bust measurement, as recommended by the pattern. That resulted in a top which was too tight across the shoulders and too tight in the sleeves. Armed with that information, I chose the size for the Tessa dress in the same way, but then went up one size to make sure it would fit in the shoulders. I also used the full bust pattern piece.

I ended up with a dress I was swimming in. It fit me in the shoulders, yes, but it was huge everywhere else. I put it on inside out and started pinning. I took the dress in by 1-1/2” at each side seam. I got it to fit well from below my bust to the hem, but it still left me with a ton of excess fabric at the bust and under my arms. I took the sleeves out and put the dress on again inside out. I pinched fabric in various places to see where I could remove the excess. The best option seemed to be bust darts, so I played around with pinning them in different places and finally came up with a placement I liked. I also had to adjust the armsyce slightly, which actually made the sleeve cap set in better.

It took most of yesterday afternoon, but I finally beat the dress into submission. I like the end result very much. This is a flattering style on me and the ponte is comfortable, to boot, but I have no idea how to translate the adjustments I had to make back to the original pattern unless I take the whole dress apart. I could try grading the Tessa pattern from a larger size at the shoulders to a smaller size in the lower body, but I think what I am going to do is to frankenpattern the upper bodice of the Style Arc Kristen dress—which fits well and has the same kind of bust darts in the same location—to the bottom half of the Tessa dress in a smaller size. I will make another muslin to test out that idea. Thank goodness for clearance fabric.

I was talking this over with the husband last night. He doesn’t know much about sewing, but he can visualize what I am trying to do and he listens well. (He was unfamiliar with the term “frankenpattern,” so I had to explain that one.) I’m reluctant to blame the designer for these issues, having been a designer myself and knowing that it’s impossible to design something that fits every body shape and size out there. Based on the posts I’ve seen in the Facebook group, this is what I suspect is going on: People carry weight differently. I think that the people for whom these patterns work really well are those who have narrow shoulders but carry their weight in their bust and lower torso. I am, to put it bluntly, top heavy. I’ve got broad shoulders and I’m busty, but below my bust, things narrow quite a bit.

The fabric I used was the black ponte I got on the clearance rack at Hobby Lobby. Ponte comes in different kinds of fibers. The Kristen dress was made with the “summer ponte” from Joann Fabrics, which is 100% polyester. The first pair of Renee pants (the hot pink ones) were made with that same fabric. The second pair of Renee pants were made with the “refined ponte” from Joann Fabrics, which is 65% rayon/30% nylon/5% spandex. I have several lengths of the Robert Kauffman ponte, which is 67% rayon/28% nylon/5% spandex. The Hobby Lobby ponte is 63% rayon/32% nylon/5% spandex. The 100% polyester ponte does not stretch as much as the rayon blend pontes. The Hobby Lobby ponte seemed to stretch quite a bit while I was monkeying around with that dress yesterday. I am sure it’s a lower quality fabric than the Kaufman ponte.

I am trying to be patient with this process. Patterns rarely fit anyone well without some adjustments, and I am learning a lot as I go, but it takes time.

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When Susan and I were running around town last Monday, we stopped in at the quilt store. I got to talking with a woman who has been in a couple of my serger classes and she asked me why I was teaching the Cookin’ in Color apron class at the other quilt store and not at the one we were in.

[Some people will patronize both stores; some people are very loyal to one or the other. I know I am treading a fine line by teaching at both stores, but I did clear that with the store owners first.]

On Tuesday, when I was in to do the Facebook Live video, I mentioned the conversation to the owner of that quilt store. I said that I did not want her to think that I didn’t want to teach in her store, but I also pointed out that I had submitted a list of at least half a dozen potential serger classes—including the apron class—to her class manager after the Mystery Make in April and could not seem to get any of them scheduled. (The other store owner does not have a class manager; she tells me to pick an open date on the calendar and schedule what I want to teach.)

The store owner said she would talk to her class manager. The class manager called me a few days later and we had a good conversation. We put a few classes on the calendar, but now I am having to scramble and make up class samples and handouts and supply lists because some of the classes are next month. I’ve also got to factor in what I think makes a good class and what the store owner wants me to teach, which aren’t always the same thing. And both stores would prefer I teach classes unique to them, so even if I am teaching the same technique, I’ve got to approach it differently.

This is also a process and I am doing my best to hold up my end of things, but it’s not just a matter of putting a class on the calendar and poof!—I have all the information immediately.

This scarf is a good example.

This is a pattern designed by the woman who taught the Mystery Make class in April. She made the pattern available for free, with the stipulation that if I teach it as a class, the students get the pattern only if they purchase the fabric at the store. I can only teach this class at the store where we had the Mystery Make class. Those are not unreasonable stipulations; it’s her design and she can put whatever limitations on it she wants to. (Please do not ask me for the pattern.) I had bought the flannel for this scarf during the Mystery Make weekend, so I cut it out and put it together after I got the Tessa dress sorted. Now I have to fringe the ends up to that line of stitching. I asked the instructor how long it took her to fringe her sample scarf, and she said, “Four episodes of Magnum PI.” That’s about right. I got this much done last night while watching YouTube videos with the husband.

The store owner suggested this scarf project for one of the technique classes, which is fine, but it’s going to take at least another evening or two to finish fringing the scarf so I can get a photograph for the class listing on the website.

I need to spend some time this afternoon making up a schedule for this week. I hesitate to make a formal schedule because that is an invitation for the universe to start lobbing wrenches, but I’ve got to stay on track.