Friday, January 30, 2009

Tracing/grading/drafting/oh my aching back....

I'll say one thing...tracing/grading patterns is a great way to find out that the original pattern is off. I thought I'd made a mistake when the side seams and notches on the adjusted Butterick 3072 coat didn't match until I laid the original pattern pieces together and found that the boo-boo wasn't mine.

Maybe some day I'll remember to check things out before I trace stuff.

I remarked the notches; I think I can fudge the seam lengths (the front seam is shorter than the back seam a bit) as long as I know they're not going to match. But it is frustrating.

That had me check some other things, too, and I found that the shirt collar piece is uneven; if it's folded on the center back, the buttonholes don't match the center front on the other side. That's an easy fix; I'll just cut it twice w/the center back on the fold so the longer side is duplicated. But still.

And I haven't traced the vest yet.

So my plan has changed just a bit. I'm going to cut the lining only for the coat (following Ann's sage advice to make the lining first), and try that on Pastor N. just so I know it will work. Then we can cheerfully cut into the good fabric, once I know the alterations are ok.

It has been a real trick; I drafted facings, linings and pockets for this coat. Sure wish someone made patterns for real garments instead of just stage mock-ups...

2 comments:

  1. I should really check draft more often too. I'm often confused and frustrated...and I'll bet many times it's not my fault!

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  2. Sigh. It's such a quick, simple thing to do...I don't know why it's so hard to just take a couple of minutes before I throw the tracing paper down to check that!

    And you're right; I bet MOST of the time it's Not Our Fault. ;)

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