Pattern Hacking

Hacking is the only way I shall ever get a jacket to suit me and fit properly. 

Much as I love this gorgeous jacket in my Lutterloh book, which is where I found the pattern for my 1940s blouse, I know it isn't quite what I'm looking for...

...even if the fur trim is the stuff of tweedy fantasies.

Somehow my brain wasn't sufficiently in gear last week to tackle the pattern drafting required for Lutterloh creations...

...so I delved into the pattern box and pulled out this not quite so retro number.  The pattern had never been used, and I had enough calico to run up a toile.  Then the fun really started.  The amendments so far are as follows:-


The armholes are too shallow, so the sleeves cut into the armpits.  I have dropped the bottom of the armhole about an inch and a half down the side seam.

The back is too narrow, so I have added an inch down the centre back.

The upper sleeves needed more width, so I have added an extra inch at the top, tapering down to nothing at the elbow.

The little stand up collar doesn't suit me, so I have had a very educational time roaming around YouTube learning how to draft a pattern with a shawl collar. 


Even though the second toile I have run up still isn't quite right, I think I have managed to keep frustration at bay and let fascination take its place.  Strangest of all, once I had made all the changes, somehow the mock up jacket sat on me differently and magically transformed itself into a rather natty double-breasted number.  I must get my husband to take some pictures of me modelling it, if not for the blog at least for family entertainment. 

A Dress for Meg - 3- Drafting a Collar Pattern Piece

Here is the progress so far on Meg's dress - the two front bodice pieces have been joined to the back bodice with felled seams, and I need to draft a pattern piece so I can make a collar.   The first step is to fold back the two front edges in the position they will be in when I make the buttonholes and attach the buttons.  Then the bodice is laid flat on a piece of paper so I can draw around the neck edge and get an accurate outline.

The two front edges are going to overlap by an inch, and I need to allow a quarter of an inch seam allowance for when I sew the top and bottom collar pieces together.  By marking three quarters of an inch from the folded edge I can be sure that I can position the collar an inch from the folded edge.  

The drawing of the outline starts at the three quarters of an inch mark, and at the other end will finish the same distance from the opposite folded edge.

Once the outline of the neck is drawn on the paper, it is traced onto the paper that will be used for the pattern piece.  I have used ordinary greaseproof paper.

At each end of the neckline I have drawn a short line at a right angle.

The next step is to draw the outer edge of the pattern piece by plotting dots two and a half inches from the neckline and joining them with a gentle curve.

To round off the corners of the collar I used the lens cap from my camera.

To make sure that the pattern piece is symmetrical, I have folded it in half before cutting it out.

Because I need to cut out two pieces for the collar, I cut the pattern piece in half and then cut out the two collar pieces by laying the centre back line of the collar on the fold of the fabric.  Here are the two pieces cut out from the fabric, one already removed from the pattern piece and opened out, and the other still pinned to the pattern piece.

Linking up today with Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday.