Just as I get my sewing mojo back, you may not hear from me again. We happen to live in an area that gets it’s power from one of the worst power companies in the US. After last winter’s multi-day outage from a blizzard and last summer’s multi-day outage from a hurricane-strength storm, there were hearings in front of state politicians and the mayor. The power company made promises that it clearly couldn’t keep. We experienced a multi-day outage this week due to a measly 6in of snow. I grew up in this county and I don’t remember this many outages, nor for this long when I was little. The reason I’m telling you this is that we are expected to get more snow on Wednesday and again on Friday. While I am stocked up on books, I have no projects to keep my hands busy. When it comes to yarn, I’m normally an online bargain hunter, but this week, I may have to go out to the local high-end yarn boutique to make sure I stay busy.
I managed to finish this shirt just before the power went out. I think I will call it a wearable muslin because it’s fine with a sweater. I love the color and the neckline. As you can see from the second picture, the armhole is very low. This pattern only goes to a modern US 16, so I did my cheaty grading. All I did was add 2 inches to the side seams. I think that because this is a raglan top, that affected the armhole. This is only my second raglan top, so I had trouble picture how the pieces went together in my head. To complicate matters, the sleeve is 2 pieces, front and back, unlike the KwikSew raglan I made last year.
Doing a petite fold in the upperchest should bring up the armhole, as well as the neckline, which is a little too deep for daywear. Now that I’ve assembled it, I can easily see where that needs to go.
oh Andrea! How hard it must have been to survive each one of these power outages!
Last summer, when the power went out, we went up to Baltimore in hopes of A/C and the power was out there, too.
PEPCO – bad, bad power company! We are seriously thinking about getting a generator, but the expense is making my toes curl.
Cute top, BTW! Great color on you.
I admire your sewing skill. I am also a plus-size gal who likes vintage styles, but I don’t know how to grade patterns. My husband bought me a sewing machine for Christmas. I have a feeling I will be turning out basic A-line skirts and elastic waist pants for quite a while!
Grading is much easier than most people think! I did a post on it a couple years ago. http://newvintage.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/how-to-grade-patterns/ Also, Simplicity, Vogue and Butterick all have reproduction patterns in their current catalog that occasionally go on sale for as little as $1.99 at chains like Hancock and JoAnns. This would be a great starting point since they come in multiple sizes.
Lovely top, again. Agree about the sleeve, but you sure the neck is too low?
And the color is great with the jeans. Sorry to hear about the power outages, hope you’re dealing ok.