WIP: On the Job (still)

 How about a photodump?  I made lots of small adjustments to the OTJ dress.  Let's see:

 

I had to make 2 darts on the back neckline.  I pulled an inch out on each side, tapering down over about two inches in length.  I learned while working on my Laurel top that neckline darts are supposed to point towards the armpit area.  I think I accomplished that.

  

 

Inside view of the neckline dart.  I would have preferred to take the fabric out of the pattern itself, but I just wasn't seeing a way to make that happen because I didn't have anywhere to add length on the side of the pattern.  The bodice cuts off right under the bust and I didn't want to play with the fit of that in order to pull the neckline fabric out.   You may also be able to see that my shoulder seam looks funny?  I pinned about 1/2" in on the seam specifically for collar drafting purposes.  In order to get the collar to have a little "stand" to it, you need to overlap the shoulder seams by about 1/2" on the armpit side.  It works, I promise!

 

Sorry for the blur.  Drafting a collar was easier than I thought it would be.  I put a tiny nip in the seam allowance at the center front to tell me where to stop tracing my outline.  After that, I simply traced the top line of the garment, noting where the center and shoulder seam was.

 

Here's what the line looks like.  It looks rough, but your pattern doesn't have to look fancy.  It just has to work.

 

My next step was deciding how wide I wanted the collar.  I settled on 1.5" and used an adjustable seam gauge/ruler thingy to make those markings.  I put a dash about every inch or so along the pattern and trued it up as I went.  See that wonky curve?  I didn't like the first line and I redrew it.  Legit.  The last thing to do before cutting the fabric is to add a seam allowance.  I used a 5/8" seam allowance for the rest of the garment and that is what is built in to the neckline pattern (it was supposed to have a lined bodice), so that's what I added to my collar piece.

 

Once I had the pattern all cut out, I realized I wanted the back of the collar to sort of notch out at the bottom.  A quick measurement and marking and that's done too!

 

OHAI fancy tiny collar!   

 

Here's the back of the collar and that notch that I wanted.  The pattern called for a lapped zipper and I could only find a black zipper long enough for this dress!  Shame!

 

This looks like a finished dress and it kind of is, but the sleeves are way too freaking tight.  My dress is all done except not really wearable at all because it makes me have the Frankenstein's monster look.  

 

I only look happy because of the smile detector.  Trust me, I am pissed that I haven't learned my own arm size yet.  I made the sleeves extra big.  Still not big enough.  Grrr.

 

One last parting sort of finished object picture. I love the dress.  I think it's fabulous.  Gotta fix those sleeves though.  I'll post my sleeve adjustments in my FO post, which will hopefully happen next week.

 

Happy HUMP DAY!