Dawn wrote: >I am going to go with the gusset idea, as it will allow me to salvage >this piece (even if I could find more of the silk fabric, it was $35 a >yard) as I hate the idea of wasting what's gone into it so far. When I >make this again, and I'm sure I will, I will be making more substantial >changes to the pattern itself.
For when you're working on the muslin for the next one: One common cause of not being able to raise your arms high enough is when the armhole is (somewhat paradoxically) cut too BIG. A bigger armhole with a lower bottom curve actually translates into LESS freedom of motion, not more, as you would think. This is because as you move your arm upward, the low meeting point of sleeve and body under the arm means the sleeve quickly begins to transfer the "pull" upward onto the body fabric -- which can't really move upward very far if it's at all closely fitted or confined at the waist. A higher meeting point means you can raise your arm further before it starts to pull. I know I've made this mistake ;) Try raising the bottom line of the armhole to make a smaller "hole" and see if that makes a difference. (Of course, there are practical limits here, you don't want the armhole so small it binds or feels tight. But pattern companies, who have to make a pattern that attempts to fit all body shapes, often do rather large armholes to accommodate people who have heavy upper arms, and that simply doesn't fit everyone else correctly.) ____________________________________________________________ 0 Chris Laning | <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> + Davis, California http://paternoster-row.org - http://paternosters.blogspot.com ____________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
