Friday, December 8, 2006

SWAP garment #2 - Finally DONE!


The Accursed Black Velour! After a day of rest, to let the shirt stew in its own juice for awhile, I tackled the hem this morning, with uneventful and satisfactory results, though the whole thing perhaps should be a bit shorter -- it won't be happening any time soon.



Yesterday, I visited Fabricville, and found a couple of black braids, which I purchased with the notion of decorating the neck edge and possibly removing some of the extra fullness there.

I also found a nice button to pull down the center front a bit, changing the shape, which was not overly attractive, and also using up some of the extra opening. The button, of course, precludes other neck jewellry, but that's a good thing as I don't have much of that anyway.

Both the braid and the button worked fairly well, and the shirt looks quite spiffy and quite dressy. There is a bit of a twist on the right side where the extra fullness is in the neck opening, and the shoulder seems to pull in a bit. This could be for any number of reasons from wrinkles on the underneath layer during cutting, to multiple changes in the shoulder and back seams to try to get the neck to fit. To the casual observer I think it looks fine. My summation of the major cause of the ill-fittedness and some of the many problems I had is that I used a fabric that was not recommended on the pattern. LESSON LEARNED.

Satisfaction index (maximum=10) - formerly about a 3, now about 5 with the improved neckline.

This shirt has been full of lessons, and has made me aware of several details about my own shape and also of my work habits and how I deal with frustration. What a great feeling, though, to have it done, and good enough to wear.

According to What Not To Wear, black should not be worn with bright colors, the blacks disappear, and the colors look cheap. Well, 2 of my SWAP colors and black and red, so fashion-challenged I shall remain.

1 comment:

Linda L said...

I like the top. Looking forward to seeing the plum pants.