WHITE

Yesterday’s color was white.  It snowed all day and the world outside my windows was white.  We closed the office early and I rolled the phones over to the house so I needed to be nearby in case someone called.  No one called.  I think the entire Northeastern United States was closed or wished it was closed.

We got 18 inches of snow and I got to go out in the dusk and night-time plow runs because my eyes are better.  Unfortunately I don’t turn well to the right, the direction the spotter in the passenger seat should be able to turn, so I kept having to climb out of the truck to spot where we were going when G had to back up.  I would have been fine looking over my left shoulder from the driver’s seat, but I can’t (or won’t) drive the truck.  It is an old old Suburban, manual transmission, and I have to practically stand on the clutch to get it all the way in and then I have trouble doing that and getting the D*^* shift to work.  I am told it shifts like a dream, but having watched G attempting to shift the recalcitrant old thing several times last night and heard him cursing and grunting as he stalled out the truck over and over again, I am more inclined to believe that man and truck have grown older and more stubborn together and are just used to each other’s quirks.

Anyway, plowing looks like fun, and I would love to plow.  But not using this truck.  It made my sciatica worse 20 years ago, and I don’t think I could even do it today.

But back on track.  While I was tied to the telephone, or at least waiting for the telephone, I had time to work on the Burda top I traced back at the beginning of the month, almost two weeks ago now.    The first muslin shows a good bit of promise and I think this top is going to turn out well, after another draft, and will become a favorite.

The initial changes I made to the pattern were a good start.  I lengthened the top about 2 inches below the bust and above the waist.  That worked out well. 

Then I made a guesstimate at how much extra to add at the bust.  This FBA stuff is new to me, as is working with knits so I was not particularly confident, but I also knew I had to add something.   I noticed that Burda did not mark the bust point so after lengthening the pattern I held the tissue up to my torso, positioning the waist in the proper place and put a dot where I thought the bust was supposed to be.  It seems to have worked and I seem to have the basic sizing correct.  Now I just need to fix those old asymmetricality issues, which, as you can see from the photo, are quite evident.  The top is perfectly balanced.  The model is not.

The left side fits pretty well, and no undergarments show.  I tried it on with a couple of bras to be sure of the fit and they are all OK on the left.  It is a little close, and I can probably  move that underarm seam up just a little bit higher to give me a little extra coverage there.

On the right however, more work is obviously needed.  The center piece is too low, and the armscye is too high up on the arm.  You  can see that the seam is too high up on my arm, and you can also see that I  have excess fabric in the center piece as well as the fact that I need a longer underarm seam on that side in order for the top to fit the same way on my body as it does on the other side.

I knew that it was unlikely that a completely symmetrical piece would fit, but since I did not understand how to alter the pattern until I made it up, this seemed like the best path.

Next up:  redrawing the pattern and making another top.

I am not sure if I have enough of this fabric for another muslin, but I will check.  Or I might just go on to the fabric I planned on using for this top and hope for the best.  I will find something.  I have purchased a good collection of knits because I want to get these details worked out so I know I have something to  play with.