Now my sewing mojo is back (thanks to the slip) I got motivated to alter the Butterick 4976 Chetta B. wrap dress that I've made a few times. It always bugged me that it was kind of a loose fit in the upper body despite making the smallest size (8 in pattern sizing, which I never usually make - this pattern has lots of ease as it's designed for either wovens or stable knits.)
So I decided to follow Sandra Betzina's steps to "petite" the upper body contained in her book Fast Fit - basically shortened the front, back and upper sleeve by 1" by drawing a line perpendicular to the grain, just above the notches on each piece, and folding that line up 1/2", then filling in/blending the line to make it smooth.
Here it is (excuse the cell phone pics):
Front View - decided to mix up the usual hands-on-hips routine
Back
Side (tied the obi-style belt the way it was intended, and in front, so the knot adds a bit of bulk, I think - probably need to switch it to the side the way I usually wear it)
It worked pretty well, as the fit is much better (darts are now in the right place and upper body fits more closely) but I still need a cami, so I didn't meet my ultimate goal. I have one more thing to try next time - making more of a crossover in the front (i.e., sewing down the cross over part of the neck closer to the side seams, which is what I did with one other pattern to make it fit nicely in the chest. If that doesn't work, I'll resign myself to the fact that camis may always be needed for me with wrap dresses unless I'm willing to show cleavage, which I'm decidedly NOT. I'm not even comfortable showing it when I'm out with Jim, and he's not either, as he'll shoot worried looks in my direction and tell me frequently that I'm "losing my top" and to adjust it so I can't relax. And obviously I'm not going to do it in a business setting, despite the multitude of people who seem to be just a-ok with it. I mean, it's distracting to ME as a hetero female to see half of someone's bra in a meeting, so I'm guessing it's extremely distracting to men! Sorry, rant mode off.
And I know I'm pretty small-chested to have this cleavage problem, but because I'm so short from shoulder to bust, despite only measuring 33.5" in the full bust, cleavage is pretty much a given if the neckline is open any lower than about 7" from my shoulder (measured diagonally, like a raglan seam would be - as I was curious and decided to measure.) The shoulder is also a little bit off my natural shoulder (maybe 1/2") so I'd like to fix that too but am not sure how to do that, unless I would just make the shoulder part of the pattern pieces narrower by shaving off some of the end that meets the sleeve cap. I also want to tweak the neckband piece as it was slightly too long and I had a tiny bit of a problem sewing it on.
Overall, though, I think it's an improvement and the next one should be even better! I think I want to do this with a few of my favorite patterns - alter them to make them even better to get true TNTs!
Looks great! Although from these pictures, I have a hard time seeing the problem with too much cleavage showing. It looks work appropriate to me. I love this color on you.
Posted by: Elizabeth | February 01, 2010 at 09:14 AM
Love the dress, which is one of my favorites. I actually wore the mini-houndstooth printed one I made last year. Can't have enough wrap dresses.
I also need to do a lil tweaking to the pattern and also the obi sash, which is just too long.
Posted by: sheila | February 01, 2010 at 09:29 AM
My stupid work firewall is blocking the first two pictures, but the third one looks good! I love the color. And you can see the sash much better in the solid than the print, which I like.
Posted by: Jenny | February 01, 2010 at 11:50 AM
Cute! I love that color on you!
Posted by: adrienne | February 01, 2010 at 12:22 PM
Congratulations! It is great you were able to make the mods to be happier with the fit. I agree with you on inappropriateness and the wrong top showing off more perhaps than the wearer intended! I have small shoulders and if I have to keep hiking up a top, it's just not going to work long-term.
Posted by: Debby | February 01, 2010 at 02:05 PM
I love that dress on you! I looks like you've perfected the fit! I like the look of wrap dresses but I've never been able to wear them. I think I just move around too much in my job for them to stay closed! You pull them off very well and this one is particularly flattering. Thanks for posting about the garment a month sew along! I decided to join. I figured I can get one thing a month done!
Posted by: kozykitty | February 01, 2010 at 09:01 PM
I love this dress!!! Your alteration job worked out very nicely and it fits you well.
Posted by: Andrea | February 02, 2010 at 03:46 PM
Looks great. I hear you on the cleavage. I hate showing it too and although I like the look of wrap dresses on others, there is always too much boob hanging out on me for me to buy one/try to make one.
Posted by: beapea7 | February 03, 2010 at 12:09 PM
I think the dress looks nice. I always had a problem with necklines and bustlines on commercial pattern, and the adjustment I had to make required repositioning the dart--but I never did this on a knit, so I don't know if it would translate. There are some books that go into lots of detail on altering bodices, and perhaps looking at a few more might get you the look you want.
I'm with you on the conservative tops for business wear.
Posted by: marjorie | February 03, 2010 at 04:08 PM