New Look 6981 view A, funny face edition

Be prepared for some funny faces.

Let's just say I chose wisely when I decided to make the little black dress on Thursday night instead of the shirt from New Look 6981.


What I look like when things are going wrong...

So unlike Thurs night, when I acknowledged that things might not go my way, my thought pattern on 6981 went something like this today:
Ok, I'll cut this out in half an hour and then sew it up in 45 min, maybe 60 min, and then go on to making NL 6922 again in brown.

I set my expectation really high. Implicit in the statement was that it would just magically fit properly. There's hardly anything to this shirt, really. IT MUST GO WELL.

It took me hours and hours.

It's done now and I think it's just ok.

I originally cut a 14 at the shoulder seam and front, 16 on the sides in case I needed it. I did a swayback adjustment, just for the heck of it, though it probably needs a center seam and some real shaping back there to do the job properly.


It was really big on the sides, and too low in the front.

Another funny face

So then I cut the 8 on the top at the shoulder and sort of an 8/10 combo for the armholes, and shaped the sides (it's more like a 14 now down the sides):


So cutting the 8/10 armhole was a mistake, as the armhole seemed too wide.

So I wound up taking in the sides even more at the top, to get less chest to show through the armhole, which I think lead in part to a problem discussed later...

And then I futzed with the armhole finishing for a good long while. In the end, I just folded the edge over and sewed it down from the front..after stitching, seam ripping, restitching, seam ripping, etc with the supplied binding.




I did a twin needle stitched hem, with a twin needle where the needles are fairly close together. The length was good, though I did a 5/8 hem. I could add an inch to do a nice deep hem.


I don't know. I don't like the fabric pulling across the bust like that--maybe from too much tightening on the sides. Also I thought this fabric was brown but now I think it's maybe gray?? I bought it at PR Weekend Philly at Jomar's, $2 a yard. It's very soft and I was thinking of using it to make the NL 6922 dress again. But maybe it's too close to black in color? Hrm.

Anyway, I always love cowl necks and thought that it would be fun to try again. Instead, I think I need to make the square cowl neck from Vogue 2945 again. I wear that one a lot. Maybe I'll make it in white this time?

Hey, I just noticed, the fabric is slightly pulling across the bust in that one too. and I love that shirt.

Maybe I'll like NL6981 better in the morning?