I need some sewing-advice

First the good:
 
 
Then the bad:
I have a problem. And I need your advice. Please! I can't go on sewing blouses like this.
Everytime I sew a blouse in a non-stretch fabric, the same problem occurs, namely this:
 
 
You see the draglines in the back, pointing from the neckline to as far as under the arm?
I'm sooo tired that this happens every time. I just don't know how to make them go away.
It looks like my arm is pulling the armscye down, like it's too high for my body. At first I thought I could solve this by lowering the armscye as a whole. I once tried this on another blouse. It helped maybe a little bit, but unfortunately, if I moved my arms, the complete shoulder/neckline moved upward, like someone had put a clothes hanger in it and lifted that up. Not a good thing.
I also don't think that the armscye is too small. There's enough room to move.

So yeah, I need your help. If anyone knows a way to solve this, I would love to hear it!
Feel free to point out some body-imperfections. For the sake of getting a good fit, I don't mind.

In spite of this all, I do like this blouse enough to wear it. 
After all, just look around and you see a lot of people wearing clothes that have this exact same (or other) problem. Still, it's proof of an ill-fitting garment.
Sometimes I think we are too critical on our own work. More than once I see on other people's blogs they aren't happy with the result of their sewing, when all I can think is: Wow, that is just so lovely!
Maybe it is because we believe, or...let me rephrase that: I believe, that by making our own clothes we have the chance to attack these flaws and make sure the endresult is nothing less than perfect.
Not a very realistic thought, I know. And one that can give you a lot of headache. And quite frankly, that's not worth it. Sewing should be fun!!

KnipMode - May 2009 - 2c
I accidentally forgot to cut/sew the seamline in the waist. It would have been a nice extra accent. If I will ever make this blouse again, that will be added, but not before I have a solution for the above-mentioned problem.
I also tried to fiddle with the princess seam to eliminate some of the fullbust-lines. But there was not enough fabric to work with (1,5 cm wide seams) so I eventually stopped trying. Should have thought of this before I cut the fabric >:-(
The midcenter backseam is taken in a bit to do a swayback alteration.
 
 
 
 
At the moment I'm sewing with my stash, which is mostly built with pieces that I bought without any particular plan. I always find it hard to find a match between those pieces and a pattern. The amount of fabric is limited and I always seem to choose a pattern that requires a bit more (or much less). I think I will return to my original way of planning: choosing a pattern and than buying fabric that works for that pattern. This works best for me. But before I start buying new fabric, first I'll be doing some more stashbusting.
 
Talk to you soon.
Lilian

Comments

  1. Lovely blouse Lilian, certainly wear it.
    I'm not a fit expert but I would think the problem is not the armhole. You might need a bit of extra space in the upper back. In Dutch: ik zou een lijn trekken op het rugpand, halverwege het armsgat, lijn doorknippen en bij de middenachter naad iets wijder maken, naar niets laten verlopen naar het armsgat. Een driehoekje dus. Ik denk dat je halslijn met kraag je rug "omhoog" trekt en dat daar de plooien door ontstaan.
    Succes met het oplossen ervan. Misschien hebben anderen betere ideeën.

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  2. I agree with Sigrid that's it looks like you might need a "high round" adjust. Rounding of the upper back needs extra length. I have quite the opposite problem. I have to make an erect back adjustment on blouses and dresses.

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  3. Ik heb geleerd dat de herkomst van de straling je wijst waar het probleem vandaan komt. Bij jou komen bijna alle stralingen vanuit de hals/kraag middenachter. Dat betekent dat je daar meer ruimte nodig hebt. Dus inderdaad de rughoogte is te kort. En misschien zelfs de ruglengte ook nog, maar als je eerst begint met het verlengen van de rughoogte dat kan zoals Sigrid het voorstelt, je kunt de lijn ook van oksel tot oksel laten lopen en daar naar boven iets tussenleggen en naar de zijnad op niets laten uitlopen. Daarna kun je bekijken of je lager op de rug nog wat ruimte nodig hebt. Succes.

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  4. Agree with the first two posters - looks like you need more length in the centre upper back ie. a wedge that goes to nothing at the armholes.

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  5. You could also try making your shoulder seams more slanted. To me it looks as if there is enough length at the centre back (the hem is not hiking up) and if you add length you may have to take it out in the waist. But you do have too much length around your armhole as the shoulder seams are too straight. if you remove some length in the back armhole by making you shoulder seams more slanted at the back the drag lines may go away. The easiest way to try this out would be to unpick the shoulder seam and back armhole seam up to the side seam and have a helper push the fabric up towards your shoulder until the drag lines disappear. This may also involve you adding a shoulder dart as well as deepening out the armhole at the back so that it fits nicely around your arm. If you are going to add a waist seam in the front, add one in the back as well, as it would give you an additional seam to play with. Good luck!

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  6. My first thought is that it appears to be a sloped shoulder issue. The fit looks good from the front, but at the back where you have more slope, the fabric seems to hang. Maybe slip in a pair of shoulder pads to see if that helps. If so, you may then try a more permanent fix. If it doesn't help, then that may not be your issue. It is a nice blouse, though!

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  7. Hello I have this problem and its fixed with shoulder pads . I think you shoulders are sloping and you need to either use a shoulder pad or to take some fabric out of the height of your armhole .

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