Simplicity 4076 - View A - Still at it

Whew! This one is giving me a hard time. But I'm a big believer in what they call "iterative development" in the software industry. So, I've now finished with muslin #3 and will be moving on to muslin #4. I've made a few changes in each. I'm not going to let this one beat me! :)

Muslin #1
I wrote a little about this one already. But to recap, this was made up as per the pattern with no alterations except to make the sleeves slightly wider. The front gaposis was atrocious.

Muslin #2
For muslin #2, I slit the front pieces diagonally from about the center to the bust point and over lapped them by about 1/2". This helped the gaposis a fair bit, but it was still not "quite right".

I stared at this one hanging on Bessy for a long, long time. And reached a few conclusions:
1. The bust area still had too much ease. Especially compared with the waist and hem area.
2. The arms were too tight - even though I had enlarged them some already.
3. The waist and hem area was too tight.
4. The back right below the arms had something funny going on - I assumed because of the too large bust area. In any case, there were folds there.
5. The gathering on the left side seemed to be gathered too much. It seemed to be pulling things out of place.
6. I'm getting "puddles" of fabric right above my hips in back. It's either due to big booty, or sway back - I'm not sure which.
7. And finally, the front still hung a bit too low.

Muslin #3
For the 3rd iteration, I started with a fresh tracing. I figured that decreasing the bust area, widening the waist and hemline, increasing the sleeve width even more, and changing my technique for the gathering would help some, if not all the problems identified with muslin #2. I made all those changes using the pivot and slide method.

All of the adjustments seemed to help - although some more than others. The waist and hemline could use just a tad more space, and the bust area could be trimmed up just a tad too. Also with the adjustment to the bust, the folds that were in back have gone away. But a "new" problem has cropped up.

The width across the top of the back and shoulders is tight. I think this is what's causing the front to cross over lower than I would like. The shoulder seems are pulling out towards the shoulders a bit, which widens the neckline out, pulling the front more open.

The problem is not really new though. I noticed a similar problem when I made up the Paisley version of View D. The shoulder seems are pulling out a bit on that one too, causing the scoop to be wider and lower than I would have liked, although it is completely wearable. I think it's happening because I had to use one size smaller with this pattern than I would normally use (my size range wasn't available).

I'm floundering a bit on how to solve the problem. I gone back and forth through all three of my fitting books trying to find the best strategy to use. I think I'm going to try widening the upper back portion of the pack panel - and maybe even the shoulder area of the front panel. I'm also going to decrease the bust area just a shade more and widen the waist and hemline just a tad more too.

Maybe the 4th time will be the charm!