Here is a pic of the revised, revamped empire top. This will be the Hippie Empire when everything settles where it is supposed to be (meaning it will be corrected in the next BWL .. or the one after that)
I looked at the regular empire top pattern and also the Full Bust Adjustment (FBA) version. Based upon my sleeve numbers, we determined that I did not need the FBA pattern.
I know -- you want details ....
This is mostly at default. Sleeve is totally at default and I had a little less than 1.25" cap ease which worked in well since it was proportionally divided to match the shape of my armscyes. I did shorten the sleeve manually because when I put the blouse on, the sleeve hem was hitting me at the same level as the empire seam -- so I shortened the sleeve another inch to raise the visual line.
I swore up and down that we couldn't put a front closure in this blouse since the center front skirt seam was at a slant ... guess what .... I did and it is fine.
but I had to tell Kat,
"you were right .... again"This is just a little cotton calico go-grocery-shopping blouse (and it really is, since I wore it to the grocery this morning!) There is a little blue flower in the print that will make it perfect for wearing with jeans.
Changes I made with the tools --
- Front Neckline is the scoop, widened by 0.75" and deepened by 4.0"; Back neckline is the default jewel, widened the same 0.75" so the shoulder seams match.
- Overlap was 1/2" since I was using 1/2" buttons (once you align the center fronts and sew on the button, there is still 1/4" from the center of the button to the edge of the blouse front)
- Armhole shaping of 1.0" (in the Garment tool) to give me a nicer curve on the front armhole
I created my own facings from the blouse pattern. I taped the bodice and skirt pieces together matching the empire seam line and tilted the skirt pattern so that the facing would be completely straight/vertical at the center front.
For the buttons, I put one at the level of the bust apex and spaced them from there ... I didn't put one at the very top because the buttons were coming out too far apart or too close together. In the picture it looks unfinished, like there should be one at the top. Maybe I'll add one, maybe I won't.
The back bodice attaches to the skirt at 1:1 so it is nice and fitted, with a center back seam on the skirt. I chose to put the back bodice itself on the fold. There is gathering on the front instead of bust darts so I decided where I wanted the gathering to start and made a mark on both the bodice and skirt equidistant from center and another from the side seam. Then everything between that on the bodice was what I gathered and the marks on the skirt helped me to position the gathers when I stitched the pieces together.
There is a total of 1" ease across the front at the underbust (empire seam) and another 1" across the back... So you don't need to add any ease!
I like the "hourglass" shape it creates by being slim at the underbust, flaring a bit toward the hips.
Questions?
