Kaaren,
Hello. Did you see my question? (under sleeve cap shape)
Susan

yep
K

Are you going to reply to it? I'm beginning to feel somewhat left out.
Susan

Sorry- I am not going to give a class on sleeves/armhole in reply to a post on the BBS- its far too broad a subject and a simple paragraph wont do. Entire books are written on the topic.

I will do another Sunday class on my own time in the near future. or I can come back after my work day and my dinner and offer you a suggested reading list.

Kaaren

Okay,
I'm leaving the group. The software has not worked out for me. I cannot get the fit I want.
Susan

new user,dont leave the list,the program is very good,many of us here have had it now for a few years,but we had struggles to get the fit we wanted, and still minor tweaking we do also,the program isn't something you download and see on the screen,and print off it does take a wee bit of work from users to get what they want.Sleeves are tricky to balance &without seeing what your doing its a bit hard to know whats wrong.my advice is a little patience.Send in a problem report ok.hope this helps ease your mind.

You sound very frustrated, Newuser, and I can relate. There have been times when I wanted to throw in the towel while struggling to figure out one of my challenges but I keep coming back. I can shop for hours in RTW and if I'm lucky, I might find one item that has a "doable" fit. If I use a different pattern source, well, they all draft differently so it's like starting from scratch again. It's a personal choice for all of us on how we spend our time and effort. MPD gets me very close to the fit I want but sometimes I get out my trusty pencil to finish the job. My MPD garments beat RTW fit, hands down and to me, that's worth my time and effort. Many of us are willing to help you, if you want. Can you post pic's at the club site? I do better if I can "see" what's going on. My shld roll forward but I hesitate to comment w/o seeing what your garment is doing on your body. Glad to help if you choose. Luz

Llantristant, and Luz,
Thank you very much for your replies. It was kind of you to offer suggestions and help. I was upset yesterday, partly because of my frustrations with the programme, but also because I felt my requests for help were being ignored. People who posted questions after me received replies, but I did not. At the time, it occurred to me that Kaaren might have missed my last question. When I asked her whether she had seen it, I found her reply rather brusque.("Yep. K." Not a word more.) I think I may, unwittingly, have touched upon a difficulty with the programme--perhaps, in MPD, it's difficult to adjust the fit of sleeves. Certainly, I still have sleeves with strange folds, and I've asked about the problem several times.
In any case, I wanted to add--despite all the difficulties, I've enjoyed meeting other MPD owners online and participating in the discussions.

Susan

quote:

it occurred to me that Kaaren might have missed my last question. When I asked her whether she had seen it, I found her reply rather brusque.("Yep. K." Not a word more.) I think I may, unwittingly, have touched upon a difficulty with the programme--perhaps, in MPD, it's difficult to adjust the fit of sleeves.

Since Kaaren often posts on the forum, some people have come to expect her prompt replies, perhaps as a part of her job. Actually, Kaaren's jobs include being the lead pattern designer for MPD, the program co-designer, the head of the test team, and the instructor in her free online classes. The time she spends on this forum stems from a personal interest and occasional courtesy that is done when her real work permits.

At this time, Kaaren is in the final days of a major product release and is rather busy. The question you asked has no simple answer without quite a bit of more information from you about your problem. Sleeves are easy enough to adjust, but the adjustments possibilities depend on your chart and how accurately you have entered your shoulder, bicep, armhole depth, bust, across chest, and across back measurements. Sleeves also depend on the garment being drafted and ease amounts used. When any of those chart values are off, they can impact both the armhole curve and the sleeve cap shape.

Many people that have sewn for years have their own preferred ways of measuring some of those values that may or may not match the way that My Pattern Designer recommends or assumes. If you enter a value for Armhole Depth that is what you are used to, but differnet from what MPD assumes, then an adjustment that would work for someone that took that measuremnet differently will not necessarily work for you.

The process of analyzing which of those chart values should be adjusted is not trivial and must begin with an examination of your chart and / or photos of a test garment on your body showing the fit issue you are concerned with. Any suggestions provided without the chart and photo are simply guesswork and may or may not be useful. Kaaren prefers to not begin such conversations with a probably wild-goose chase. To do it properly, though, will take more time than she has when a product is being released. And, again, that is just not her job here, but something she tries to assist with when time permits.

This forum is a means for customers to chat with each other, share advice and ideas, and to provide recommendations to books, articles, and training from other sources. If you expect it to provide more than that, then you may get frustrated.

The tone of your reply is argumentative, and quite unfriendly. I am not the first person to have noticed that people who ask difficult questions about MPD get treated rudely. I've seen other bad reviews on the internet, not so much about the programme, but about the belligerent attitude of the administrators. And I've noticed it here--on this board--in reply to other people's questions. You or Kaaren had a chance to mend matters, simply by saying, "I'm sorry we were rather abrupt with you the other day." You chose to take an aggressive approach, and have thereby created one more dissatisfied customer. I'm sorry I bought the programme.
Susan

Sorry New User. but I saw your post at 3:58PM my time,. and your post asking did I see it at 4:08 or something like that- way less than an hour later...I viewed both when I reopened the email.

I really do work at many things including design and test projects and browse the board to assist as I can on my own time.

As you will note I'm not signed on as a board administrator---but as myself- and the help I offer is as myself.

Your question was quite general- a simple answer would be inappropriate. It requires a long and involved answer - how does the sleeve cap form is not one or just a couple simple formulas- so I sat down and spent about 5+ hours writing a 6 page article with graphics and will put it in pdf format which I will release in time for Sunday's class. I have to fit these writings into my family and work schedule.

If you send in a problem report(Help>problem report) and detail what exactly about the cap/sleeve you don't like- maybe I can adjust your chart to work better for you. Without the current chart- and some feedback about specifics- its all by guess and golly and won't move you forward.

Kaaren

Newuser

I certainly understand where your coming from and felt the same way. For 7 years I fought with the program. When I asked for help I felt ignored, I even drove 250 miles one way for measurements that were not an improvement over the ones I took myself.
When I sent my measurements to K. along with photos of what the problem was. I was amazed at how quick she was to get back to me and to address the problem. I'm up and running now.

Be patient and send in the chart and photo's to help her work on the problem. I really is worth it.

Hello Newuser,

I feel your frustation here. I was that way quite some time ago. But I just kept plugging away. I get a lot from Kaaren's classes on Sundays. Lightbulbs. I've been coming to the class a long time & I still learn something new each class.
I had a problem or thought I had one. Kaaren caught one & Bob caught the other one. Boy, Was I embarressed (sp). It was something in my measurements that I wasn't seeing.
So hang in there & we all need help once in a while.
Toodles,
Bobbieann

Stick around, be patient, and try not to view everyone's post through your frustrations! Each of us has had one or more "sticky" spots to work through before getting the great fit MPD offers: mine happens to be a sleeve one too, where MPD doesn't automatically generate the sleeve-cap shape my measurements demand. Kaaren and Bob helped me work through it, and I've been - for years - making MPD and DS clothes that fit me well, indulge my fabricaholic leanings, and garner compliments on my wardrobe.

The other major benefit of MPD is sewing for my daughter and granddaughter who live half-way across the country. Pictures will be forthcoming of "Blaze the Cat" in size 10 for GD's Halloween costume: purple fleece tail-coat jacket, trimmed at the neck with gold fleece and at the bottom with a swath of magenta fleece. (To follow, after Halloween, a purple skirt and a magenta one, since I have the fabric and the kid isn't going to want to give up the jacket after the holiday!)

Your payoff in patience now will yield clothes you'll treasure because they fit, you've chosen the fabrics to make unique garments, and you can show off your sewing talent.

Happy Sewing!

Thank you, everyone, for your comments. I would, however, like to clarify one point. Although I was frustrated with my attempts to get a good fit, what has been bothering me is really something else. Months ago, when I was trying the demo, I noticed a few negative comments on the Internet about the attitude of MPD administrators. Someone said that if customers complained or asked too many questions, they were treated rudely. I was disturbed by these comments, but since I liked the demo so much, and thought (and still think) that MPD is a fantastic programme, I went ahead and bought it. Later, looking at postings on the BBS, I saw a few responses from the Board Administrator (and occasionally, but not often, from Kaaren, too) that seemed to confirm the negative Internet remarks. Here is an example . . . Someone called Elaine asks about a problem fitting sleeves, and the Board Administrator replies—
“I'm sorry, Elaine, but as long as you try to get help with notes like this, you are not likely to get useful advice. While venting might make you feel better at the moment you write, it is not going to help anyone else advise you. People need to know what pattern you used, what numbers you put in (across shoulder measurements) what results you got out (actual width of the pattern at the shoulder), what you changed the numbers to, and what result you got then. The pattern never changed? Ok, but did YOU change the Across Shoulder measurement by some meaningful amount? Your note does not make clear what numbers you changed nor by how much. As long as you choose to vent rather than report, you can only get sympathy from others and frustration for yourself.”
Look at the tone of that paragraph, particularly of the last sentence. It is as if a school principal (or, for that matter, an English Nanny) were talking to a badly behaved child. Yesterday, when the Board Administrator replied to my complaint, the tone was similar. I have a high opinion of the MPD programme, and greatly appreciate all of Kaaren’s hard work on our behalf. The administrator's aggressive attitude to customers, however, is completely unacceptable. It has certainly discouraged me from using MPD.
Susan