I want to make a two-piece, high-waist, short sleeve, gathered skirt, no closure (pull over the head) dress in a size 3 for my granddaughter. I would like to use some interlock fabric I have in my stash which I determine to have 50% horizontal stretch. My question is when I select the fit level, do I select "no design ease at all" and then put in the 50% horizontal stretch OR do I use "standard fit" with the 50% horizontal stretch? I don't want the dress to be sloppy, but neither do I want it to be skin close. Basically I want a standard fit but allow for the knit to stretch.

Hi Margueritte,

good question I tried a dartless pattern and checked form fit, which zeros out all ease except for back ease, zero this out too. I then entered 20% horizontal stretch which gave a total of -1 ease around bust. this meas looks good .
I would 0 out all sleeve ease but cheack if there is any - ease by cheacking sleeve if there is just add that amount back.
You could also use a knit pattern. laura hope this helps

Hi Margueritte,
I ment to say I would 0 out all sleeve cap ease not sleeve ease.... laura

First when usign a standard size 3 do check both chest and hi[ measurwements and adjust as needed.

I would go with standard fit at the stretch factors percenmtage or slightly less than the actual stretch.

I would also triple check the "memory" of the stretch as 50% is a lot for interlock which usually performs in the 18-24-26% range. If it doesnt return to it is original size without bagging or springing I wouldnt use it at all.
I guess Im suggesting standard fit and 35% stretch rather than 50.
Kaaren



Kaaren

Thank you, Karen. I'll use standard fit with 25% stretch. The fabric doesn't have good memory, but the dress will be a play dress and I've never made a pattern from DS for her before. I used the wizard, put in her height of 40" and checked to see that the chest, waist, and hip was about right, which it was.

Since I want the dress to pull over her head, and she is not here to get her head circumference, I used a scoop neckline and reduced it using the sloper as a reference. I made the front neck about 1" lower than the sloper, the width about 1" wider than the sloper, and the back about 1/2" lower than the sloper. Does that sound reasonable to you?

Also do I need to adjust for lengthwise stretch or is that only for swimsuits and activewear?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Since I want the dress to pull over her head, and she is not here to get her head circumference, I used a scoop neckline and reduced it using the sloper as a reference. I made the front neck about 1" lower than the sloper, the width about 1" wider than the sloper, and the back about 1/2" lower than the sloper. Does that sound reasonable to you?

that should be more than enough if the depth is absed on jewel minus not scoop minus.

Also do I need to adjust for lengthwise stretch or is that only for swimsuits and activewear?

Dont use lengthwise stretch. Using vert. stretch you need some thing to hold the length stretched.such as a swim suit and the crotch which pulls it down and holds it in place.
Do share your results with us.
Kaaren

I've been gone on vacation and am just now getting back to this dress.

I've printed out the pattern. I'm concerned about the neck being big enough to fit over the child's head (size 4). I used jewel neck with front depth of 2.75, back depth 1.0 and neck opening 4.75. Right now the pattern's neck seam line (front+ back) measures 13 3/4". Her head circumference is 20 1/2". Since she lives far away, I cannot have her try the bodice on. I will be using an interlock knit for the dress with 1/4"-3/8" binding of the same fabric around the neck opening.

How big do you think the dress' neck circumference should be? If I need to make the neck bigger what measurement(s) would you recommend I change: front depth, back depth, and/or neck opening? I don't want it to be larger than necessary to pull over her head easily. I don't know how much I should expect the finished edge to "give" as it is pulled over her head.

Thank you for your help.

How big do you think the dress' neck circumference should be? If I need to make the neck bigger what measurement(s) would you recommend I change: front depth, back depth, and/or neck opening? I don't want it to be larger than necessary to pull over her head easily. I don't know how much I should expect the finished edge to "give" as it is pulled over her head.


We know that a Vee neck and a scoop neck will "pull over" and we also know a jewel neck at default will NOT.

Adjust your width and depth accordingly by draftign either vee or scoop and takign a look at the numbers used then determine how much more you need to open width and depth OR choose a short placket such as a tear drop or key hole opening in front or back.

On little girl dresses I often used the back key hole find in closures ( about 3" long")with a single button and an elastic loop instead of button hole.

Kaaren

Thanks, Karen, that makes sense about the vee neck and scoop neck.

I tried to figure out how to do the closure (I could easily do it by hand), but couldn't figure out how to do it using DS. I went into "closure" but it looks like "closure" only applies to the front. Anyway I couldn't figure out how to do the keyhole using DS.

I see I could also put a regular lapped button back on the bodice portion only.

Another question. I noticed the sleeve was pretty narrow with a high cap unlike my commercial patterns that have a low cap/wide sleeve for knits. I had my daughter measure my granddaughter's bicep when she made a muscle and her bicep measures 3/8" more that the standard size 4. So I changed that measurement in the chart, saved it, and printed off another pattern, thinking it would keep the 1 1/2" bicep ease by necessarily increasing the width of the sleeve according to the change in the measurement chart. Instead the new sleeve made with the larger bicep meaurement was identical to the old one. The new measurement had no effect! So since I wanted the new sleeve to have 1 1/2" bicep ease I went into the fit menu and changed the bicep ease to 1.5. However, I don't understand why just changing the body measurement in the chart isn't enough to cause the increase in the sleeve width. Isn't this why we use a full measurement chart, so the program will make the necessary adjustments?

I tried to figure out how to do the closure (I could easily do it by hand), but couldn't figure out how to do it using DS. I went into "closure" but it looks like "closure" only applies to the front. Anyway I couldn't figure out how to do the keyhole using DS.


closures such as short button , keyhole or teardrop apply to front or back for standard necklines as well as Henley , and keyhole and other short button items for casual necklines for peasant blouses in MPD.

DS have limits based on which tools you own and which collections you own so not as easy to make a "general" statement.
so thats one part.

Now the part abotu the sleeve.

Chaneg arm hole dimensions the sleeve automatically changes
change sleeve dimensions the sleeve changes.

Increase the bicep number fdoes widen the arm part of the sleeve and will egnerallye ffect the cap usually lowering the cap slightly.

When you make chart changes you must save those changes for them to take effect.

You may also adjust the sleeve fit in the ease box by going into the tool option DS thats the blue bar of tools, MPD iots in Options and adjust the bicep ease there.

1.5 inches in a knit top for a small child is nto encessarily "default".

The bicep ease is set to a percentage of the childs chart number at bicep.if thats 8 inches for instance at 10% thats only 0.8 ease

A small child doesnt need what an adult user would need and a slendar size 4 doesnt need the same degree of ease as a grown up plus sized woman or man.


In addition to that use of percentage of chart is the fact you jave chosen a knit which is not necessarily positive ease..it is less than the percentage of ease for a woven!

If you put in a large stretch percentage you might even be getting NEGATIVE ease....

so lets detail for a second how the slight might not appear to have changed.
1 you ahve a chart with lets say a bicep of 10
you set the stretch percentage to 15% you pritned the sleeve.

now you change the chart to 11 but drafted at knit default of 20% ( or whatever it might be for the specific garment you chose) rather the the original stretch percentage you as user defined...the sleeve might appear smaller around than the original even with the chart increase.

Kaaren

Thank you Karen.

I would have used MPD but the smallest size is 7 (too big). Even then when I tried to create the design I wanted in a size 7 just for fun, the program didn't really work well. I guess that is for a future update.

After consulting a Hanna Anderson catalog, I think I'll use a button opening in the bodice front. It will surely fit over her head without risking too large of a neck opening.

I added my tools to my signature so you can see what I have with DS.

I think I understand a bit more about the sleeve. I thought just changing her bicep measurement would increase the sleeve width (I did save the change). If I understand you right, I would have had to have changed the armhole depth as well. Is that correct? Anyway, the sleeves in the Hanna Anderson catalog look pretty slim so I guess they will be alright.

Anyway, I'm going to stop analyzing and take the plunge. Sewing is more fun! Thanks, I'll try to post a picture when I'm done!

quote:

I would have used MPD but the smallest size is 7 (too big).

Margueritte, I use MPD Pro for my granddaughters' outfits. They are a childs size 5 and 7. Even though MPD doesn't have "children's" sizes as a choice, I have had great success just using their measurement chart from DS PRO. I do use casual fit for a lot of garments, though. Otherwise, I think they are too form fitting for a child. But, that is just my preference. I am very pleased with the fit I have been getting. I just finished shoulder princess a-line dresses with contrasting godets, piping and neck trim. The youngest said it looked like a ball gown. I would love to post pictures but they don't want to be photographed.
Elsa

"I would have used MPD but the smallest size is 7 (too big). "

Just for future references you could have used a standard child size from DS adjust as needed and saved the chart then Import the chart into MPD until we are prepared to release the children's sizing.
Kaaren

Oh, Elsa and Kaaren! Thank you so much for your suggestions about importing DS measurements into MPD!

I designed the same dress in MPD then imported my granddaughter's measurements, compared the MPD bodice pattern with the DS pattern and noticed the back armhole, as well as the back length, in DS was nearly an 1" shorter than in MPD! I remembered reading about adjusting the back armhole in DS by changing the side length in the chart, so I tinkered with that measurement until I got the same back armhole depth and back length in DS as in MPD. I believe I remember one of the improvements in MPD over DS was getting the back armhole correct, so I am delighted I compared these before cutting my fabric!

I also used the crew neck option in MPD, noted the measurements, and copied them into my DS pattern. This is helpful since I'll be adding a binding.

Is there anything else you would recommend before I cut into the fabric?

I really appreciate your help.

quote:

I designed the same dress in MPD then imported my granddaughter's measurements, compared the MPD bodice pattern with the DS pattern and noticed the back armhole, as well as the back length, in DS was nearly an 1" shorter than in MPD! I remembered reading about adjusting the back armhole in DS by changing the side length in the chart, so I tinkered with that measurement until I got the same back armhole depth and back length in DS as in MPD. I believe I remember one of the improvements in MPD over DS was getting the back armhole correct, so I am delighted I compared these before cutting my fabric!

I changed my mind again after comparing back and front armholes on size 4 commercial patterns. Their back armholes dropped only 1/4 inch below the cooresponding front armhole. So I altered my DS pattern to agree.

The result is posted in the club album. There are a few changes I would make if I were to make it again in order to make it look more like the dresses in the Hanna Anderson catalog my daughter likes. I would make the neck binding wider (I used a 1" wide strip; next time I would use 1 1/2 inch wide). I would make the button placket wider and use 3/4 inch buttons instead of 1/2 inch buttons.

One alteration I made to the DS generated pattern was the width of the skirt. I chose the gathered skirt option and it gave me a pattern approximately 34 inches wide to be gathered onto a 23 1/2 inch bodice waistline. I didn't think this was full enough so I increased it approximately 18 inches. Unfortunately I didn't notice how narrow the skirt would be until it was cut out so I ended up piecing the skirt together and put the seams in the back equidistant from the center back.

All in all, I am happy with it and hope my granddaughter enjoys it!