The Classier Parisian (Alterations For The Win!)

Well, it looks like all I needed to get my rear in gear with altering my Almost Classy Parisian top was to blog about it, lol. I wrote the post on Friday, scheduled it to go up on Sunday, then took it apart and fixed it Saturday after work. This was technically fixed by the time anyone reading my blog saw it. If only I hadn't posted those highly unflattering photos, lol.

To see the top before alterations, click here. I went into this alteration just knowing it was too big. I put the top on, pinned up the excess length, then pinned in the sides to follow my curves. I unpicked the bottom band, then sewed up on side seam to my new adjustments, and put it on to discover it wasn't just the body that looked sloppy - the arms did too. I ended up taking in the entire body of the shirt by 5/8" (sleeves, body, sleeve bands and hip band), making this top now a size Medium as the pattern is drafted. And it's still not tight tight, just "fitted". Now that the rest of the shirt fits well, I can see that the upper chest could come in to remove those wrinkles at my underarms and the collar is a smidge wide, so next time I make this it will be a medium all over. Me? A Medium? This is the first time in several years ...

See the difference in the sleeve? I still see that blasted crease in the fabric even though I steamed the heck out of it, lol. Oh well, maybe when I actually wash the shirt. No more bagging around the tummy though!

And there's still bra-back-fat, but you can't have everything in life. Not a wrinkle fest in the back! Huzzah! I ended up shortening the top by a full 2 inches all the way around and it's still a fine length. And I have a long torso! So strange. 

These are the pieces I cut off. It doesn't look like much, but man what a difference, huh? This even helped with the issue I had of the fabric clinging to the edge of my bra. Who woulda thunk!

Ta Da! A fitted shirt that no longer looks dumpy. This is much closer to how Julia Bobbin fitted this top, which is the blog post that lead me to purchase the pattern in the first place. I have two things that I really want to reiterate with this post though. 1) If something doesn't fit, it's not that big a deal to take it apart and try again. Seriously, I pulled apart the entire shirt except the collar and it only took about an hour to get it wearable. And 2) Fitted clothes are more flattering. It took me a long time to accept this, but no matter what your size, you will look slimmer if your clothes hug your body a bit. Covering yourself in too long/too loose clothes just makes you look bigger! So hug a few curves and show the body you have to its best advantage. 

I really think being more "fitted" like this looks better with this style of neckline and collar, don't you?