Lydia, v. 4
Actually, this is what, version 4? Youch! But—take a look at that. And, since my preferred poses really don’t show the fit, here you go with
Lydia---front view
some straight-on shots.
Lydia, back view
Here’s what I did: Since people were divided on whether I needed less length (petite through the armscye) or less width (narrow shoulder/narrow back), I just went down to basically a 32 (I normally make a Burda 36, though I could probably get away with a 34 sometimes). Then I took a deep breath, had a minor panic-attack, and shortened the front even more. I also shortened the sleeve-cap (while trying to keep as much width as possible. Going down to the 32 took almost an inch off the back armscye, so I left it at that since there wasn’t as much gaping in the back. It looks pretty good now, but I think I could probably petite it even a little bit more; there’s a small amount of horizontal folding still happening along the shoulders at the back. Probably I could’ve kept a little more width in the back, but it’s comfy, anyway. The armpit sits incredibly high, but that’s comfy, too, actually.
My awesome neck binding!
The swayback is obviously still puddling like mad, though it doesn’t actually bother me. I have read a technique for shortening the back without a centre seam—basically you drop the neckline down at the top, squaring off the shoulders in the process—that might or might not help with that… maybe I’ll give it a try some other time. All in all, I am a pretty darn happy camper.
Here’s a closeup of my awesome neck binding! (Ok, not really awesome but I am pretty happy with it.
And now the neckline, which was too low on the last couple of attempts, is too high again. But we’re getting closer!
So—exciting? No. But comfy, and fitting much, much better, so a trimph. And apparently I’m petite from bust to shoulder. Who knew?
Also, how did the red background work out for photographing the black? I still don’t have anywhere inside that has adequate lighting, but I thought the red (which is my sweater knit by the way) might be better than a white wall or a black curtain.
Speaking of the red sweater knit, I’m a touch torn here on what to do with it. I want to make a flowy cardi-wrap. I have several options.
One is this tutorial here, which has the advantage of being free and cutting into the lovely fabric minimally. Another alternative is this Simplicity pattern that has all the rave reviews on PR; Simplicity patterns are on sale at Fabricland right now, which is good because I wouldn’t want to spend the full $15 on it. The third possibility is the Karen Cardigan off Burdastyle, probably with the waist-tie moved up to underbust level. Probably the Karen is my least favourite of the options… I’m wanting the long, long look.
Any thoughts? Anyone tried the tutorial? It seems a little too simple to be true, kind of thing.
Tanit-Isis Sews 
I vote for the Simplicity pattern for the long, long look – look at Jessica’s version here!
http://stitchywitch.wordpress.com/2010/09/01/a-good-beginning/ Such a great piece.
Yeah, I know… that one has me drooling! (And I don’t even like hot pink 😉 )
I’ve looked at the tutorial before, and I’ve accepted the fact that I’m just not precise enough to do that without messing up something – I’d end up with asymmetrical armholes, or one significantly higher than the other, or something…
So I went with the Simplicity pattern. I suspect that the drape and fit (such as it is!) will be much better with the shaping around the neck and shoulders.
Your binding is fierce! Did you use a binder or just have the magic touch? I did the stitch in the ditch thing so the unevenness is hidden inside.
I don’t have a fancy binder or anything. I use a cross-grain strip of the same fabric and sew it on to the edge with a 1/4″ clear elastic, stretching gently on the elastic and the strip as I go. Then I flip the strip over the elastic and topstitch with a double needle. It ends up with a raw edge on the inside, but that doesn’t show or ravel, so it doesn’t bother me 🙂
It’s probably just like your stitch-in-the-ditch except I can’t keep my stitches neatly in the ditch to save my life 😉
So I guess we won’t be seeing Corpse of Lydia on this round! This shirt looks great, and seems to be just what you wanted, close fitting, something that would work well layered under other pieces.
Very envious of your binding technique! So is the elastic stitched to the inside of the shirt, thus being sandwiched between the shirt and binding once you turn the binding in? I’ve yet to work with clear elastic but have been seeing a lot of good results from people. It may be useful in some of my t-shirt re-fashioning.
Basically it’s stitched along the edge of the shirt (on the outside), then the binding wraps around it, enclosing it. Hmm, maybe I should do a tutorial?
oh yeah…. I dig the red background, I’ve got one too, red velvet drapes, but mine stand no chance of being made into a wrap!
My vote is for the simplicity pattern.
Ooo – I’m loving Jessica’s Simplicity version too!
I think this Lydia is awesome!! I love it when the edits actually work out!
There’s a turorial by Lauriana at Burdastyle for a cardigan that is similar to the Simplicity one:
See here http://www.burdastyle.com/projects/winged-wrapcardigan
Oh, and it’s based on the Lydia pattern, for a change 😀
I’ve wanted to try this for some time, but haven’t found the right fabric yet -.-
oh, thanks for that link, I hadn’t seen one! (Amazingly…)
I just bought the Simplicity pattern (on sale for less than $4) but if I can’t figure out how to get it all on my 2m of fabric (it calls for 2 3/4 yards for the small!) I’ll give Laurianna’s tute a try.
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