A New Twist on Things

I never did get back to the twist top in progress yesterday but bright and early this morning I ripped out one half of the bodice and twist seams and evaluated. It didn't take long before I realized my big mistake.

Yes, as expected, I sewed the wrong seams together. But that's not my real mistake. My real mistake was not "twisting" the pattern itself when I was making it to allow the right side of the fabric to be facing outward after the twist. By keeping the right side out when sewing yesterday's prototype, the only result would be what I ended up with. A good pattern drafting learning experience for me, if nothing else.

Here is my flawed pattern drawing. First, the middle section on the left isn't really there in the final pattern. It's in my drawing only to let me know where I started. Next, imagine folding the extension on the right side over to the left (like the page of a book) and so that it's back on top of the "phantom" middle section. That fold/flip puts the correct seams together but the wrong side of the fabric ends up facing outward. If you flip/twist so that the right side of the fabric stays on the right side of the top (which is what I did yesterday), the seams cannot meet up with their correct counterparts. Oops.


I hope you can follow this. If not, print and cut out that flawed pattern from yesterday's entry (twice), marking Right Sides and Wrong Sides and then try it for yourself. You'll see the mistake right away. I should've tried it in paper like that first. ;-)

What I should have done is to allow for both the twist *and* keeping the right side of the fabric on the right side by flipping the middle section extension, like this:


Below is my new pattern drawing with the seam lines trued — and neckline raised per yesterday's test (in pink). I can now fully twist the extension, keep the right side of the fabric facing out, and still end up with the seams next to their correct counterparts.


These are all of the latest pattern pieces for printing, with that twist change incorporated. (Click on it for a bigger, clearer view.) I also added some flare to the back peplum piece because after sewing the tester top, I decided that's what I wanted. IOW, a style change only.


I'm printing my new pieces now and then I'll be cutting some better fabric. Not the really good stuff yet, just in case, but something that will be wearable if this now works as expected. Hmm. Maybe I should take my own advice and print out and test the paper miniatures first.