Winter Hallettsville Shirtwaist

More plaid and wool! This is a shirtwaist pattern I drafted myself and named The Hallettsville dress. I was sorely lacking in good winter dresses, and I'm glad I've managed to sew a few this season. I can already tell this dress will be worn to pieces.

I made two modifications to the pattern from my last version: 

1. I lowered the neckline 1/4" and made it a bit more round. 
2. I did a 1/4" FBA and then took in the waist 1/4". I had a bit of pulling at the bust on the last version, but didn't need any extra ease in the waist.

I like both of these modifications, so I'll be keeping them for future versions.

The fabric is a lovely wool suiting I had in my stash from Denver Fabrics. It's got a really nice weight to it, and the colors are just the best. 

Matching Plaid at the Sleeves

You might recall from my Hawthorn post, I started a second wool dress to figure out some of my matching conundrums. This is it! I was really pleased with the matching all around. In particular, I wanted to focus on the sleeves this time. One turned out better than the other, but I'm getting better! 

From what I've found, there's two ways you can go about matching plaid at sleeves. I tried both, and I definitely liked the second better than the first. 

Method 1: Match With a Muslin Sleeve

I started by sewing in a muslin sleeve and drawing lines with a sharpie where the plaid needed to match. I am an extremely visual person, and I thought I would like doing it this way because I could really see where things needed to go. 

Turns out, I don't care for this method. First off, you've got to draw lines all the way across, not just the measly marks I made. Because the curve is much steeper on the armscye than on the sleeve where my plaid hit, the plaid didn't actually match at the seam. I figured out that what I really needed to do was create the illusion of matching when my arm was down. To do that with this method, you're kind of eyeballing it and drawing lines.

Second off, this takes a lot of time! I cut a sleeve out of muslin, basted it in, and then had to rip it out when I was finished. Ain't nobody got time for that. 

Method 2: Match as You Cut 

Ding ding ding ding! This was the winner! In this method, you match the plaid as you are cutting at the underarm point. 

Tutorial from Grainline Studios

This was sooo much better. I feel like it's much more accurate, and it was faster to do. So give that a try next time you're matching plaid at your sleeves! Or, forgo it all together and cut your sleeves on the bias! 

Now I'm moving on to spring sewing, so no more plaid wool for me. Although there will likely be gingham in my near future, so I can continue to polish my matching skills. 

And for the road, here's the Hallettsville with my newly knitted sweater! It goes with everything!! Don't forget to enter the giveaway for the Craftsy class. You only have until 2/24!