Clunk

(that was the penny dropping....)

I've been in private correspondence with a few cyber-friends about a blouse which I'm attempting to make.

I've modified just about everything about the pattern (a first for me) including bust darts, back size, sleeve cap, waist shaping, hip size, etc. etc. etc. As a result of all that, I've been snarling at the partially-completed garment for several months now.

It fits through the shoulders better than anything I've either made or bought (Yippee!).
It fits over my bust (amazing!) without being baggy under the arms.

However, below the waist it was a complete horlicks. It would not hang straight. So, last night I undid the side seams to the waist, repinned the front darts, and the back darts, and sewed them up again. I wasn't happy with the solution I'd come up with, but I was so fed up of that bundle of fabric sitting there smirking at me, that I decided to just finish it and try and fix the pattern next time.

This morning, as I was doing a spot of painting, the penny dropped.

The bust darts are too small (too shallow?). Anyway, the grain is off by rather a lot at the lower edge, with the result that the unpinned side seams droop and curve severely towards the centre of the blouse. That might just explain why I had to pin the front darts so that they didn't come to a point at the bottom in order not to have huge folds of fabric from waist to lower edge.

Sigh. That means unpicking six darts, and the side seams, and faffing about with pins in an attempt to get a smooth line. This is one time when recruiting hubby to help with the fitting may not be a good idea: he's liable to get distracted, I suspect.

Still, this feels like a much better solution (as in, more likely to work) than my messing about with the darts below the waist. No pictures till it's done, though - that would be far to embarrassing!