Help Needed Fitting Felted Vest

[Frances]

I saw a picture on Facebook and have tried to copy it since their was no tutorial. I did great until I cut the arm holes and the fit is not want I want.

 This is a photo of it lying on the table in the shape I like.


This is how it fits - I do not like the drop down my shoulder/arm - do I just start cutting a little at the time to get the shape I want (Scary)


Back 
I have taken photos so I can maybe write a tutorial

[Pandagirl]

Beautiful colors Frances. It looks cute. Do you have a vest with the type of armhole you want? Perhaps you could use that to help gauge how much to cut. I'd love to see the tutorial. I still haven't tackled anything this large.

[Frances]

Feb 25, 2016 21:27:43 GMT Pandagirl said:

Beautiful colors Frances. It looks cute. Do you have a vest with the type of armhole you want? Perhaps you could use that to help gauge how much to cut. I'd love to see the tutorial. I still haven't tackled anything this large.

No believe it or not I do not have a vest of any type - this is what I was trying to copy The model looks broader in the shoulders and across the back than I am so it fits her well. I think I will cut a little off the shoulder part of mine or maybe will wait until tomorrow when it is dry and steam the collar in place and then put it on and get my neighbor to mark it with chalk where I would like to cut it. That is probably the safest.

[MTRuth]

Very nice Frances. Did you make a circular shape for the pattern? Are you cutting the arm hole more or somewhere else? I can't really tell from your photo what you want to cut. You should be able to measure from center of your neck to shoulder and then use that measurement from the center of the vest to see where to cut.

[elizabeth]

Frances, can you full the neckline across the back more so it's tighter?

I'm having a hard time seeing what you want it to fit like. The photo of it laying on the table makes it appear to have a very shallow collar, but the photo on the hanger look like it has a very deep collar.

Could you just put a nice closure on the front?

The colors are beautiful!

[Shepherdess]

I have made one of these before. It looks like You cut the arm holes to wide apart and to low. You could work it across the back to narrow it up. you can cut the arm holes longer towards the top . The holes will be large but you could sew them up at the bottom if you wanted. Did you do a circle or an oval?

[Frances]

Feb 25, 2016 21:56:49 GMT MTRuth said:

Very nice Frances. Did you make a circular shape for the pattern? Are you cutting the arm hole more or somewhere else? I can't really tell from your photo what you want to cut. You should be able to measure from center of your neck to shoulder and then use that measurement from the center of the vest to see where to cut.

Thanks Ruth for the tip - I want it to be sleeveless with the collar just covering my shoulders - not the overage similar to a cap sleeve I have now

[Frances]

Ann it is a circle and maybe I did cut the arm holes too low - I was looking at this photo and maybe I should have cut them just where the collar folds down if that makes sense - I did not have any instructions to follow but as I noted above I think it is too wide at the shoulders.

[MTRuth]

Can you show us yours in this orientation Frances?

[Shepherdess]

Francis I found an oval worked better but maybe because I am wider. I measured to the out side edge of my shoulder rather then the under arm for a little ease. It might pay to use some scrap material to make a "muslin" to see the best option for you. I di some that are rectangles. they fit looser. I put the arm holes in so that if I wore it one way it had a long body and short colour. Then if I flipped it, it had a short back and a cape like collar.  

[halay]

Very nice vest, Frances, beautiful colours. I'm sure you will find a way to get a good fit. From what I see from the photo it seems it needs more fitting on the back side from waist up which you can achieve my some stitching.

[jwugg]

I've tried 1 of these too & I wasn't happy with the fit, either, although I think yours looks a nicer shape elongated. But it looks like you have opportunity for more fulling - if you want to pull the back in tighter, rub hard across the back for a while (horizontally, between the armholes)... actually, you might get a nice shape then, with a slightly cinched in waist which then flares out.
I'm sure you could safely cut a little off the 'cap' sleeves too. I was surprised how much difference I can make in shaping a top - last year I got lots of great advice here on a neckline, to keep fulling when I thought it was finished, which fixed it perfectly.

Have patience, take your time, it's going to be lovely

[luvswool and dyestuff]

Beautiful colors, Frances! Looks like there is lots of good advice here. Hope it works out for you.

[sundownalpacas]

I love the colors. Here is a link to a tutorial on cutting a circular vest. I know you have already have cut your armholes, but it can be used for future reference. No Sew Wrap Vest

[Pandagirl]

Feb 25, 2016 21:36:42 GMT Frances said:

Feb 25, 2016 21:27:43 GMT Pandagirl said:

Beautiful colors Frances. It looks cute. Do you have a vest with the type of armhole you want? Perhaps you could use that to help gauge how much to cut. I'd love to see the tutorial. I still haven't tackled anything this large.

No believe it or not I do not have a vest of any type - this is what I was trying to copy The model looks broader in the shoulders and across the back than I am so it fits her well. I think I will cut a little off the shoulder part of mine or maybe will wait until tomorrow when it is dry and steam the collar in place and then put it on and get my neighbor to mark it with chalk where I would like to cut it. That is probably the safest.

I think your idea of letting the neighbor mark it for you and possibly fulling it some more to get a tighter fit should do the trick.  This certainly was a big project to take without a pattern.  Kudos to you!