4551 is a good one to use! Funny about the shoulders; they're supposed to be dropped, but I didn't find them to be too wide. Maybe it was a grading error, ugh.
I think I've always put the side seams together. It simplifies construction a bit, and there's really no good reason to do them separate. Both the waist and the armhole are together. You don't want any blousing there anyway; it's important to preserve the clean line/visual separation between the sleeve and body.
You know, I have a hard time getting enough oomph in my skirts, too. I think it's part of being tall; the extra skirt length really weighs things down. I've worn a 90" hoop at CoCo and it's really a pretty good size. It's enough to be clearly a hoop, and with petticoats over it looks nice. But it really isn't that big. 90" is considered a "working size" hoop for the time (and for average-height women).
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branchandroot
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Date: 2016-03-05 02:22 pm (UTC)I think I've always put the side seams together. It simplifies construction a bit, and there's really no good reason to do them separate. Both the waist and the armhole are together. You don't want any blousing there anyway; it's important to preserve the clean line/visual separation between the sleeve and body.
You know, I have a hard time getting enough oomph in my skirts, too. I think it's part of being tall; the extra skirt length really weighs things down. I've worn a 90" hoop at CoCo and it's really a pretty good size. It's enough to be clearly a hoop, and with petticoats over it looks nice. But it really isn't that big. 90" is considered a "working size" hoop for the time (and for average-height women).