Streamlining

The jersey work has begun in earnest. It took awhile to redraft the pattern for these to meet the needs of the players. Then I had to do a good bit of math to adjust the draft to streamline the production of the jerseys, from cut to finish.
My first step was to analyze the pattern, and see what could be done to make it easier to cut. The yoke piece and the side panel were tesselated so that I could make one cut instead of two. The front and back panels were adjusted so that they could be cut from one length of fabric (conserving fabric in the process.)
I did a mockup and tried it on ds, who happens to have a set of football shoulder pads in his room.
The sleeves were too long. WAY too long. We decided to cut about half of the current sleeve length off, so that the end of the sleeve would fall just beyond the shoulder pad end. This is a safety issue as well as comfort; long sleeves can be pulled by opposing players to accomplish a tackle. We also determined that the neckline needed to be drafted slightly smaller for the same reason; a loose neckline can be grabbed by the opposition! This needed to be balanced with the need to fit over our largest head size; therefore, instead of making the opening smaller, we chose to make the ribbing in the neckline tighter.
So, after making all the jersey design changes, I set out to cut. By making the tesselating pieces, I was able to cut my cutting time almost in half! Careful planning of pieces, and a redesign of the larger fronts and backs, cut the amount of fabric needed by 25 percent.
The final step in the equation was to create a detailed stitching outline and instructions for the next time I have to do this (next year).
Then, to sew. I have finished 1/4 of the necessary sewing work, a total of 15 jerseys, in two days. 15 more jerseys are about halfway finished, and the remaining 30 have three of the seven pattern pieces cut. I should be finished by the weekend!
And then......
The big news is a new house, with a big, we're talking huge, sewing room! Moving day should be August 3.