Not all bodies are the same shape, so it's natural to need to do a small adjustment or two to get the bodice sitting nicely. It is easy to alter a
My standard pattern adjustments have to be done to almost every single sewing pattern. Maybe you do too? Lucky is the unicorn that doesn’t need to adjust a
Not all bodies are the same shape, so it's natural to need to do a small adjustment or two to get the bodice sitting nicely. It is easy to alter a
How to do common shoulder fitting adjustments: sloped shoulders, straight shoulders, forward shoulder, narrow shoulder and broad shoulder
How to make a sewing pattern bigger or smaller - sewing pattern grading - make a sewing pattern a different size
Follow these steps to add tucks, a classic detail, to a sewing pattern for a basic top.
How to make bust adjustments on your sewing patterns
A blog about sewing unique clothing from thrifted sheets, geeky crafts, and cats.
Not all bodies are the same shape, so it's natural to need to do a small adjustment or two to get the bodice sitting nicely. It is easy to alter a
VINTAGE Sewing Book, Hardback, "Patterns from Finished Clothes" by Tracy Doyle 1996, good condition, dust jacket intact, Re-creating the Clothes you Love 127 pages. Inside, the book is divided into 11 well-organized chapters: including, Getting Set up, Analyzing your Garment, Alterations and Adjustments, Sewing Instructions, Patternmaking Terms, Pattern Coding and Storage, Copying a Garment: The Basic Techniques, Special Considerations (such as darts, pockets, linings, knitted fabrics, etc.) and Using your Pattern Creatively, and a Sampling of Garments. The book also features color photographs and diagrams and also has an extensive index. This is a vintage item in good condition for its age. Please view video and photographs to determine if the condition is acceptable to you.
Learn how to Grading Altering Sewing Pattern Sizes. Modify your patterns to use the sizes that fit your body with this easy tutorial.
Whether sewing for ourselves or others, we all struggle with making pattern adjustments to handle fitting challenges. I use a combination of...
Once again, the wonderful team of Artesane share the second part of the trousers adjustments with us! Thanks so much! ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Now that you can alter the legs of a…
Flat pattern measuring lets you sew a better-fitting garment faster. You can make significant fit improvements to a me-made garment via flat pattern measuring without touching a fiber of fabric. Ye…
Good afternoon, dear ones! Today, we at the Curvy Sewing Collective are kicking off a new long term series: The Beginner’s Guides. From comment trails and e-mails, we’ve learned that ma…
Not all bodies are the same shape, so it's natural to need to do a small adjustment or two to get the bodice sitting nicely. It is easy to alter a
Not all bodies are the same shape, so it's natural to need to do a small adjustment or two to get the bodice sitting nicely. It is easy to alter a
Not all bodies are the same shape, so it's natural to need to do a small adjustment or two to get the bodice sitting nicely. It is easy to alter a
Not all bodies are the same shape, so it's natural to need to do a small adjustment or two to get the bodice sitting nicely. It is easy to alter a
No matter how well designed a pattern may be, it cannot fit each individual perfectly. Each human body has its own quirks, and each person has different fitting needs. You may find that you need to enlarge a pattern beyond the sizes available on the sheet, or you might need to shrink it. Perhaps you
Learn how to adjust the armscye to remove excess fabric and create a garment that fits you perfectly, including under and around your arms.
Altering pants pattern pieces calls for comparing body measurements to flat pattern pieces and making adjustments. Here’s how it works. […]
An FBA tutorial - full bust adjustment tutorial for the Maven Pattern French Dart shift sewing pattern, get a perfectly fitting dress!
PART 5: HOW TO DO A FULL BUST ADJUSTMENT Hello all! I hope you had a prolific weekend sewing up muslins for the Emery Dress Sew-Along ! Today we will begin making pattern alterations to our Emery Dress patterns, based on what we learned while sewing muslins. This week's blog posts are br
Not all bodies are the same shape, so it's natural to need to do a small adjustment or two to get the bodice sitting nicely. It is easy to alter a
First thing: don't freak out! We'll take you through how to do a full bust adjustment (FBA) using our Darling Ranges dress pattern.
Sewing has continued apace here as well. That pace has been slow, almost glacial: my sewing progresses incrementally, one small task by one small task. After attempting a chiropractic full bust adjustment on the Vogue 1573, I decided to go a gentler method with 'slide and pivot', following the directions in Nancy Zieman's Pattern Fitting with Confidence. In (very) short, her method involves sliding the pattern piece along whichever dimension you are altering and then pivoting at the relevant intersection of sewing lines. For example, I wanted the shoulder to be a half inch narrower so I traced the pattern, then slid it a half inch along to the right, thereby narrowing the shoulder. Next step was to place a pin at the point where the sewing lines for the shoulder and armscye intersect and pivot the printed pattern sheet to the left until the printed bodice side seam and my traced bodice side seam met each other. Then I traced the new armscye. This did have the effect of apparently raising the underarm but Nancy promises that this will be ok. I also did an adjustment to add a half inch to the bust. You can see above where the various iterations of the underarm have been. I really like this book and Nancy's style of presentation. It's quite easy to follow and very reassuring. The great benefit of this method is that it does not change the shape of the armscye at all so there is no need to alter the sleeve cap. At right is my initial (yellow) full bust adjustment laid on top of the 'slide-and-pivot' version. Slide and pivot does give more room which is what I was needing. Next up, another toile!
The Rochester sewing pattern has no bust dart so how does one go about doing a full bust adjustment (FBA) to add a more room where needed?
Is your shoulder line falling off your shoulders? If so, your neckline and shoulders are too wide and you need to do an Across Chest & Across Back Adjustment to your pattern. In this tutorial I'll show you how you can make your bodice pattern fit better at the shoulder line. Let's get started! Step 1 - First of all work out how much you want to move your your neckline and shoulders in. eg. the above image needs to move over 2.5cm/1". Rule a line at right angles to the CF line. (5cm/2" down from the neckline) Step 2 - Cut the line so that you've go 2 pieces. Step 3 - Now, move the top pattern piece over to amount you've decided. For this tutorial it's 2.5cm/1". Step 4 - Re-draw your armhole and CF lines. Your front pattern has been adjusted now it's time to do the same to the back pattern. Step 5 - Your back bodice pattern will be adjusted the same as the front. Rule a line at right angles to the CB in the across back region (10cm/4" down from the neckline). Step 6 - Cut along the line so you have 2 pieces then move your top pattern piece over the same amount as the front. Step 7 - Redraw your armhole and CB lines. Your back and front pattern adjustments are now done. Don't forget you need to do the exact same adjustment to your facing patterns. Now you have a fantastic fitting bodice. But remember, after each pattern adjustment you need to do another Toile (pronounced Twarl-meaning mock up and sample) just to make sure you've got your bodice fitting just the way you want. Happy Sewing! Ann Martin is the owner/designer of 1 Puddle Lane - Pattern Studio. With over 30 years experience in the Fashion Industry she brings a wealth of knowledge on everything from Patternmaking and Sewing to Design. Ann currently lives in Australia and is always working on new pattern designs to create. 1puddlelane.com.au
Draft a personalized sleeve pattern you can use to design your own creations.
Today is the fourth installment in the Blackwood Cardigan Sewalong! We are going to wrap up the adjustments portion of the process today with narrow and broad shoulder adjustments. Tomorrow we will ... Read More
If you’ve made pattern alterations near a dart, rotated a dart, or made your own pattern, you’ll need to true up the edges of the pattern at the darts so the dart excess lines up proper…
Draft a personalized sleeve pattern you can use to design your own creations.
First thing: don't freak out! We'll take you through how to do a full bust adjustment (FBA) using our Darling Ranges dress pattern.
If you ever wondered how to make a sewing pattern bigger or smaller, which is also known as pattern grading, you are at the right place. In this article, we are going to go through different methods of pattern grading, how to do it and which one to chose. We are also going to touch
Whether sewing for ourselves or others, we all struggle with making pattern adjustments to handle fitting challenges. I use a combination of several techniques when adjusting a pattern, especially for a fitted garment. {Are You Wearing The Right-Sized Bra?, Getting To The Perfect Dress} I love this article about figuring out what proportions look best on your body, especially because it focuses on full figures. DEFINING STYLE: HOW TO DRESS FOR YOUR SHAPE. I feel a good place to start is with Nancy Zieman. Her books and videos make adjusting patterns simple to understand and do. Sewing With Nancy - Fitting Finesse Yes, this series was made in 1994 so feel free to laugh at the fashion but the techniques never go out of style! It's All About The Shoulders One key point in Nancy's videos/books is that the shoulders are the most important area to fit because everything else is easily adjustable. If we cut a pattern based on our bust measurement and that measurement is different than the average B cup then the shoulders will not fit. I've bought tops that were an XL to accommodate my bust only to have the top drown me everywhere else because I have a small frame. Nancy's method uses a unique chart that helps you choose a pattern based on your shoulder width and then helps you make any adjustments needed everywhere else (bust, waist, hips, back...). Nancy then teaches easy-to-understand techniques on how to do that. Her pivot technique is great. Full Bust Adjustment (FBA) Unless I'm missing something (and I'll admit I haven't looked at it in depth in years and mostly skimmed it for this post), Nancy's technique adds or subtracts size adjustments to all of the seams equally. In my opinion, this does not make sense. If you're adjusting for a larger/smaller bust, the changes should be made in the bust area! Adding or subtracting these adjustments from all the seams including the back ones makes no sense. The same idea applies to people with a larger belly and/or backside. For example. The bust measurement for a pattern size 14 is 36". If your bust measurement is 40" then most of the 4" difference should be added to the front, right?! Custom Fit The pattern for this dress was customized using the base pattern created through the Fast-Track Fitting Technique. For more fitted clothing, you'll need detailed measurements and adjustments. Fast-Track Fitting by Joi Mahon I found a great measurement format through Craftsy. Called Fast-Track Fitting by Joi Mahon It offers a very detailed measuring system. I'll be honest, making the customized pattern is a lot of work, but when you're done you have a base pattern that fits perfectly and you'll know how and where to use those adjustments on any patterns you use in the future. Note: I used the muslin made using this system as a cover for my mannequin. I added padding where it needed filling out and when I was done it was much more accurate than my adjustable mannequin. This gave me a better form to drape on and cut down on the number of fittings needed. I made one for each of the people I sewed for often. The Beginners Guide: Full Bust Adjustment by curvysewingcollective.com Most Big 4 patterns are drafted using a B-cup bodice and it’s rare that Indies are drafted larger than C-cups. If your bra size falls outside this range, then an FBA is for you! Even if your measurements are exactly identical to those on the pattern envelope, chances are weird fitting issues will crop up with a large cup size. It’s astounding the number of these issues a good FBA can fix, from floppy shoulders to gaping button bands and armscyes. FBA with Knits How to do an FBA on a dartless knit bodice. See this awesome tutorial at https://blog.cashmerette.com/2020/10/how-to-do-a-knit-fba.html Create a muslin (sample garment) using fabric the same weight and stretch of the knit you plan to use for your garment. Put the muslin on and measure how much the muslin's hem rides up in front. This will be your Bust Adjustment amount. Draw a horizontal line across the front pattern piece across the bust apex. Cut along the horizontal line and separate the pattern pieces by the Bust Adjustment amount. keep the pattern lined up with the front edge of the pattern. At the side seam, add a slight curve—essentially, a "boob bubble." This helps create additional width for the bust. This bit is more of an estimate, but we recommend adding about 1/2″ to 3/4″. Trace a new pattern piece. Notch the fabric at the top and bottom of the Bust Adjustment gap. Sewing Instructions 1. Pin the Front piece to the Back piece starting at the hem and going up to the bottom notch. 2. Pin from the armhole to the top notch. 3. Stitch the Front to the Back starting at the hem and going to the bottom notch. When you get to the bottom notch, gently stretch the back piece until it lines up with the front piece, and continue to sew. When you get to the top notch, stop stretching and sew the rest of the seam as you would normally. FBA with Bras/Corsets/Fitted tops One thing I found super helpful was to make/draft a pattern from a bra that fits me {Are You Wearing The Right-Sized Bra?}. I often use the underwires from my old bras that are worn out or from cheap bras that have the right size cups even though the rest of the bra is too big for me Ex. I wear a 34H, which is impossible to find cheap, but I can use the underwire from a "sister-size" bra - 34H, 36G, 38F(aka38DDD), 40DD, 42D, 44C... one of those sizes should be much more common and therefore I can find it cheaper. You can also order underwires in all different shapes and sizes online. To make my own corsets, I've adapted patterns using the techniques listed above ^. {Corsets - Vogue 9273, Wonder Woman Costume} I've also learned a lot from the free tutorials at the Corset Academy (I've never purchased any courses because as far as I can tell, they wouldn't be very useful for someone with serious curves but the sewing techniques are great. They have a lot of free stuff on their YouTube channel as well. More good articles about FBAs Curvy Sewing Collective - The Beginners Guide to Full Bust Adjustment Good articles about making large FBAs Curvy Sewing Collective - Large FBA Issues - Dealing With The Big Honkin' Dart Sew Busty - Giant Full Bust Adjustments on a Woven Bodice Sew Busty - Giant Full Bust Adjustment on a Knit Bodice - AKA Adding A Dart When You Need One ***************** Pant Pattern Adjustment (Some Notes)