Week 3: Understanding Fit from the Waist Down

This week I'm going to try to shed some light on how to fit the bottom half of our dress, and that does include the bottom.

EXPLANATION: Our Fantasia skirt pattern shown. On the right is the center front, on the left is the center back. The seam allowances have been folded back to reveal the pattern shaping, which are essentially darts. The back skirt is a princess seam, which makes shaping to fit the backside a breeze. The front is a single dart. Any place you have darts and seam, these are opportunities to add or subtract fabric as needed and remove, add, or change dart space to create personal shaping. Let me reference another post I did on darts that may or may not help explain further:
http://sewchicpatterns.blogspot.com/2013/01/darts-in-clothing-that-hit-bullseye.html
 

BODY TYPES: This illustration attempts to point out a few different figure types and how the dart shaping and seam location might be affected. On the left is a "standard" slim figure with no tummy or derriere, which needs only enough darting to shape to the waist. The side seam is also down the center of the leg and the front and back are split equally. This is how your pattern generally comes. The vertical plumb line for skirts is the center front, center back, and the side seam which stays centered on the leg. The horizontal plumb line is the hip. This should always be parallel to the floor. Why? Because it marks the cross grain and we want that level for the skirt to hang properly.

As the body shape changes, so does the type and amount of dart space, and even the front to back skirt ratio can change in order to keep the side seam running down the side of the leg and the hip running parallel. Those are the things we will be looking for as I do my tissue fit for my skirt.

GETTING STARTED:

Previous to now, I've already performed all the necessary steps (size transitions, etc) to get a great initial fit from the directions I gave on week 2:

http://sewchicpatterns.blogspot.com/2017/06/week-2-getting-right-start-with-fitting.html

So now I'm at the tissue fitting stage and I'm looking to see how this pattern fits my dress form and if there are any last minute changes I need to do before cutting from my final fabric. This step takes the place of time consuming muslin mock ups.

EVALUATION: The first thing I notice is that the hip line is not parallel.  It rises in the back. The second thing I notice is that my front dart is too long. My dressform has a high tummy on her, and my dart should not extend beyond that fullness of my figure.

You'll notice that my marked hip line doesn't match up with the true figure hip and that's okay this time for me, but you should mark your true hip. It will be too difficult to eyeball while wearing if its not on the hip, but it reality, it's the grain that we care about, and second to that is the shaping of the pattern. This red line is for your clarity and the green tape is the actual hip line of my dress form.

MAKE FIT CHANGES: I'm going to shorten that dart to only reach to the fullest part of my tummy. Center that new end point and mark new dart legs.

Next I'm going to lower that waistline on the dress form until the hip line is parallel and then mark the distance to the waist on my pattern. I also notice that as I lower that hip, the shaping of the pattern seems to fit the figure better as well. It's another sign that this is the correct alteration to make. Now I will take the pattern off and make the change.

I've marked the center back piece with a cut line to spread, and the side back will be marked at an angle to the corner so I can pivot and spread the side back seam without adding to the side seam as well. Add paper, measuring and taping just like you would if you were lengthening a pattern.

This is what my side back looks like once I've cut it. See the clip to the corner leaving a hinge of paper there?

 Add paper, measure and tape it down. True. This pivot method can be used at side seams as well. It's a better way to add width that trying to draw free hand.

Trim away the extra paper, fold seam allowances and pin your pattern back together for a second tissue fit. This is what that extra adding paper looks like. Final photos below.

Looks much better all the way around! Don't you think?

Your tissue fit is going to look much different from mine. If you've chosen the right size to begin with, the only thing left to do is to refine the fit. Here is what you are looking for:
1. Make sure your front and back are true north and south on your figure.
2 Check that your darts are the right length, width, and shape for your figure.
3. Keep your cross grain level at the hip
4. Center your side seam on the leg.

Ready? Set? Sew! How is your pattern fit coming along?

WEEK 3: Alternative Method to Move Darts or Shorten Bodice

For this sew along, I am working with a small group of folks on a special group page I've set up for this purpose. Each are at a different level of skill, but each have committed to doing the assigned homework for the maximum educational experience. It's easy to sit back and let me do all the work, so I'm grateful to have such a committed group!

While I work with them on their individual projects in the group to get them caught up, I thought I would share with you my fit experience as I worked through the 10 steps from the last post.

There are TWO main things that will ensure an easy start on the road to fit:

• Choose the right size for each area of your body. 
• Sew an accurate seam allowance. Do a test with your sewing machine guide and then measure.   

I asked my larger sewing group what size I should make for my padded out dress form. The answers I got surprised me. What size do you say?  (see my size chart here)

I need to do a post on this subject, but that will have to wait until another day...

 Here is my dress form from the side (left). My pattern FBA adjustments have been completed, and I wanted to show you the pattern pieces and how they mimic the shape of the dress form. If the figure had more below the bust tummy fat, I could straighten that princess line (as represented by the pink line).

What I discovered from the tissue fit step (step 10 on last weeks post)
http://sewchicpatterns.blogspot.com/2017/06/week-2-getting-right-start-with-fitting.html 
  is that my dress form has a very high bust and I need to shorten my bodice above the bust. This is a VERY unusual adjustment and can cause some trouble for the princess seam. To avoid more pattern troubles, I'm going to use  this  alternative sliding method to shorten my bodice without causing more trouble with the princess line. It comes in handy to accurately move or shift darts and design details that are in cumbersome areas.

1. Square off the armhole area, marking below and again amount to shorten below the armscye. Mine will be shortened 1". Line should be parallel to the grain. 

2. Cut into pattern and fold, matching previously marked lines. Secure with tape or pins as desired.

Your pattern should look like the photo above once taped.

  2. True seam and cut lines. I'm going to take out some of that under bust curve to keep the bodice from becoming to busty.

  3. Walk seam lines to find a similar shorten location on Bodice Front. Mark.

Ready to fold and match lines

4. Match lines and secure with tape. True the seam and cut lines.

5. Re-test your pattern work by pinning bodice to do a second tissue fit.

Looks much better now!

The full bust adjustment in 10 easy steps

We might think there is enough information out there about the FULL BUST ADJUSTMENT, affectionately known as the FBA, but it's fair to say the the majority of questions I get from students in my Craftsy class are centered on this very important alteration. To try and clear up any confusion you might have about how to do this adjustment, I've made up a hand out showing how to do this alteration, in 10 EASY steps.

• Get the alteration measurements from a cup size chart
• Using my Tia pattern, I show you how to do the alteration step by step
• This method is the same for all princess seam patterns. 
• This downloadable instruction is more detailed that the class video. 

 Whether or not you need to do this alteration, I will leave for another post !

 Link to the handout from my website here:
 http://www.sewchicpatterns.com/images/Sew_Chic_FBA_instructions.pdf