What I found straight away was that the distance from the apex to apex on the pattern was too wide for me, so I adjusted that and then found that despite the fact that I had already done the full bust adjustment there was still too much fabric in the armhole. Fortunately there are lots of super tutorials on the web for dart manipulation and so following one of these I pinned out the excess by creating a dart in the armhole tapering it towards the bust. I then marked this on the muslin with my frictions pen and transferred this onto my pattern. Then by slashing and pivoting the dart I was able to move this excess fabric and incorporate it in the side bust dart. Of course I made more work for myself by starting with a pinafore pattern with much deeper armholes, but eventually I managed a much better if not perfect fit.
I really do love the dress now, but am going to search my stash of patterns to find a regular sleeveless bodice that I can really fine tune. I made a belt as well for this one and like it both ways
In the meantime I have purchased a custom fit pattern from bootstrap fashion, which allowed me to put in all my correct measurements including chest, under bust, full bust, hips etc. as well as indicating if I have a flat or rounded tummy, shoulder width and even the circumference of my arms! You can in fact add even more measurements if you wish, but for now I just stuck with the areas that cause me most fitting problems ..
I've printed it all out now, assembled it and compared it to the final draft I made myself and it looking pretty promising.
I shall try it out (on a muslin again) over the weekend and report back,
I hope I haven't bored you too much, but I like to keep a record of my fitting journey to refer back to as I don't always remember what I did with each pattern I use. I should really keep a note book!
I really do love the dress now, but am going to search my stash of patterns to find a regular sleeveless bodice that I can really fine tune. I made a belt as well for this one and like it both ways
In the meantime I have purchased a custom fit pattern from bootstrap fashion, which allowed me to put in all my correct measurements including chest, under bust, full bust, hips etc. as well as indicating if I have a flat or rounded tummy, shoulder width and even the circumference of my arms! You can in fact add even more measurements if you wish, but for now I just stuck with the areas that cause me most fitting problems ..
I've printed it all out now, assembled it and compared it to the final draft I made myself and it looking pretty promising.
I shall try it out (on a muslin again) over the weekend and report back,
I hope I haven't bored you too much, but I like to keep a record of my fitting journey to refer back to as I don't always remember what I did with each pattern I use. I should really keep a note book!
Happy sewing or whatever is your happy place
TTFN
Jenny xx
You are so clever, it all sounded a bit like a foreign language to me and made me miss the great British sewing bee from the BBC. Lovely dress with pretty fabric xx
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