So I said I wouldn’t try it, and then I realised that there would never be the perfect project, so after reading countless how-to’s and discovering umpteen methods I set at my pattern piece:
Slash and spread, baby. Terrifying. I’ve added width and length, and had to add a dart at the waist because it has to attach to the rest of the dress. I’m not sure I’ve done it the best way but it’s a way. The poor pattern piece looks like Frankenstein’s monster now:
At least if it doesn’t work I remember where I got the fabric…and just in case I do have to do it again, I’ve ordered the book that people seemed to refer to the most: Fit for Real People: Sew Great Clothes Using ANY Pattern
You know, the trouble with this ‘hobby’ is that one thing almost certainly leads to another, and the more you sew, the deeper down the well you crawl, the higher the stash, the bigger the pile of books and equipment…
*This is what Mr J says I must call it from now on, having seen the Panama mannequins.
8 comments ↓
“Slash and spread, baby” – I love it! You make sewing seem like an extreme sport.
I may have been under the wrong impression, but I had surmised from previous posts that you felt that you weren’t quite like ‘real’ people…I’m not sure that book is going to be right for you…
x
I know what you mean. You can never have enough books and equipments! Pattern alteration looks very professional.
Lol! I read your last para to Mr MK, he said “and then you take over a whole room and we have to eat elsewhere in the house” …
Hi Joleo!
if you don’t do already… i suggest you making a calico toile of your new pattern alteration before you use your precious fabrics. (Or a mock up in a like type of not so precious fabric). That way you can fit it to yourself (tricky i know) or better still get a good sewing friend to help. Then you can build up a new set of patterns perfect for your figure.
Practicing pattern manipulation and fitting on a garment for a friend may also a good way to increase your confidence. The other thing you can do is to get hold of a dressmakers dummy slightly smaller than your size and add wadding in layers to get a replica of your shape. Then you can use a thin calico and play around with darts, shaping and draping etc to your hearts
content. Hope this helps.
Lok forward to seeing your new creations.
xx
Please please make a muslin of your new pattern before cutting your precious fabric!
Another good way to get the right size dummy is to wear a long T-shirt, and get a trusted friend to wrap you in duct tape until you are all covered. Then get them to slice you out and stick it back together.
You’re brave! I can’t wait to see how this will turn out. If everything goes wrong, at least it’s a learning experience.
Slash and spread. Gulp.
hmm, I think I might just continue with my current method: waiting for years (and years) in the vain hope that my chest will somehow return to something resembling its pre-breastfeeding size before even attempting to sew clothes for myself…
I fear FBAs, which is probably why I stick to BWOF or knits in the big 4 US patterns. I almost lost my tea of the ‘Panama adjustment’
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