Lessons from the Fitting Front: Setting the Stage

I've chosen to make New Look 6356 for the online Pattern Review course I'm taking at the moment. The course, Fun with Fitting: Bodice with Darts, requires that you use a pattern of your choice - preferably simple, with side bust darts and an optional set in sleeve. (FYI, Sarah Veblen, the instructor, happily weighs in on student pattern choices and suggests a robust list of her own. I've chosen one of the ones she recommends.)

I've traced a mash up of the jewel neck front and 3/4 sleeves (franken-altered by me from the existing sleeve pattern). Given that I've been experiencing the week from hell at work, I have barely engaged with the course pdfs (the primary method of instruction). I intend to sew up my first muslin this weekend, when I hope S and I can get together to work on each of our bodices.

Craftsy vs Pattern Review

In brief, for reference, this Pattern Review class (and I believe this is the general structure for classes on the site, though anyone should feel free to correct me) is comprised of:

• Articles with clear photos and examples (like chapters of a book that pertains specifically to the course at hand)
• An optional video component (for extra fee)
• Scheduled online chats, and 
• A classroom forum wherein one can ask specific questions (and provide photos) for detailed feedback from the teacher.

To compare this briefly to Craftsy: The medium is distinctly more low-fi (one might even say drab and difficult to navigate) but the feedback (in my opinion) is superior. As my latest Craftsy venture focused on complex garment construction (with practically no mention of fit) and this class focuses on complex fitting (with little thought for the wearable end product), I can't really align them from that perspective. One key distinction between these platforms is the duration of instruction. Craftsy, as you know, offers lifetime access to the course and instructor feedback. Craftsy feedback, as I've found it to date, given all the courses and workshops I've attended, tends to be superficial (though sometimes that is just fine). Pattern Review puts an end date to instruction and feedback. Sometimes that end date is extended slightly to allow for a complex topic to run itself through, but when it's done, it's done. You can continue to review the articles and optional video for as long as you like. The feedback here (student and teacher provided) is detailed and timely.

Basic Fitting Order of Operations (For this Project, at any rate...)

Based on information available in many books, fitting (like sewing) has a certain order of operations.
 

A fundamental mechanism of fitting anything - and I'll speak in terms of darted bodices here because that's what I'm working on - is beginning with a pattern that will get you where you need to go.

This pattern does not thrill me:

However, it will do the trick so that, in future I can apply many elements of my new-found great fit to other projects having similar bodices. A complex bodice pattern, with lots of bells and whistles, may suit my aesthetic more than this monastic one, but those bells may well interfere with determining basic fit. Note how, above, I refer to "applying many elements". Via this exercise, I hope to come away with a sloper. I realize, though, that any sloper has to adapt itself flexibly to every new project. By that, I mean fit continues to be a matter one must consider every time one makes something.

Next up is doing a bit of basic math / reviewing some of those commercial patterns (optimally "easy" patterns that outline finished measurements). You can trace or cut the original paper pattern. Though I don't enjoy it, I recommend tracing because it's much easier to amend the traced pieces than the originals. Fit exercises are about making iterative changes. You have to assume you may need to go back to square one at some point. Once those originals are shot, you can't resurrect them.

In terms of math, I'm not being glib when I say this isn't difficult as long as certain key elements are marked on the pattern. Even if those elements aren't marked, you can manage. But let's consider those "easy" patterns - the likes of which I'm making - which indicate beyond a shadow of a doubt where the bust is, where the waist is, etc.

You can work out the finished measurements, even when they're not indicated on the pattern pieces - and often they are not, by measuring at the bust, waist and hip horizontal lines and subtracting all the relevant seam allowances. Choose your seam allowance amount. Often it's 5/8". Make sure you're accounting for back seams or princess seams (which add extra joins, having allowances, that sometimes we forget). Doesn't matter what width of seam allowance you choose to use. From this fitting perspective, a seam is simply a join in fabric. Just make sure to subtract the decided horizontal allowance from each side of any seam. This can take a while to become intuitive.

Measurements - and this is something that really clicked for me when I started fitting hand-knitted garments - are horizontal (see paragraph above) and vertical. Vertical measurements are those from the neck to the bust, from the bust to the true waist, from the true waist to the high hip, from the high hip to the full hip (for example). How many of these measurements do you have to consider? Happily - only the ones that pertain to the pattern you're making. Just remember, any vertical measurements that impact the neck, arm or hem require subtraction of the seam allowances associated with those areas...

Basically, any time any seam interacts with your horizontal or vertical measurements you need to account for it by subtracting it from your overall dimensions. It's really not rocket science, but it is finicky. Even the briefest lapse in focus can derail you.

For my bodice pattern, I must consider these:

• Jewel neck to full bust (vertical)
• Full bust to true waist (vertical)
• True waist to high hip (vertical)
• Full bust measurement (horizontal)
• True waist measurement (horizontal)
• High hip measurement (horizontal)
• Armscye and sleeve measurements (let's leave these for now)

A ruler and the flat pattern will tell me much of what I need to know for my first muslin.

What I'm aiming to determine over the next couple of days - feel free to weigh in! - is whether I should (for my first muslin) do an FBA and/or sew in the darts.

There isn't just one way to go about things.  If you think about it, draping is about the flow of fabric over 3 dimensional space. If I add darts and do a full bust adjustment before I drape the first muslin, to what extent am I presuming what's required, rather than simply seeing what is when first I drape that pattern over my actual shape?

The complicating factor is that, by flat pattern measurements (which certainly have value, IMO), I need that FBA. I need those darts (and maybe even more of them than are indicated in the original pattern). Point is, however you go about things, you're likely going to need a number of revisions.

There's so much more I could say, but I intend to pick it up in future posts.

For now, let's discuss: Do you take flat pattern measurements? (Note - I never do for stretch fabric patterns. I can't see what the point is, since unique fabric stretch messes with everything knowable.) Do you make your first muslin with sewn darts and/or a (presumed necessary) FBA? Have you had challenges determining initial mathematical measurements from a flat pattern? Have you found errors in the pattern, by flat measuring? What about draping? Do you drape initially without darts? Do you drape on your dress form or on your own body?

Please do share!

Lessons from the Fitting Front: Barriers

Here's something I learned recently, while S was assisting me with the (ridiculously intense) bust adjustments on the Tailored Suit (cue sharp intake of breath): I no longer have full-on-top breasts. You know how I've been telling y'all for almost 5 years about my unique, sometimes challenging, always observable high bust? Well, it's moving on, apparently.

How did I learn this? I gained some idea when I did a muslin and discovered this (see photos). But it turns out, no matter how I tried to resolve the extending puff of fabric above my full bust, it didn't go away till S suggest what I needed was an SBA (small bust adjustment) above my full bust which had already been FBAed up the yin yang. Um, what?!

I'm the woman with the notable full upper bust. How is it that I had to adjust my (on paper) size 6 pattern into an (on paper) size 4 pattern between an inch above my nipples and my breastbone??? (The trolls are going to have a field day with that sentence, by the way.)

Here's my point (and Fitting Barrier 1): One's identity does not always reflect reality.

I can dwell on how I feel, existentially, about a full bust that has lost some of its fullness, projecting my angst (if nothing else!) and assert that nothing's changed. Or, I can fit the bust I have and make it look terrific. I have opted for the latter and I recommend it.

All this is to say that fitting is a dual experience: it's the determination of how to shape cloth around the body for optimal effect AND it's the ability of the one being fitted to allow the body to be what it is. To allow the fit to be simply what is.

Caveat: This is not the optimal time to dislike any aspect of how you look (not that that's necessarily in your purview). If you can't get with what you see as you fit, I can only suggest that you aim to change it by other means. Fitting is focused solely on what is, not on what you would like it to be. I've had these hardline words with myself on more than one occasion, I assure you.

Fitting Barrier 2: The second barrier to good fit? Fear of unknowable complexity. New sewists are particularly susceptible to this. Hello - it's hard enough to figure out a princess seam without applying it to a garment that's been fitted to perfection. What do those drag lines even mean? Are they drag lines? Maybe they're puffs of extra fabric. Maybe they aren't even there. How does one reflect changes to a muslin back onto a paper pattern? How does one make changes to a muslin? What's a muslin?? What's the point???

I'm not going to sugar coat it. It's practically impossible to learn everything at once, regardless of how kick ass you happen to be. Maybe, as you develop initial technical skills and confidence, fine fit (as opposed to excellent fit) is just fine. I worked mainly with stable knits for much of my first 2 years of sewing. I'm only just beginning to tackle the vast unknown that is my fitted torso. And I now have the benefit of a fitting friend!

That brings me to Fitting Barrier 3: You only have 2 hands and a certain amount of energy before you'll likely want to chuck everything out the window. I cannot recommend a fitting friend strongly enough. I'm not saying you will find one (though I wish one for you, truly), simply that you should be eternally open to the possibility. Seize upon it at any opportunity. And, as you continue on your own, recognize that you can't do everything in one session. Finding good fit is iterative. Iterations go faster with more hands.

Why am I focusing on barriers? Why not?

These are the landscapes in which we find ourselves. You're probably challenged by one of these barriers to some extent or another. Maybe you have others you can share.

Would it help you to know that most everyone feels out of his or her depth? I mean, I haven't done a scientific poll, but every book I read, every blog, every person I talk to reiterates this sense of fundamental concern. What if I'm not doing it right because...?

I think it helps to assess our concerns. I have encountered - nay, continue to encounter - all of these concerns on a regular basis. But I'm trying to push through in pursuit of the greater good.

So, today's questions are: Do you consider yourself a novice or an expert (or somewhere in between)? What fitting barriers have you experienced, do you continue to experience? Experts: Can you give us some tips about how to develop confidence and skill? What are moments of epiphany you've experienced?

Let's take some time to talk about our concerns and, in so doing, release them. OK?