A Bust-Fit Tutorial (Of Sorts)

I considered entitling this post "My Short Waist Is the Best Thing That Ever Happened to My Big Boobs (When It Comes to Wearing Clothes)" but I sensed it was a bit cumbersome. Mind you, this post isn't exactly a light read.

I don't know what's more questionable: that I'm about to recommend a sewing FBA (of sorts) or that I'm doing any sort of tutorial on fit at all (given my level of experience) - and this without so much as a photo series to accompany it.

Let's start with the requisite proviso: Reader beware. I am not expert on: sewing, fitting, alterations or tutorials. Hell, until recently I hadn't sewn much in 2 months. I am an expert on certain other things in my universe - let's not be all down on me - but you see where I'm coming from. Furthermore, as I learn more about alterations as my skills improve, I reserve the right to advise you all that this was a crude and/or crazy idea.

I'm calling the alteration, for want of a better term (please tell me if there's one that already exists): The Narrow Frame / Deep Bust Adjustment (NFDBA "for short"). In fact, if you can tell me anything about this method - someone else already made it up, you've tried it and it works on you (or doesn't), you think it's stupid etc., I'm happy to hear your feedback. In large measure, I've written this post in the interests of discovering someone else who may know more, different or better. And, natch, I'd love if it were to have some actual merit or to help someone.

Background: You know that S and I have worked on bodice fitting for quite some time (though we have been on a bit of a hiatus due to life responsibilities of late). It sounds trite to say that I have learned a vast amount from S and the experience. Truly, it's changed my perspective on practically everything three-dimensional. Additionally, I have read a number of useful fit resources, amongst them (and just to name a few):

• Fit For Real People (FFRP)
• The Complete Guide to Perfect Fitting
• The Singer Fashion Tailoring Book

We know, from many a sewing post on this blog, that I have struggled with the standard (FFRP) version of the FBA, generally applied to a darted top. I've struggled with all kinds of FBAs but let's focus primarily on this one. Every time I've given it a go, though I've been quite restrained, I get a baggy garment under the breasts and a weird one over and above them.

I did work out a very useful FBA method on princess seam garments (in which Taran and the Singer book were instrumental).  But what about all those other tops in the world I want to make and wear??

Who's the NFDBA For?

• A woman with a proportionately large bust on a proportionately narrow, small- to medium-boned frame
• The size you'd make to fit your full bust should probably not be more than one size larger than that which you'd make to fit your high bust i.e. if you're a 12 in full bust but a 10 in high bust, that's fine. If you're a 12 in full bust but an 8 in high bust, that might be problematic. I can't say with certainty - I've only had the chance to try this on my own body.
• The bust should be DEEP, not wide, and breasts should not splay excessively to sides (see why below)
• A short waist is preferable
• An hourglass shape is also preferable i.e. a waist that indents, though it doesn't need to indent a tremendous amount

As you can see, it's a bit of a niche market - but I'm sure there are enoug of you out there who fit this description.

What Kind of Garment Does this Work On?

• A bodice with bust darts in a woven.
• A bodice with bust darts (or without them i.e. T shirt) in a knit 
• In addition to the above, it's best to work with a pattern that highlights the waist
• It's easier (as are all things) on a pattern that has no sleeves, but you can do it with sleeves, you just have to note if the shape or size of the armscye changes
• It's also easier to work this on a knit

This isn't, as far as I can tell, a useful "method" for princess seams or other sorts of bodice shaping.

What Else Do I Need to Know?

You'll start by making your muslin in the size that fits your full bust. Oh, I know - this is HERESY. You're supposed to fit the upper chest and then FBA and make other required alterations. But seriously peeps (and I'm having a blog-writing deja vu!) I'd rather make everything else smaller, if that's what it takes, and get a garment that fits in the end, than do an FBA that ends up wrecking the line of the garment.

Pls. note: I suspect that many of you are feeling queasy right now. I respect that. I, too, feel queasy. But stay the course. I'm going somewhere with this and, really, in the end, it all comes down to whether this will work for you, if other FBAs have not.

I'm positing that, for the small framed-large busted woman, it's actually easier to adjust from the larger size than the smaller. Of course, I could be out of my mind.

OK, What The Hell Is This Adjustment And How Do You Make It Happen?

The adjustment is a way to allow for extra room in the bust  without adding extra width in the bodice. The reason you need a narrow frame, deep breasts and short waist is that the depth of your breasts will be compensated for by the length of the front bodice. If your torso is not narrow, you won't be able to maximize length in the front bodice. If your torso is long, you can still do this (I suppose) but it may be more complicated.

What's the salient construct of the alteration? You shorten the back bodice above the waist and below the bust.

I'll use my latest project as an example: When I constructed muslin 1 (unaltered bodice) in the size that fits my full bust (apparently, 38" when measured recently), I found the following:

• It fit nicely in the bust BUT
• The shoulders were a bit too wide
• I needed a symmetrically wider seam allowance in the side seams (it's slightly to big around the true waist to high hip) - this means I'll need to take about 1/2" symmetrically out of each side seam, pretty easy and the line of the top is retained...
• This it the thing I noticed most of all - a scant inch of fabric pooled at my lower back!

That fabric is the excess (given my short waist) that's taken up by the profile of my breasts on the front bodice. It's like I get a free pass in the boob area because my waist is short. But there's nothing to uptake that length on the back.

Seems pretty reasonable that I should simply hack out that amount of fabric from the back bodice and go. But, it's not entirely that simple. 

When one removes length on one side of the pattern only, it screws with the alignment of the side seam. Now, there are various ways one can deal with this, I imagine. But since this seems to work for me, I'll suggest that you add back the length just below the armscye. Walking your pattern will tell you how much you need to add (or at least act as a guide); there's a certain amount of intuition in this alteration - which is to say, at this point, I don't know how to explain why I go off-road when I do.

What's walking the pattern? This is simply aligning the edges of the seam allowances (on the paper pattern) of adjoining pattern pieces. For example, your side seams on your actual garment, will need to line up when you sew that seam. Perhaps you take it for granted that this should automatically occur. You did pay for your pattern, after all. However, some patterns are inaccurately drafted. Also remember, once you start to make alterations on a bodice, those alterations are likely to impact the length of one or both side seams, rendering them unequal. 

So, I walk the pattern from the hem, see where it stops at the underarm, note the discrepancy between the lengths of front and back, and add on to the back piece / sometimes take away a bit from the front piece. It's 2 parts engineering, 1 part intuition. Sometimes it doesn't work on the first try.

Big Time Note: Once you start screwing with the armscye, if your garment has sleeves, you're going to have to factor this in and adjust them to fit. Also: For good fit, most sleeves and armscyes already, and independently of other alterations, need to be adjusted - so I see this as part of the process, not an extra alteration. And I promise not to write a tutorial on that!

Other Big Time Note: Before you walk the side seams, always close your dart. Darts impact the length of the side and they're closed in the garment, so you'll need to close them for measuring the pattern length.

Order of Operations Recap:

• Walk side seams on unaltered pattern to make sure they align (optional). If they don't, alter the pattern so that they do.

• Make an unaltered muslin in the size that correlates with full bust - as long as it's not more than 1 size larger than your high bust size would be. (You might still try this if these ratios are more extreme, I just don't know what the outcome will be.)

• Try on the garment and review. You probably need to make a small shoulder adjustment, take in the side seams a bit, and symmetrically i.e. just increase the width of your side seam allowance, and remove pooling from the back waist. If this isn't the case, email me. I really want to talk about it.

• Reflect the required adjustments on paper (as indicated above). Note that I haven't talked about marking up the muslin and pulling it apart in the interests of altering the paper pattern. That's cuz you might want to wear your existing "muslin" i.e. that top you've been making for a while. This allows you to make an altered new version without deconstructing the original one. According to whom you ask, it's a good plan or a less good plan. I vacillate between the two perspectives. Right now I'm into wearing things for a while till I have a better fitted version. Unless, of course, the muslin is a disaster.

• Try it on again. If the alterations didn't quite get you there, refine them.

So, I'm putting this out there for your consideration. I would welcome any feedback - positive or negative (but friendly, of course!). Have you ever tried this? Did it work?

Pattern designers and Experienced Pattern Alterers: Are there flaws in this reasoning we should discuss? I mean, does it just work on me - or should it work on others?

Let's talk!

Yabba Dabba Doo

I feel like someone's about to scream "Wilma!" while I'm wearing this top, which isn't to say I don't like it :-):

I still have to apply the button and thread chain...

This is strangely wrinkly in the pic, though not in real life. How does that happen?

OK, you know it's on the dress form, which had a different body than mine, but with the 10" zip I can actually get it over the immoveable shoulders of this thing. All in all, I support the longer zip, which sits well on the side seam as long as it's interfaced (I used organza).

Dare I say it looks better on me? (At which point you might malign me for not having the decency to show a pic. Note: I hope to wear it tomorrow and, if I do, I'll get Scott to snap it on my way out the door...)

My alterations worked very well, all things considered. I did have a small challenge with the angle and height of the back shoulder, but it was easy to cut down in the correct way (fortunately I'd cut the fabric too big). This is likely my pattern alteration error though, in truth, I looked many times at the original pattern and can't see where I went wrong. It's weird.

I could probably take a bit more length out of the lower back (but then it might start to screw with the front length) and I could probably change the positioning of the shoulder seam by putting a bit more on the front and taking a bit off the back (to adjust for computer-shoulders).

But it's extremely wearable. One might even say it fits well.

And we wonder why ladies can't make (much less buy) clothing that fits beautifully.

People - I'm wearing 3 graded sizes in this one simple shell. Plus, I've screwed with front length above the breasts. And back length below the waist. That's crazy complicated, relatively speaking, and this thing doesn't even have sleeves.

Note: Next up, I'll post about my secret alteration technique. Yeah, it's hardly secret and just about as much technique, but I have to keep you guessing!

Some things about the fabric: I'm starting to wonder if it's really silk. It's definitely not charmeuse because it's matte on both sides. While it was silk-like challenging to stitch, it feels a bit stiff to me. Maybe it's china silk? Thing is, it's not sheer. I should burn some of it and see what happens...

It did all the regular silk things: got easily pin-marked, required a shorter stitch with less pressure on the presser foot and it benefitted from sewing with a sharp. But it wasn't quite as slippery as charmeuse. Are there silk-synthetic blends, I wonder?

Some (more) things about the pattern: I still haven't used the instructions so I haven't got any more for you on that, but I can say unreservedly that this pattern is FABULOUS. At least my altered, unlined version is, IMO :-) I would recommend its purchase if you are of the general shape that (I suspect) it flatters: buxom(ish), not long in the waist and not full in the high-hip / derriere.

Let's talk about pepulms for a moment, yes? They're not the most flattering look out there. Very "trendy", kind of dated (if you lived through the 80s). And they really don't work well on lots of shapes which are otherwise gorgeous. In the same way that I will never be able to incorporate the strapless dress into my wardrobe (tiny sob), I suggest that women who are "pear shaped" (and I do know that this is more-or-less a meaningless term in light of the complexity of body-shapes) proceed with caution.

I'd recommend that you stay away from this pattern (and peplums in general) if you are not very experienced in sewing for your shape AND:

• You have a shelf-like high hip
• You have a prominent, high or wide derriere
• You have proportionately thick upper legs
• You have a long, proportionately thick, waist
• You have relatively small breasts compared to relatively wide hips/derriere

I have fairly slim legs and proportionate hips and bum and I still feel kind of wide in that area while wearing this top. The thing it has going for me is that the full peplum really balances my bust. So take that under advisement and, ladies of the "pear-shaped" ilk, please speak up if you think I'm wrong!

If you can believe it, tonight I'm going to rip apart muslin 1 (bias tape and all), save the peplum and attempt to cut down the bodice to the dimensions of muslin 2. I'm usually not inclined to revisit the past, but I really love the drape and fabric of that muslin and there's no size increasing required. Worst case scenario, I have enough of the fabric to make a new bodice.

Snapshot

Here's today's project. It's my second muslin of the Salme Sewing Patterns Peplum. Since I made the first wearable muslin, last weekend, I have worn it and clarified its fit issues.

Have I mentioned lately that everyone would do well to make a wearable muslin of everything and then to wear it in the real world? You learn more about what needs to change in a day of regular wear (of a garment in a fabric the drape of which will match your "final item") than you ever will from a cotton, half-done basted thing that you try on for 30 minutes in your sewing room to gain a sense of fit.

Back to muslin 2, this new version is an interesting and rather different spin on the last one:

• Length, darts and side seams up to armscye in size 12 (the original)
• Armscye, graded the 12 to a size 10
• Shoulders and neck, graded from a 10 to an 8
• Removed .5 inch above the bust on the front (to shorten from shoulder to bust apex where I there was way too much extra length for me)
• Removed .5 inch below the armscye on the back (to address substantive pooling)

Doncha love how I was all "this thing fits perfectly, right out of the box!"? Seriously, I wonder about my judgment sometimes.

I'm very close to posting about this theory I have - not a new one - and a potential way to address bust alterations for the narrow/buxom/short-waisted frame. But I need to clarify a few things first. This muslin should give me a lot more info to work with.

Finalement, that silk is very strangely-patterned (Tracy Ellen, 2007, according to the selvedge). Part of me thinks it's chic and interesting. Another part thinks it's entirely Pebbles and BamBam. I have no idea how it's going to look on me. I guess today will tell.

What do you think of it? Feel free to say you think it's hideous. I mean, you don't have to wear it :-)

PS: Have this whole other theory about peplums and the kinds of frames that should stay the hell away from them. That'll be in yet another post coming soon.

Tip Top

It must be the change in the amount of daylight, or the sun's angle in the sky, but my brain has really kicked into craft gear. I can't stop thinking about upcoming projects. Some might call it rumination. I like to call it creativity.  At any rate, here's where I'm at:

The Peplum Top

Since I didn't hear back from the pattern designer, I opted to cut out the Salme paper pattern in a size 12.  (Update: Elisa, pattern designer, just replied with very helpful feedback. She thought she had replied to my question but her email got shuffled to her drafts. More on this feedback in a later post.) S, my fitting friend, gave me this awesome double pencil gizmo that lets you trace the outside of your pattern while simultaneously drawing a 5/8" seam allowance. Really made that part of the job less onerous than usual. It took about an hour to tape the paper, cut the 12, tape it to tracing paper and add the seam allowances. Very reasonable, IMO.  

What I like about patterns that don't include SAs is that it's easy to see what the finished garment dimensions will be because you can actually observe the outer edge of the pattern, minus those allowances. I suspect the 12 is going to be too large, though it remains to be seen. It would appear that the shoulders will be 16" (a good inch wider than mine) and the bust will be 41" (2.5" larger than mine). Of course, how this will fit is much more ephemeral than simple flat pattern math so I'm going to have to make a muslin to check it out. (Ain't avoiding that, apparently.)

It occurs to me that, for my body - in my experience, so far  - I'd rather cut to fit the bust and then grade all the other areas down a size - exactly what the experts tell you NOT to do. Thing is, the more I learn about my shape, as it interacts with various patterns, the more I discover that I am generally the larger size in the bust only and the smaller size everywhere else. I think this is a strange feature of my narrow proportions. Maybe an FBA won't work for me because I really just need a bit more space in the bust (rather than everywhere). Anyway, this is my latest experiment, based on the learning I've done on bodice fitting in the past few months. Of course, were I draping or drafting to fit my exact size, or working with someone else (S is very occupied at the moment and we're not well set up in my sewga room with the reno) then I would likely approach this another way. But different circumstances call for different measures. And all learning is invaluable.

Moving onto the fun part, here's how I've decided to a) use my stash fabric to b) make something sassy:

Remember this garment:

It was made of 2 fairly expensive fabrics - navy lace and navy silk charmeuse. It just so happens that I have just enough left of each to make this top.  Instructions for the peplum top indicate that the top is lined (the finishing method). Lace, being see-through, will not hide ragged seams, so I will need to underline the lace with the charmeuse in order to create the fashion shell. (Note to reader: Haven't done this before so I wonder how it's going to go.)

Natch, that leaves me still in search of a lining. What to do?

Well, I'm going to use this silk charmeuse, presuming it's compatible with the weight of the navy:

It's an unusual pairing, but I'm motivated to give it a go.

In summary, vis a vis the peplum top, I've got 2 things to work on: fitting this garment (muslin-process) and then making it up. I'm hopeful I can get through the fitting process this weekend.

The Sweater

The other thing to occupy my attention this weekend is finishing the McCardell Convertible. I hope to have the final knitting done tonight or tomorrow. I've sure made a lot of progress in the last 2 days. After this, I still have to block (trying to determine which method to use), press, seam, hem, use ribbon or seam binding on the hem and insert the closure.

I have to say that the second side has gone WAY faster than the first, partly because I figured out how everything will work while making the first side (so I could apply it to the second) and partly because of the detailed instructions I wrote for myself. 

I really hope this thing is going to be wearable - though I'd be wise not to get my hopes up too high. As a distant alternative, I suppose I can hope that it will work perfectly on someone else. You know you've become some crazy-ass crafter when you'll consider your project to have been a success if it teaches you how to avoid pitfalls in your next version.

Today's question: What do you think of the strange pairing on the peplum top?