I looked through the handmade section of my closet the other day, and there is a good amount of clothing that I have made for myself: about 40 dresses, tops, etc. But I realized that up until now, I’ve more or less been ‘phoning it in’, garment wise. Instead of purposefully and (dare I say) scientifically attacking a garment pattern, I more or less whittle away at it until it fits. So I’ve decided to spend the next 2+ months starting at the beginning and re-programming how I sew things.
I am going to use my blog as sort of a science lab. Instead of just taking photos of a finished garment, I’m going to take you along with me on this journey. You’ll see process photos, what’s going on with my muslins, and how I get from point A to point Z. I’ll update progress here, so you can find links to each garment as I make it, on this page.
I’m also interested in knowing more about the fitting process from another body’s perspective. I’ll probably never need to make a full bust adjustment on my own clothing, but I want to know more about how that works, so I may through another garment in here or there that’s been made for someone else (my grandmother let me measure her the other day).
I love writing bag patterns, and that’s certainly not going to go away, but I want to know clothing how I know bags. And this is a good a path as any to get there.
Some Helpful Resources
These are books, sites, and classes that I found helpful:
- Craftsy Class: Adjust the Bust by Kathleen Cheetham – Everyone who makes clothing should watch this class. Everything you will need to know about altering your bodice pattern pieces to get the perfect fit.
- The Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting – I found this book very helpful. It shows a zillion photos of muslins and tissue pattern pieces to help you figure out how to make appropriate changes to your pattern pieces. I also found very interesting the explanation of the ‘Horizontal Balance Axis’ (HBL) and how this can help you check the fit in quadrants on the front and back tissue.
- Fit for Real People – Besides showing how to make alterations to pattern pieces and how to fit, this book also shows (although dated photos, still relevant) real life people as examples and how each person is fit either on the top or bottom (or both).
- Craftsy Class: Custom Fitting: Back, Neck, and Shoulders – The bust is not the only thing that needs to be altered in a pattern. I often have to make adjustments for a gaping neckline, and this class was very helpful for that (among other things).
- Create the Perfect Fit: Measuring and Pattern Fitting for Real Sewing Solutions – The jury is still out on this one. This book is about making alterations to pattern pieces based on specific measurements before you make the muslin. I get the concept, just not sure how it translates to in every situation.
- Full Bust Adjustment – This is a great photo tutorial that Colette patterns did for one of their sew alongs.
- Small Bust Adjustment – Another great photo tutorial by Colette for the small bust adjustment.
Assignments
These are links to posts I’ve written about the clothing as I make it:
- Butterick 6019 (Patterns by Gertie)…made a second version here
- By Hand London ‘Kim Dress‘
- Christine Haynes ‘Emery Dress‘
- Christine Haynes ‘Marianne Dress‘
- Christine Haynes ‘Derby Dress‘
- Cindy Taylor Oates ‘Camp Shirt‘
- Fancy Tiger Crafts ‘Sailor Top‘
- Grainline ‘Linden Sweatshirt‘
- Jennifer Lauren ‘Vintage Bronte Top‘
- Jennifer Lauren Vintage ‘Felicity Dress‘
- Made with Moxie ‘Prefontaine Shorts’
- Pauline Alice ‘Eliana Dress‘
- Sewaholic ‘Saltspring Dress’
Do you have any other garment-making resources or patterns that you can recommend?
I like Cal Patch’s “Design It Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified”. It’s pretty basic though (no specific bust adjustment etc), but i like how it teaches me how to draft from scratch and how to make different modifications to the basic model (the silhouette, neckline, sleeves).
I found a review of it from Sew A Straight Line here if u’re interested 🙂
http://www.sewastraightline.com/2011/01/book-review-cal-patchs-design-it.html?m=1
Good luck in your garment sewing journey!
I am a dreadful sewer of garments though Mom was a seamstress. The shame! You would look marvelous in this dress, discussed and pictured here with link to pattern: http://as-it-seams.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/true-confession-i-hacked-gorgeous.html
Pattern Review is an excellent resource for any questions about anything about sewing. Ask the question and helpful and generous experts will pipe in.
There are also a lot of blogs out there by more experienced sewists that can teach a lot. It might be a good idea to follow a few.
What a wonderful new journey for you Sara! I took many fashion design classes in college and still have a few books I used. This one was my favorite: A Guide to Fashion Sewing by Connie Amaden-Crawford. Another one to check out (If you are interested in actual textile composition/care/weaves/fabrications…basically a scientific fiber book) is called Textiles by Sara J. Kadolph. Enjoy the new adventure!
I’m really excited to read this series of blog posts!
There is so much to pattern fitting/drafting that it can be helpful to take a class. I made clothing for many years and it helps to get a silhouette picture of your body so that you can design for your body shape. I do take some of my store bought clothing in to have them fitted to my body shape. I hope this journey adds to your knowledge, skill set and beautiful fitting clothing for you.
I’m excited for you, Sara. I’ve always been a terrible size to fit [curvy] anyway, and with the years it’s become an impossible trick as I got rounder, so I gave up trying to ‘fit’ clothes. But I don’t want to stay there, in that given up frame of mind, and have purchased several of the Craftsy classes also [haven’t gotten through any of them yet]. It will be fun following your adventure here.
Garment making has piqued my interest in the last month so I am very much looking forward to this series!
Good for you, Sara! Making garments is actually how I started out, many, many moons ago. I’ve made enough clothes that patterns are more of a map instead of a rule book. I must admit, though, most of what my mother taught me I don’t follow anymore. I have discovered and developed easier and faster way of doing things. If you need any help with anything, just holler!
I’m really looking forward to learning along with you! I’ve only taken a few clothing construction and pattern making classes and want to keep learning !
Oh, I love that you will be doing this for us all to see. I have not sewn any garments yet…too scared. I am excited to read the upcoming posts and learn something too.
So excited about this series of posts. I have made my own clothes on and off since I was a teenage and like you tweeked the fit (or binned them). I never realized until recently most patterns are based on ‘B’ cups which is why the fit can be messed up if I choose sizing by bust measurements. Complete revelation – 28yrs after I made my first dress that I need to do FBA on my garments. Once again – looking forward to ‘reprogramming’ my sewing habits so much!
http://www.blogforbettersewing.com. All kinds of good info here!
Ok, I’m super excited about this, I’ve backed off on quilting to start working on garments again and I love how you write so this has me pretty happy!
Have fun with it! I enjoyed the pattern drafting course I did a couple of years ago, but it was interesting that the guy who took it, who had been a garment designer in the fashion industry, had no clue how to deal with big boobs, so I ended up teaching him lol Actually it wasn’t hard, as he’d taught me things, that combined with experiments I’d done at home worked out. My only tip is avoid darts that point to the centre of your boobs from any direction unless you fancy rocking the Madonna look 😉
Looking forward to seeing what you create!
I am super excited about this series! I’m looking forward to reading – and learning more garment sewing along wih you.
Hey! Excellent mission 🙂 I have always find Lier’s blog really interesting. Her descriptions of all things fit, darts and sloper make sense instantly and make me think about things I never considered. Even simple stuff like why a properly drafted sleeve is not uniform was like a “oh yeah! Doh…” kind of a moment for me! Anyway, her tutorials are here ( http://www.ikatbag.com/p/tutorials.html?m=1) though you might just want to browse for clothes and drafting. Have fun!
Hi Sara,
My son Jimmy, who is single and 29, was fixing my computer and saw your blog and thought u were cute…r u married? Thanks!
Mad Matchmaker Momma