Sleeve Pitch: Increasing the Sleeve Pitch

As you read in last week's blog - Sleeves and all their Quirkiness - the Sure-Fit Designs Sleeve pattern is designed for ease of use, both in drawing and in construction, meaning the hem level is straight with a 1" (2.5cm) wide fold-up hem. A you increase the forward pitch, the hem will/should change to a gradual curve.  Additionally, the front underarm seam will bend to follow the forward hang of your arm.

Directions:

1.  Trace a copy of your SFD sleeve                    
pattern WITHOUT seam allowances or
hem allowance.  Label as shown: A - B -
C - D - E - F - G - H. (Point F & I will be
established during the drawing).


2. Extend the grainline down to the hem level, point A.

















  3.  Draw a line from point A to B. 

4.  Cut from point A to B, and from C to B.  Leave a tiny paper hinge at point B - the pivot point.

5.  Pivot section A-B-C-D toward the middle of the sleeve.  Point D will move 'inward' 1/2" (1.3cm).  This is easiest done on a grain/grid board as shown.  Tape to secure.

6.  Since 1/2" (1.3cm) was taken away from the hem width on the back underarm seam, you need to add this amount 1/2" (1.3cm) to the right of point E on the front underarm seam.  Label as point F.  This maintains the same wrist circumference opening to pull the sleeve over your hand.

7.  Connect point F to G.  Point G should be smoothed slightly.  Measure both the front and back underarm seam lengths - minus the dart space on the back seam.  Underarm seams need to be the same length or a tiny bit shorter in the front (which would be eased into the back seam).  Adjust the length of the front underarm seam if necessary.



8.  F to G to H is the front underarm seam.  You may want to curve/bend this seam further.  It will depend on if you have enough elbow circumference ease for your particular arm shape.  If you'd like to shape this seam, mark 1/2" (1.3cm) toward the left of point G.  Label as point I.  Connect F to I to H.  Use the Designing Stylus to blend/shape the curve at this bend in the seam.  Now that you have substantially changed the length and shape of the front underarm seam, compare to the length of the back underarm seam - minus the dart space.  Lengthen or shorten at the hem level as needed.
 

            

 9.  The elbow dart has become slightly                            

wider.  Simply back the opening with tracing vellum. Tape securely.  Re-establish the center fold line of the dart and the new dart side seam cutting lines.

10.  At the wrist/hem level, connect point D to F in a slightly curved line.  The Designing Stylus is a great tool to draw this transition.

11.  Lastly, add 5/8" (1.6cm) seam allowances to all edges.  Because the wrist/hem level is now curved, you can't use a fold up hem allowance.  This edge will require a shaped facing.

Sew a trial sleeve to test this pattern shape on your arm. Depending on the shape and hang of your arm, you may need to further increase the forward pitch and/or change the shape of the front underarm seam.

Happy Sewing,

Read More

Adapting and Drawing the Pants Front Waist/Crotch Grid for a Thick Waist and a Relatively Short Front Crotch Length

If you have a fairly short front crotch length measurement and you have a relatively thick waist, when drawing the pants pattern, you may find that your numbers 'fall off the Master Pattern Grid lines'.  This situation may occur when you are establishing the intersecting point for your waist measurement and front crotch length measurement on the Pants Front Waist/Crotch Grid.  In other words, the grid lines stop before your two numbers of waist measurement and front crotch length measurement have a chance to intersect.  These photos show and example of the type of body shape where this may occur.

 If this occurs, simply extend your appropriate grid lines straight down.  The waist measurement line (attached to your waist measurement number) will be drawn straight down.  The front crotch length measurement number will be extended downward but continuing on in its current angle and slope.

See the example diagram below where the person's waist measurement is 46" (116.6cm) and the front crotch length is 11 1/2" (29.2 cm).  Note how these lines have been extended and shown in continuous RED lines.  The BLUE dot represents where the two lines intersect.  This is where you would mark your placement dot for your CF waist measurement.  This dot, of course, would then connect (in either a straight or curved line) to your front side waist measurement dot.  And you would then continue to proceed to mark in your Dart tip and then your Front Crotch Pt. #1 and Pt. #2.  These steps are found in your Pants Kit instruction book, page 9, steps 9 and 10.

 Fine Tuning Your Pattern's Crotch Lengths - if Necessary

Once you have drawn your Back and Front Crotch lengths, also make sure you measure the finished lengths.  Since you are measuring a curve, remember to stand the tape measure on edge and walk the tape around the stitching line to ensure accurate length measurements.  The instructions and illustrations for this step are found in your Pants Kit instruction book on page 10, #13 - Fine Tuning Crotch Lengths.

Glenda...the Good Stitch!

Read More

Removing Horizontal Fold Under the Tummy

Some women experience horizontal fullness or bagging directly beneath their tummy and just before the crotch curve begins.  Once you've sewn your test muslin for your pants, if this is occurring, you will find one suggestion for a minor tune-up on page 12 (#1) of the Pants Kit Instruction Book.  This may be a satisfactory refinement for you.

Another alternative is to remove this fold of fabric at CF. Follow these directions:
1.  To determine how much you need to remove, pinch out the fabric in a tiny fold.  If you pinch out 1/4" (.6cm), this will mean that you will be totally removing 1/2" (1.3cm).

Close-Up of dart/tuck wedge from CF going to nothing at the side seams.

2.  Mark this level location of CF of the crotch seam.  Draw a perpendicular line (to the grainline) over to the side seam.  Mark point A and B.

3.  Cut from CF to side seam, leaving a small hinge of paper at the side seam. This will act as a pivot point.  Secure the pivot point with plastic tape.

4.  Overlap the CF seam the amount you require, thereby crating a small horizontal dart or tuck which begins at CF and goes to nothing at the side seam.

5.  True the CF crotch seam.

6.  The more you overlap at CF, the more the waist edge tilts down and angles the CF seam.  To maintain the original orientation of the upper CF seam, when you true the crotch seam, you will be crating a narrow wedge as indicated by the green arrow.  (The blue line indicates where CF at the waist edge originated).

7.  Cut/remove this narrow wedge and tape it back in place at the side seam waist edge.  This will maintain the correct waist circumference and true the side seam shape so that it will sew in the same curve to the back side seam.

8.  Redraw and reposition the front hip-fitting dart to best suit your body contours.

9.  Bring the straight of grain up from the leg.

This process will shorten the CF crotch length by the amount of the dart/tuck.  Be aware that you may need to add this amount on to the back crotch length so that you maintain your overall crotch length requirement.

Happy Sewing!

Glenda... The Good Stitch

Read More

Dealing with an Asymmetrical Body

Do you have asymmetrical body issues?  Very few people are truly perfect and symmetrical from one side to the other of their bodies.  Often a leg is slightly longer, or a shoulder might be sloped more than the other.

Ask yourself these questions:
1. How severe is the asymmetry?
2. Does it affect the look of my clothes on my body?
3. Should I make the effort to change my pattern?

If there are just slight differences from one side to the other, generally we do nothing, as it's simply not enough difference to affect the hang of the garment on our body.

However, if your garments hang crooked or form obvious drag lines toward the high or low point, then you will likely want to make asymmetrical adjustments to your pattern.

This typically entails creating a right and left side pattern that reflect the height and width dimensions for that part of your body.  Once the change is done for both sides (if necessary), they will generally then need to meet in the middle - typically CF and/or CB.  Once you've created a right and left side for your pattern and you're happy with the muslin test fitting shell, then you can use this pattern for future style changes.

You will always need to mark which is right and left side, and which side is going to be cut 'right side up'.  It's definitely more effort, but well worth it when your clothes hang better on your body.

In some instances, like a high/low shoulder, sometimes you can get away with a temporary solution of adding a shoulder pad to the low side.  This then will give you a more balanced look, particularly in jacket construction, and offers and easy solution.  Always try to evaluate your options before doing major pattern adjustments.

You will find asymmetrical high/low hip adjustment directions on page 17 of the Dress Kit Instruction Book.  The same basic concept applies to the waist line level of your pants pattern.  If you'd like to see a short video regarding the asymmetrical hip heights, watch this video:

Often times, you will also need to make circumference tune-ups as well since one side can be wider as well as longer.  Then you definitely need to create a right and left side pattern - for both the front and back of your skirt or pants.

Here's and example of pants that are now hanging fairly well on a definite asymmetrical body.  The waist line is substantially tipped forward and the right buttock is definitely higher and fuller than the left.  With persistence, and the creation of right and left side patterns for both front and back, these pants are now hanging smoothly.

Here are the happy customer's comments:

I finally have a great fitting pair of pants, thanks to the Sure-Fit Design system and the incredible assistance I received from Glenda.  In my opinion, she is the star of the system!  My original draft was easy to develop and certainly fit me better than any " straight from the envelope" pattern I've ever tried.  But my "great fit" is entirely the result of endless patience and guidance from Glenda, addressing my severely tilted waist, uneven hips and various other figure issues.  Over the course of about three weeks, we exchanged many emails working through all of the problems.  Her service is exemplary, and I highly encourage anyone with problems fitting pants to give Sure-Fit Designs a try!
KK, Sew Fittingly You, Victor, NY 

Happy Sewing!

Glenda...The Good Stitch

Read More

Pants - Curving the Center Front Seam for the Protruding Tummy

As we age, many women develop a fuller tummy/stomach pouch.  Sometimes this is primarily at CF and immediately underneath the waist.  For other women, this rounding/fullness is not only under the waist, but it also spreads horizontally.

When you have this little belly/pouch, you will often experience fullness in the CF seam right underneath the pouch.

However, sometimes it fits just fine under the pouch, but you'll see drag lines/wrinkles pointing up toward the center of the tummy fullness.  If this occurs, then consider this CF crotch seam refinement.

Rather than maintaining CF as a 'straight line', it can be slightly curved right where the tummy fullness is located.

The result is that:
1.  You wouldn't be able to put in a zipper fly at CF - since you need a straight seam for this application.  But a zipper front might not suit your body shape anyway because of the tummy pouch.

2.  With a curved CF seam, you wouldn't want to sew with a stripe or checked fabric, as you'd end up with a 'chevron' effect at CF which likely wouldn't be that flattering.  Choose solid colors.

This added curvature doesn't need to be a lot to make a substantial difference.  So even though this refinement might sound a little strange, it really does work.

Here's a photo of a happy seamstress, as these are the best fitting pants she's ever worn.  In this photo, her blouse is tucked in to show the excellent pattern fit, but typically she only ever wears her blouses out over top of her pants.  This refinement really does work well!

Happy Fitting & Sewing!

Glenda...The Good Stitch

Read More

A shaped Back Shoulder Yoke

Vest Success continued...
In early April, I published a blog called Vest Success.  One of our SFD ladies designed the Reversible Vest (a relatively new SFD downloadable Fashion Leaflet).  This particular lady had a back shoulder dart that she needed to deal with.  She needed the back shoulder dart for her slightly rounded shoulder blades, but didn't want the dart appearing in her vest.  When drawing the vest pattern, she simply transferred this dart into the armscye and the resulting slightly curved seam took care of the dart and she ended up with a yoke detail in the back of her vest.

Because her photos were somewhat dark, I simply outlined the stitching lines that she designed.  Now you can see where the back yoke is.

Not long after this blog was published, another SFD lady asked if I would show you the details for turning the back shoulder dart into a yoke with slightly curved stitching line.  The easiest way for me to do this was to film a short video showing you the process.

First, let's review how to add a back shoulder dart.
Step 1: Draw line A to B as illustrated.  This line should be at a level where the most rounding or protruding fullness is on your back/shoulder blades.  Then draw line C to D as shown.  This line does not have to be at a right angle to A-B, but the angle that you choose will affect the final position of the dart, therefore, it should be at a pleasing angle for your specific body shape.  You may need to sew a couple of tests to make sure you're pleased with the results.

Step 2: Cut from A to B and from C to D, leaving a paper hinge at the armscye point B and at point D on line A-B.

Step 3: Spread the shoulder area of the pattern open as shown always maintaining the paper hinge points.  This will open up a small dart shape in the shoulder seam line and will automatically lengthen CB.  Often people with rounded, protruding shoulder blades also have some rounding at the upper back and this extra length will help the bodice back to sit more comfortably.  Additionally, depending on how rounded your entire back is, you may also want to add a CB seam which is shaped/curved to suit your body contours.

Step 4: The more you open/lengthen CB that results in a wider dart, the more the upper and lower center back line becomes 'jogged'.  To maintain CB on the fold of the fabric, simply draw/true a new CB from the back neck point to the waist point.  Also re-establish a parallel straight of grain marking.  Depending on how accurately you measured your CB waist length and where this length is actually needed, you may now need to shorten CB at the waist edge and gently true from CB to the side seam.

Step 5:  This technique for adding a shoulder dart shouldn't distort the armscye significantly.  However, if the armscye appears to angled at the armscye hinge pivot point, make sure to blend/true to create a smooth curve.

This is what it looks like in 'real life'.

Now, on to changing this back shoulder dart into a back shoulder yoke that is slightly curved.  It really is a simple process.  Please watch this video to see how to accomplish this technique.

Just click on the forward arrow to begin play.  It's a short video and a simple process.  I know you'll find it easy to do.

Kindly,
Glenda...the Good Stitch!

Read More

Double Back Darts

This topic of double darts at the pants waist edge is well worth repeating.  I just had to show you another example of how adding a second dart at the waist line of your pants pattern can really improve the fit.

If you go from a relatively small waist to quite full high hips, I highly recommend adding a second dart to the waist edge of your pants pattern.

This lady attended one of my recent Fit & Sew Retreats.  She has a pretty dominant swayed, dipped center back (at the waist edge), quite full low hip measurement and thin legs.

Here's the result:

She's always had difficulty getting any pants (or skirt for that matter) to fit.  That's why she attended the Retreat.

Keeping in mind these are test pants, where every wrinkle and nuance shows, you're seeing a near to perfect fit at the waist and in the hips and a beautiful hang on the leg.  From a side view you're seeing a perfectly straight side seam.  CF needed to be raised slightly, but that was refined in the tune-ups.

In the above close-up, you're seeing the position of the 2 waist-fitting darts.  They shape her hip shape well.

She did a great job of drafting her pattern and the results as so worth her effort.  Well done...and great fit!

To see how to add this second waist-fitting dart, please watch this short video tutorial.

For any of you ladies who might fall into this category, you'll want to give this a try.

Kindly,
Glenda...the Good Stitch!

Read More

How to Fit Commercial Patterns - DVD - Just Released

I'm asked so frequently if the Sure-Fit Designs patterns can be used to help fit your commercial patterns.  The answer, of course, is a resounding YES!

As a result of your requests and because there is very little information 'out there' on this topic, we have produced and just released the newest and latest instructional DVD on the topic Fitting Commercial Patterns.

Take advantage of the Introductory Discount.  Through August 25 you can save 20% on your copy of this DVD.  Just click here...order yours...and while in the Shopping Cart, use Discount Code FCP20 to receive your discount.

Listen as as I share my thought processes with you in how best to evaluate the fit of 6 different commercial patterns.  You'll see 3 Dress Kit Bodice examples, 2 Pants pattern examples, and 1 Shirt pattern example.  I'll discuss ease relationships, dart placement, changing the dart to gathers, evaluating princess line patterns, asymmetrical styles, shoulder slope and yoke development, crotch lengths and shapes along with much, much more.

In this 1 hr 45 min DVD, you'll find 8 chapters chocked full of examples and information.  Here are a few photo highlights from the DVD.

 Here's a very short video describing the highlights of this new DVD - Fitting Commercial Patterns.  Please take a couple of minutes to learn more.

This is a new DVD product you won't want to miss.  So take advantage of the Introductory Discount.  Through August 25 you can save 20% on your copy of this DVD.  Just click here...order yours...and while in the Shopping Cart, use Discount Code FCP20.

Kindly,
Glenda...the Good Stitch!

Read More