Getting the right fit

In the interests of introducing myself and my sewing concerns a little better, I thought I’d share a few things about something that’s pretty important for me when sewing – getting the right fit.

I don’t know about you, but I find that ready to wear clothes from the high street rarely fit me well. Sewing is an opportunity for me to correct that, and to wear clothes that don’t rise up at the waist, and pool fabric at the back.

The classes I took when I began learning to sew had a real emphasis on learning to fit as well as on basic sewing skills, and so I’ve come to realise why standard sized clothes don’t really fit me very well:

• I’m only 5ft 2. Most standard clothes are made for at least 5ft 6.
• I have what’s loving described as a ‘sway back’. This basically means that there’s quite a big arch in my lower back, and so fabric pools at the bottom of my back on fitted tops, and there’s a (very unattractive) large gap between the waistband of skirts/trousers and my back.
• My shoulders are slightly rounded – I think most who work at a desk suffer this
• I have a ‘full bust’ i.e. boobs that are bigger than a B-cup.
• My arms are a little chunkier than patterns are drafted for and so I often need to do a ‘bicep’ adjustment.

All of this means that when sewing a new garment, I need to make a few alterations to the pattern. That’s a bit annoying and slows me down somewhat. But, the outcome is usually a much better fitting dress/skirt/top than I’d be able to buy in the shops.

I’ll be sharing some more posts about my efforts to learn how to fit better with links to favourite tutorials and other resources in the future…