Sew the Perfect Fit

After my cry for help I decided to seriously tackly my fit issues and sign up for the craftsy course by Lynda Maynard: Sew the perfect fit.

That’s what I have been working on for the past few weeks…muslin after muslin I am slowly perfecting my bodice.

WARNING…low-light pics ahead!

This is what I started with…It’s the muslin from a previously self-drafted pattern that I knew had issues.

The course makes you work from top down…so I tackled my worse problem…armhole fitting…See the gaping? It turns out I have prominent shoulder blades, rounded back and forward shoulder.

I tried two alterations…a dart and the extra fabric added….in the end I prefer the dartless option.

Although I couldn’t notice any further problems…Lynda pointed out the bust line is not parallel to the floor…so I had to slash and spread there. Then on the back I had to pinch out some fabric at the above-waist line…to compensate for the rounded shoulder adjustment and slight swayback. I had an ah-ah moment on this when I read on Fit for real people that this is the reason why a pattern may not fit you well despite your back length matching that of the pattern: the length is distributed differently on my body.

I am now tackling the sleeves….which is another interesting topic for me…hope to finish this weekend.

KEEP CALM AND MUSLIN ON is my current motto.

So…I am happy with this class. My advice if you sign up is to take loads of pictures and post them on Craftsy so that the instructor can give you feedback…she is clearly very experienced. And if you are lucky enough to leave near San Francisco…well her live fitting class would be on my must-do list.

Oh, and don’t forget you need to teach your partner how to put on pins…unless you have a sewing buddy or you put the zipper on the side seam