Hello, sewing enthusiasts!
In this tutorial I'll show you how to achieve a perfect fit for your client or for yourself.
I'll show you in details, how to alter a standard wedding dress sewing pattern to match the exact measurements of your client.
Enjoy!
Say, you’re making a wedding or evening dress for a client or a friend.
You already have:
The picture of the future dress and the sewing pattern.
But, unfortunately, the pattern size doesn’t match your client.
Your task is to adjust this pattern for a perfect fit.
But how to do that?
I’ll show you how to do it fast and easy on a specific example.
So, you have to:
Print the standard default pattern
Take all the measurements of your client
Open up the pattern alteration file and fill all the measurements.
Now, it’s up to you to alter the pattern according to the calculations, so the future dress will be exactly the right size for your client.
This is done manually. As the result, you’ll get the right pattern for sewing the perfect dress for your client (or for yourself).
So, without further ado, let’s begin altering this pattern!
If you don't know how to take measurements learn more about it here >>
Take the following measurements:
Bust Front
Under-Bust Front
Bust Circumference
Under-Bust Circumference
Waist Circumference
Stomach Circumference
Hips Circumference
Bust Middle
Clip 1 (toward the arm)
Clip 2 (up)
Clip 3 (toward the center)
Side Height
Back Height at the Shoulder Blades
I recommend to take an additional measurement – The height of the side seam from the waist to the bust line. Write it down separately, we’ll need it for further considerations.
Enter the measurement values to the “Client’s measurements” column.
Let’s look at the Bust Middle column
All the values associated with the alterations on the lines of the bust, under-bust, waist, stomach and hips, including Bust Middle, are equal to “-1”
This means that the pattern should be reduced by 1 cm on the front center line.
Let’s look at the column: Front Side Seam
All the values are equal to 1 cm
Therefore, the pattern should be increased by 1 cm on the front side.
Note, that I make the alteration by parallel movement of the lines, keeping its length, and not considering the Side Height measurement.
I’ll talk little bit later about Side Height and about side seam alteration.
In the end of this video I’ll also return to the Under Bust Dart, which appears with the large size of the bust.
In the meantime, we continue to alter the pattern for our example.
Let’s look at the column - Back Side Seam
All the values are equal to “-1,9 cm”
This means that the pattern should be reduced by 1.9 cm on the back side.
Note, that I make the alteration by parallel movement of the lines, keeping its length and not minding the Side Height measurement.
Now the column: Back Middle Alteration
All the values on the lines of the bust, under-bust, waist, stomach and hips are equal to “-1.9”
This means – pattern should be reduced by 1.9 cm on the Back Middle line
Now, let’s move to the Back Relief corrections.
Let’s check the values in the column - Back Relief
The value that should be moved along the bust line is 2.1 cm
Put the dots on the bust line, 2.1 cm from the back relief on both back parts.
The value that should be put on the under-bust line is 0.1 cm
Let’s put the dots on the under-bust line, 0.1 cm from the back relief on the both back parts.
The value on the waist line is “-0.7 cm”
Let’s put the dots on the waist line, -0.7 cm from the back relief on the both parts.
The value on the stomach line is “-0.6 cm”
We’re putting the dots along the stomach line, -0.6 cm from the back relief on the both back parts.
The value from the hips line is 0.2 cm
Let’s put the dots on the hips line, 0.2 cm from the back relief on the both back parts.
Now we connect the dot’s with curvy line, marking the new reliefs.
We draw the perpendiculars from the top dots to the top of the part.
Now pay attention on the value in the line Back Height at the Shoulder Blades
In this example it is “0” because the pattern and the client’s measurements are the same.
If the number will be different from “0”, you should make an alteration in the relief height, like this.
Now we move forward to the front relief alteration. All the actions are the same.
Let’s look at the values in the column: Front Relief below the waistline
The value on the waist line is “-0.7 cm”
We put the dots, -0.7 cm from the front relief on both parts.
The value on the stomach line is -0,6 cm
We put the dots on the stomach line, -0.7 cm from the front relief on both parts.
The value on the hips line is 0,2 см
We put the dots on the hips line, 0.2 cm from the front relief on both parts
Now we connect the dots, marking the new reliefs.
Now let’s draw the lines from the dots on the waist, connecting them with the pattern on the under-bust line.
Now I move to the alteration of the top cut of the front pattern.
This part might cause some difficulties and the alteration is not always the same.
Let me show you, what are the options are and which effects they create.
Look at the Clip measurement.
In my example all of them are “-1,5 cm”
Let’s move the lines according the calculations from the table.
Armpit line
Top line
Neckline
Now let’s look at the line - Side Height
The calculations in the table tell to us to reduce the side height by 2 cm.
But… when we moved the armpit line, reducing the pattern on the “Clip toward the arm” measurement, the front side seam lowers automatically by approximately 1.2 cm.
Now remains to lower the side seam of the front by 0.8 cm to achieve the desired 2 cm.
Usually, we should cut all the patterns on the waist line and to move it up by 0.8 cm.
In rare cases it’s possible to lower the armpit line by 0.8 cm. But be really careful!
Make sure that on the pattern along the side the distance between the bust and waist lines is the same distance as on the client. Otherwise, the cup will not take its place on the bust, it will be located too high and the entire dress will “crawl” upward relative to the waist.
In any case, it’s always a good idea to measure the height from the waist to the bust line on the side seam (along with the classic “side height” measurement). This measurement will help you to understand the body proportions and to choose the right option of the alteration.
There is a third option of the pattern alteration, according to the measurement Side Height.
It is moving all the parts up from the waist by 2 cm. Then to adjust armpit line according to the “Clip toward the arm” measurement.
The option depends on the distance between the bust line and the waist line, the shape of the top cut and the measurement “Clip toward the arm”
I’ll do the most popular option – top front cut adjustment.
We erase the unwanted lines and close the outline.
Now let’s shape the top back cut.
Remember, that by moving the patterns along the waist, we reduced the height of the side seam by 0.8 cm only.
In order to get the reduction of 2 cm, according to the table, we need to lower side seam line by 1.2 cm.
Choose the shape of the top back cut according to the chosen dress style. For this example, I’m going to lower all the back cut by 1.2 cm.
I’m erasing the unwanted lines and close the outline.
The pattern alteration review would not be complete if we won’t touch upon the case of a large bust size.
Without going into details, I’ll only tell you about the principle of the appearance of an under-bust dart and how it affects the height of the side seam.
After filling up the table take a look and the Dart Depth field.
When the bust size is small, usually the value is 0.
But, when the bust circumference measurement gets larger, the measurement “Clip toward the arm” enlarges accordingly. And the value of the Dart Depth line changes from 0.
The dart is drawn from the side, it’s top lays on the under-bust line. The base point is located on the side seam on the distance of half of its depth from the under-bust line.
In other words, the under-bust line divides the dart exactly in half.
The deeper the dart, the longer it is.
Let’s alter the armpit sector according to the “Clip toward the arm” measurement.
By pushing the armpit line by 1.5 cm to the side, the line moves up by approximately 1 cm.
And this corresponds to the calculated value of the dart.
When you’ll alter the pattern according to your size, you’ll see for yourself.
Draw the side seam line upper, closing the outline.
Well, then all the arguments about the side seam in accordance with the measurement “Side height” are completely similar to what I already spoke about. If the table instructs to alter the height of the seam, then cut the pattern along the waistline and shift parts of the patterns.
If the difference in the default pattern and the measurements of the client is no more than 1.5 cm, the pattern may not be cut, but simply lower the armpit area by the value indicated in the table.
That’s it! In just 10 minutes you’ve created a pattern for a perfect fit!
The video course on sewing this dress and the Pattern Calculation Software are available for Corset Academy members.
Corset Academy membership offers over 1200 video tutorials on design wedding and evening dresses, dozens of sewing patterns, automatic pattern alteration software and much more.
See you in the next tutorials!
Warm regards,
Tatiana Kozorovitsky