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October 25, 2019
So the sway back alteration is one of those alterations that looks like a simple dart across the back will take care of it.
I'm a great one to let the fabric tell you what to do, and in this case it looks like a simple dart across the back waist is all you need. The problem comes when you don't have a waist seam. Then what do you do? Do you dart across the back waist and nothing in front?....do you raise the whole lower waist part of the garment to make a waist seam?....then what do you do about the hang after you make the alteration?
The real truth is that this waist dart doesn't work, because if you don't have a waist seam in the garment, then you end up with either a waist dart in back and nothing in front (and that looks hinkey and like you're doing exactly what you're doing), or end up raising the whole lower waist part, and then you've got a hang issue and the drape doesn't look right.
RTW really has a problem with this, and although it looks simple to alter in RTW, it's really fraught with problems.
But if you do this with your pattern, you have all sorts of remedies and solutions available to you that you can only dream of when you purchase a RTW that needs this alteration. Not only that, but taking the time to fit this properly to yourself means that you have the alteration forever. This means once you've done this alteration on your core collection of patterns, then you've got it done.
I like to use a shirt pattern for this alteration because from that shirt, I can make a dress, shell, top, tunic, blouse, and just about anything but a jacket or coat for the top of my body. AND now that I have the alteration in a pattern, it's easy to cut it out and make it up without having to worry about the fit. Here's some of my favorite shirt patterns to use for this. These
patterns are basic and straight-forward, so that when you make the alteration to this, it's a classic that you can use for a whole slew of other top garments. This is what I love about fitted basic patterns (more on that next week).
Skirts are really easy to do, simply add a few more darts - you should have at least two in back, but four, six or eight aren't too many - however many it takes to fit you. And all the darts should be symmetrical - meaning that two should be the same length, if you have four, then the two outer are the same length and the two inner are the same length. Usually darts are smaller the closer you get to the area that needs more fit. If you have small waist and large hips
at the side, then the side darts will be smaller; conversely if you have smaller hips and larger bottom, then the darts toward center back will be shorter. Whatever you do the darts should be reversely symmetrical.
This resource covers the top, waist and hips so that means the shirt, dress, tunic, shell, or any top you want. This technique can also be used on knits, as a matter of fact it can make your knits really sing even though knits are way more forgiving than wovens. Here's a preview of this resource so you can see the thinking behind this alteration.
What I love most about this technique is that this is for anyone who has that sway back shape and it works like a dream for no matter how much your back sways or how little.
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PS - I do a lot of posting on Facebook as both Claire Kennedy and SewingArtistry - if you want to friend me to check out the goodies over there for free!
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