December 4, 2020

I'm so enjoying talking with you all on Zoom (yeah, more on last week's me-bad later). But there are a couple of things I see a lot of, and they're things that you don't usually see on sewing instruction sites. As a matter of fact, I've noticed that when I've seen a live video of fitting in a class, the teacher, instructor, or professor will correct the problem but really won't say what he/she is doing. 

 

This bugs me because it 1.) makes the teacher look like they have a magic wand, and 2.) sets the student up for future failure. It's like: In elementary school, when learning math, that 2 + 2=4, then 2 x 2=4, but 4+4=8 and 4 x 4=16, and without telling the student why. The student is left wondering what's the difference and why the result is different one way and not the other way. Basically is half-teaching. 

The other thing is that this causes us not to even consider this problem and therefore don't know to look for it. I'm referring to tilt, rotation, bowed or splayed, and how that affects the proper hang of a garment. I've often seen a properly seated garment lose most of the fitting problems by simply being seated correctly. 

But there are some problems with this: 

• A seated position is different for all of us.
• A seated position is often personal, which means what is right for one person may not be suitable for another.
• A seated position has to be stationary. By that, I mean that when you move, carry your groceries inside, get in and out of the car, or simply hug your kids, the garment must return to that seated position. If it doesn't, it's not seated correctly, to begin with. 

So the first solution is to find the proper seated position on a garment or pattern. This may take more than a couple of fittings of a muslin. Sometimes it takes a couple of muslins, and so once you get it right, you want to make sure it's in a pattern that you will use again. Hence, I like core patterns cause you can work on all the detailed seating issues and not have to worry about it again after you have your core pattern. 

The next solution is to figure out what that proper position is for you. This is as much personal as it is determined by your shape, size, and style. And to be honest, I had a hard time finding anything online about properly seated garments, much less a correctly hanging garment (more on that in a minute). What I found more often were things like this.

And the whole purpose of this "fit" was to show what fits well and what doesn't. Obviously, the Selfridges one looks the best, but here's the problem. The real truth is that none of these dresses fit well. Skin-tight is not a good nor acceptable fit. They show way too much information (TMI), and even if the lighting is perfect (which it hardly ever is), the dress looks way too tight. It's simply not flattering. But this is what's presented as OK. No wonder it's so confusing to figure out what a good hang and drape are.

So how in the world are you supposed to know what's flattering if this is the sort of thing presented as OK when it's really not. Or even better, what happens if this isn't your style or your look. You're working in a professional environment, and you want to be taken seriously for your brain, not your bra size. This doesn't portray that sort of look at all. 

So, where in the world is the seated position on your garment, and how do you find it. Here are some places to check out start. Remember, this is only a starting position because as you wear a garment, you may like to change some of these as you begin to become more defined about your seating position. And at the same time, these guidelines may do exactly what you want.

1. Look for the shoulder line. Your shoulder line should hit at the top of your shoulder. This may vary as you get older (doesn't everything!!!), especially if you have a more curved back. You'll want to keep that shoulder line more toward the backside of the top of your shoulder. There's nothing that will make you look older (except for a poorly supporting bra) that to have that shoulder seam ease toward the front. If your neckline doesn't fit in the back, put some darts in there - they can go from the shoulder seam to the shoulder point, or better from the neckline to the shoulder point. Here's an example of that. (I couldn't find anything on a female body because you're supposed to be ill-fitting or because you're supposed to be too thin to fit into these clothes or because your body isn't the right shape...BALDERDASH!!!! Those are not good reasons to not have a good fit! So I had to go to men's wear, where men expect a good fit....ugh!!!

 

This makes my point in spades. Here's a classic example of a poorly tilted jacket. You should see this clearly here, which means you can see it clearly on you....you simply have to know to look for it. 

In this instance, the jacket is literally pulled too far back, and the best solution is to pull it forward and then look at any irregularities. My bet is that the jacket on the left if pulled toward the front would solve some of the pull in the center front stance (the stance is the place on a jacket where the first button is) and solve that sleeve wrinkling problem.

2. Look at the garment's drape or hang cause this can often give you some really great clues. When I'm not familiar with a student or client, I will often drape the garment forward or backward to see if I can eliminate the problem (like in the jacket above). This also will give you a ton of information about how to solve the problem. Say you pull it forward, and that solves the draping problems, but your shoulder line is way forward. OK, simply draw a line where your shoulder line should be, and then that becomes the new shoulder line. 

3. It's essential to test a garment's anchoring or seated position with some typical everyday movements. Things like getting in and out of a car, carrying kids, groceries, books, briefcase or other daily activities that you would do 

This is an easy fix here, but what is important is to look at the tilt of your garment and how well the garment recovers after your movement. It's OK to make a minimal adjustment, but if you continuously have to make adjustments, even with simple movements, to get the garment anchored or seated again, that needs work. This usually requires some fit - possibly closer to the waist, closer to the shoulders, or something like that. This does not mean you need a skin-tight fit, and that's not what I'm talking about here. What's important is for you to move in the garment, for the garment ease to allow everyday movement. Obviously, everyday garments are not activewear that you would wear to the gym, so you're not going to exercise in the garment. Therefore it can have a little less ease than your activewear. That means you can have a little closer fit - not skin-tight, but closer. This will allow you to fit some areas to have a good recovery on the drape of a garment. 

As well as a forward or backward tilting garment, look at a garment that can have bowed or splayed problems. 

Bowed is a garment that the side-seams tend to hang toward the inside - like bowed legs. This usually means that there is too much fabric on the sides - generally at the shoulders. This will require that the shoulder seams need to be taken up more on the outside or at the armhole seam and remain the same at the shoulder seam's neckline point. This means you have to take the sleeve out and reinsert the sleeve, but moving the lower part of the sleeve down the amount, you have taken out of the shoulder seam. For example, if you take out 1", then you will have to drop your underarm point on the bodice about 1". 

Splayed is the garment side hangs spreading out. This means that there needs to be more added into the outside of the shoulder seam at the armhole edge. This is a little more challenging alteration to make because if you think the armhole is difficult, the neckline is just as hard, and I really like to stay away from that. Hopefully, you are doing this on a muslin that you can add fabric (I usually cut off a strip and zigzag it onto the fabric, then let out what I need and cut off at the seam allowance.)

More than anything, I wanted you to be aware that a tilt fitting issue like this isn't the end of the world. At the same time, this can be another tool in your fitting arsenal. Often, looking at the tilt of a garment can solve a myriad of fitting issues. And simply because a pattern says, "this line is the shoulder," doesn't mean that's where your shoulder is. 

So when you are working through your fitting challenges, think about the tilt and the drape and hang of the garment to help you work through some solutions in your fitting. 

 

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Sometimes best laid plans....my schedule went berserk on me on the 2nd and before I knew it, I was dealing with a couple of hinky situations that needed attention right then.  As a result I was putting out fires here and there and didn't get a chance to get online till late last night.  I apologize from the bottom of my heart and will make every effort not to do this again.  But the buck does stop with me, which means sometimes I over book and don't allow enough time for life's emergencies!

December Zoom with Claire

So I've rescheduled the Zoom with Claire for December 9th at 1pm CST and those of you who let me know before have already received your Zoom invitation.  If you haven't received one and want one, let me know - just return this email with Zoom Class in the title line and I'll get one too you. 

The new site is live - not everything is up there but can't wait to start blogging again.  Have a look and more will be coming! 
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On the Blog

An Important Notice

Fitting A Pattern to Your Body

Bust Dart