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Transcript:

Helen: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Caroline: Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.

Helen: And I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.

Caroline: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Helen: Join us for today’s special fitting episode with Alexandra Morgan of In-House Patterns.

Hello, Alexandra. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.

Alexandra: Thanks, Helen. It’s so great to be here. I really appreciate the opportunity to get introduced to your listeners.

Helen: Oh, we’re so excited to chat with you, and we have to thank you for all your work leading up to this episode, reviewing fitting questions and pictures with us, and planning this whole episode. We’re so excited, but can you start us off by introducing yourself to our listeners?

Alexandra: Absolutely. My name is Alexandra Morgan, and I teach pattern-making and fitting to people who love to sew. Um, I create sewing patterns, online courses, and free video tutorials for garment sewers who want to make their patterns fit and want to learn new pattern making skills.

Caroline: Awesome. And where are you from?

Alexandra: So I’m currently living on Vancouver Island, like Helen, um, but I grew up in Saskatchewan.

Caroline: Awesome fellow Canadian. We love that.

Alexandra: Yes.

Caroline: Can you tell our listeners, um, how, and when you learned to sew. We’d love to hear a little bit about your sewing story.

Alexandra: Absolutely. Um, well I grew up on the farm in Saskatchewan, so we were, kind of, you know, my mom didn’t drive or anything like that. So things that we had to do on the farm, besides the farm work type stuff, was really, um, kind of, uh, the hobby, sort of, stuff, so mom taught me how to sew and, uh, we had Barbie dolls, of course. And so my first sewing project, of course, was a tube top for Barbie.

Um, but I remember just growing up and just having the opportunity to, on weekends to, to sew, and, um, I remember probably the first big project that I made for myself was a dress for my sister’s graduation from high school, and I was 12 at the time, and it’s so funny because I still remember the color, the fabric, and the style of the dress, uh, that I made at that time. And, uh, it’s so funny how your first project is really so prevalent in your memory.

Caroline: Yeah, absolutely. My first project sticks with me, as well, so I can, I can totally relate to that. And so did you continue on, kind of, sewing through your teenage years? How did that go for you?

Alexandra: I did actually, um, there was definitely a gap there because I grew up, my teenage years were, kind of, in the eighties. So that’s when the whole, kind of, the branding and brand name designer, brand names came out. So it was, like, Jordache jeans or Club Monaco sweatshirts. So when you start to get that branding, like, the whole sewing thing, sort of, fell out of favor. So there was a lot of years where I wasn’t sewing at all.

Uh, but it was something that I always loved. So I ended up, you know, when I came to graduate from high school, my dad asked me, “Well, what are you going to do? You have to go to university.” Because he really believed in higher education. And, uh, I, so I went through the university catalog, and I just found the program for home economics which was a major in clothing and textiles, and I, kind of, took that route.

Um, and then I realized after, of course, uh, going through, I think I was in my second year and I said, what am I going to do with this, you know, clothing and textiles, cause it was a very university oriented program, so very theory-based. And uh, so I wasn’t actually doing a lot of sewing. Um, so after the two years, I was like, okay, I have to finish my degree because in the eighties, that’s what you did. You have to finish your education. And then after I finished that degree, I decided, okay, I’m going to take this further.

So what I did is, I went to design school in, uh, Toronto. And so I took the program there which was much more to my liking. I just absolutely loved studying design and, and the pattern making part of it. So, so, that, kind of, threw me into the fashion industry because of course, after I graduated from Ryerson, you have to work in the industry to actually gain experience.

So my background is really in the industry now, not so much in home sewing like it is now, but at the beginning I spent about 20 years, uh, you know, as a pattern maker, a designer, and a fit technician in the industry, so that’s where the, the basis or the foundation of my knowledge comes from.

Caroline: Very cool. Yeah. We were going to ask you about your, kind of, industry experience and was that all in Toronto?

Alexandra: Actually, most of it was kind of across the country as a matter of fact, because I started in Toronto, I had, it was difficult to find a job at that time when I graduated which was in the nineties. And, um, so I ended up, kind of, moving back home to Saskatchewan, and I did some work there for some really small companies. And then, then I ended up going to Calgary, and I worked for some outerwear companies in Calgary. And then I ended up moving to Vancouver where the bulk of my, um, industry experience comes from.

And I worked for a company in Vancouver for, gosh, I can’t even remember, maybe 10 years. And that’s where I was doing the fit technician work, for the most part, which is what my title was actually as a technical designer. And I managed that department at one point. Um, so it was really communicating with overseas manufacturers about fitting and patterns. Um, so that’s, that’s, kind of, where, where I learned, like I said, the bulk about fitting.

Helen: I’m so curious to know, like, what a day in the life of a fit technician looks like. Like, what kind of processes do you go through to fit those garments?

Alexandra: Yeah. So, um, in the industry, you use mannequins, uh, far more than you use, uh, dress forms, we call them, far more than you use actual fit models. So the fit models are there to, kind of, give you the essence of the garment, like what it looks like, how it, how to style it, and all of that stuff, and also to give you an idea about how the person is going to move in that garment.

But generally, you, kind of, just fit them. You put the garment on the dress form, and you, kind of, assess. Is everything where it should be? Is there any fitting issues that are there that you need to correct and communicate to an overseas factory? But it’s really the factory that does all the work. So it’s really almost, like, okay, you’re assessing the garment, but you’re not actually doing the work to correct it. You’re just telling the factory about it so that they can address those issues that you’re having with it.

So it’s, kind of, a back and forth communication over email, actually, at one point, when I first started my job there in Vancouver, we were actually sending things by fax, believe it or not. Um, but yeah, we, we did finally get into the email world and started sending photos and things like that.

Helen: So much faster.

Alexandra: Yes, very much so.

Helen: So at what point did you discover, I guess that there was a home sewing industry that might be of interest to you with your fitting expertise?

Alexandra: Well, there was a point, uh, when I was working at my job that I, sort of, was just like, I don’t know if I want to do this anymore. And I just thought I wanted to, sort of, explore this idea of making patterns for home sewers because what I had, sort of, felt when I was sewing is when I co-, cause when you come from the industry, there are certain efficiencies that you put into a sewing pattern that makes you sew faster and better and more efficiently. So these things are generally missing from sewing patterns or the traditional sewing patterns that I used at the time.

And I wanted to, sort of, introduce this idea to, um, home sewers, where, you know, if you use smaller seam allowances, you kept less trimming to do. There are lots of efficiencies that you can have when you, when you, kind of, think about: how is this going to be constructed in the most efficient way possible? So I originally was thinking that, so I started diving into this idea of creating sewing patterns for the home sewing industry. It didn’t really take off. And I think it’s just simply because, um, there’s not very much understanding about that, like, the connection of the fashion industry and the home sewing industry feels to me very wide apart. And perhaps I just didn’t know how to, um, market it or how to present it. That could have been a possibility, but I find that that, that conversation is hard to have in the home sewing industry. People are interested in it, but they’re, they’re, kind of, not really diving into it, so I’m not sure if that’s just my miscommunication of, of it or, or if there’s just no interest there. Just really quite, not sure about.

Helen: But you’ve pivoted into teaching fitting online with your online classes, which are really cool, so can you tell us a little bit about In-House Patterns and the courses that you offer?

Alexandra: Absolutely. Um, I started teaching online. Actually, I first started teaching when I moved to Vancouver Island. I started teaching in one of the colleges here, and I was terrified my first day. I think I was spent with butterflies about three months before I started teaching because I was so nervous about, about, kind of, being in front of a classroom and, sort of, telling people how to do things.

Um, but when I started, uh, the feedback from the students was so amazing. Like, they, they were so receptive to the things that I was teaching and talking and they somehow, whatever way I have of communicating, they seem to really understand. And, uh, I, when I got feedback about my teaching skills from the students because, of course, there’s always surveys, like, it was just out of this world kind and, and wonderful.

So that, that job lasted for a couple of years. And, of course, it was just, you know, one or two classes, so it wasn’t really a job that could sustain you in any way. So I started teaching home sewers at little, uh, shops. I don’t know if he knows there’s a place here called The Makehouse. They have classes and things like that for people. I started teaching pattern making there, and I really, really enjoyed putting the classes together and planning them and stuff. And so when, when that doesn’t, doesn’t quite, you know, pay the bills either, you, kind of, have to advance to something else. You have to add something else to the list of things that you’re doing.

So then going online really helped a lot because you could get a much wider audience and, and also, kind of, have more time to teach because all the video lessons are online. So you can actually finish your entire thought process in a video, and people get so much more from it than from, than, like, a small, you know, time-sensitive structured class, classroom, in-person classroom situation. So I found it really, um, kind of, fulfilling to be able to, kind of, share everything that I know, um, in the online format and have as much time as I needed to actually start and finish a class like a complete thought about how you should do something. So, um, this, the online thing really, really works well for me.

Um, right now I’m teaching, uh, I have three, just three online classes right now. I teach a Bodice Block class. I teach a Stretch Knit Bodice class, so a t-shirt class, which is, they’re both drafting classes. And the one that I’m going to be doing in January again is called Fitting Essentials. And it shares absolutely everything I know about fitting. And it’s an eight-week online program that I actually go through with the students. Um, so we have, uh, live sessions together where, you know, people ask questions and I share information in addition to all the video lessons that are inside the course. So those are the three that I’m doing, uh, right now.

I’m working on a pant fitting class, which is proving to be quite challenging as most people will probably recognize, but I think it’s going to be probably, I don’t know, I keep telling my husband that I feel like it’s going to be my legacy or my life’s work because it’s really, it was really challenging to get across, um, all the intricacies of pant fitting, but I’m working on it, and I’m really, really excited to get that out, oh, hopefully, next year. We’ll try.

Caroline: Oh, that’s so exciting, Alexandra. I know that from our experience doing a podcast and getting listeners emailing us, pants fitting is a huge, kind of, learning curve for some people. So I’m sure our listeners are going to be really excited to check out your course. And I think it’s so great that you’re doing online courses because longtime listeners might remember that you and I met a few years ago when you came to Blackbird to teach some fitting courses. And you’re such a great teacher and you have such a great structure and, kind of, refined process for fitting. So it’s so great that we can get that information online now and that you are giving people the opportunity to join these courses, um, from anywhere.

Alexandra: Yeah, I really, really enjoy that process, and I love being able to reach so many more people with the information I have because it is, it is different and, you know, the way I approach it is different than, kind of, it’s been traditionally approached.

Caroline: So, yeah. So, okay. We do want to talk about your fitting process before we, sort of, move on to that part of the show. I want to know, just, kind of, more of a broad question that I have for you is why do you think it’s important to have a garment that fits well?

Alexandra: Well, when a garment fits well, it’s comfortable. Um, you feel like yourself in it. Um, you’re not thinking about the garment. You’re, you’re, kind of, projecting your personality. When something doesn’t fit, you’re fidgeting. You, kind of, feel uncomfortable. You’re, you’re wondering what other people think of you. And I just, it’s really a psychological thing in my mind. And, um, at least that’s how I feel. I’m not sure how your listeners will feel about that, but I feel like it is so deeply rooted in, in your personality and, and how you feel about yourself. Um, when something fits, it’s just, it just feels like sunshine. I don’t know how else to put it.

Caroline: It’s true. You, kind of, glow a little bit more when you know your garment fits well, especially as a sewist.

Alexandra: Exactly.

Caroline: Yeah, no, I totally agree. And I think probably we have listeners that, that feel differently. I think we have, there’s so many different ways that you can approach sewing, and some people will care more about fitting and other people won’t. And I think as you move along in your sewing journey, maybe it’ll become a little bit more important. At the beginning, just making a garment is an accomplishment. And as you, kind of, move along in your sewing journey, it might become more important to have something that fits well and learn a little bit more about fitting and, kind of, discover the advantages of having a garment that fits well.

So we’re so excited to get into that topic with you today, Alexandra. And the first thing we want to mention is that you have a free fitting guide on your website that outlines your fitting process. So we’re going to make sure to link that in the show notes for our listeners, but can you just take us through your general fitting process?

Alexandra: Absolutely. So one of the things that I’ve found is that, um, just by teaching and even in my own experience, uh, fitting is, can be a real, really big emotional roller coaster. You know, when you start a sewing project, it always feels so exciting. You’ve got this beautiful fabric and this vision of what’s going to happen at the end. And then when you, kind of, run into fitting issues, um, kind of, all things stop, and you, sort of, sort of, lose that idea of the vision. So what I like to do, I, sort of, lessen that intensity of that roller coaster, that emotional roller coaster and put it in, sort of, a step-by-step form.

So the first step that, uh, I think you should always think about is take your body measurements and definitely choose your size from your body measurements. Now, when I say body measurements, I don’t necessarily mean your, uh, bust, your chest circumference, your waist circumference, your hip circumference. Those are definitely important, but I also want you to take measurements that are length measurements, like a really important one is the center back neck to waist measurement. These, kind of, help you put those, uh, levels of the, uh, of the body in the correct place for you. So to make sure that the chest or the bust level’s in the correct position where the waist level is, is in the right position and where the hip level is, is also really important. This puts the fitting of the garment in the right place. So take more than your bust or chest measurement and your waist and hip measurement. This will help you choose the size, but it doesn’t help you, um, kind of, complete the idea of how that garment is going to fit you, um, when it’s constructed.

Caroline: So interesting. Yeah. It’s not something that. We would traditionally think about, but it’s a great reminder to, kind of, take more measurements. And then do you then, kind of, compare that to the pattern itself?

Alexandra: Exactly. So that’s the next step is to measure the pattern and determine the ease in the pattern. Now I know that some patterns do have measurements written, like they have finished measurements which are great, but often they don’t have them all. So what I always suggest is, kind of, walk yourself through the pattern, spend a little time with the pattern, measure the pattern, and compare those pattern measurements for whatever size you chose to the body measurements that are supposed to be attributed for that size, so that you can understand how much ease is involved in that particular garment. And that, kind of, gives you an idea of the, the designer’s intent for that style. Is it going to be quite a bit loose fitting? Is it going to be snug fitting because of the amount of ease that’s there? So just, it, kind of, gives you a walkthrough of the designer’s intent for that style, if that makes sense.

Caroline: Yeah, it does. I wonder if you have, like, a, almost, like, a cheat sheet for what does a more tight fitting garment ease look like and what does a looser fitting garment ease look like? Is there a measurement that you, sort of, look for to determine fitting each?

Alexandra: Well, ease is a little bit tricky because it’s so personal. Um, there is general guidelines, for sure. Like, a snug fitting garment will be anywhere from zero to two inches of ease, kind of, semi-, semi-fitted would be between two and three. Um, most garments, like if you think about a basic block pattern, I always suggest that you have about three and a half to four inches of ease. And I’m sorry, I don’t have the centimeter equivalent to that on the top of my head. But, um, I usually do, but I don’t have it today, but so you just, kind of, want to have, sort of, this idea of a first, what the designer intended. And then when you know what that is, you have a better idea of what you will need for your garment on your body.

Helen: That makes so much sense. And, like, another thing that I’ve recommended to people in the past is to measure their clothes in their closet, too, because that can be another missing piece is maybe you’re not sure how much ease you actually do like, and in which case, you can try on some of your own garments and see how they fit in whether you like them and then measure those and see how much ease they have.

Alexandra: Absolutely. And as you, kind of, work through this, kind of, process, and you actually look at the patterns and you measure several types of patterns as you’re working, um, you will get to know what ease works for, what types of garments as well, you’ll know what you become comfortable with. Because like I said, it’s a very personal, personal thing.

Caroline: Awesome. Okay. So what would be the next step after you determined that fitting ease?

Alexandra: I always say, make your initial pattern adjustments. So initial pattern adjustments are the adjustments that you can make before you actually cut a sample. So I like to think of this as, sort of, preempting, at least, one sample because I know we don’t like to make a million samples all continually being in this sample making process. Um, so if you can, at all, kind of, figure out some of the adjustments that you can make to the pattern before you actually make a sample that you can test. It will, kind of, help you get a little bit closer at the outset.

Um, so some examples of initial pattern adjustments that you could make is, again, that waist length position, so that if you know the difference between the center back neck to waist of the pattern to what you need, you can make that change before you even sew a sample because you can make that measurement on the pattern.

Uh, another one is a cup size adjustment. Uh, if you know that the pattern that you’re working with is only available in a specific cup size, and you are not that cup size, you can make that before you sew. You already have that solved before you actually see it in the sample.

Caroline: Yeah. That’s a really good point. A fit adjustment that I often make to pants is just lengthening the rise right off the bat because I know that I usually need to do that. Um, so, but it makes so much sense to actually take those measurements to know for sure and really make it a little bit more accurate before you even sew your first sample. So, what’s next?

Alexandra: So the next one is then to cut and mark your sample. And when I say mark your sample, what I’m talking about there is, if at all possible, to mark your horizontal balance lines on your sample. So horizontal balance line is basically the crosswise grainline, but I like to put it at the level of the bust or chest, at the waist, and at the hip because this, kind of, tells you if those are going to align with those positions on your body. And I find it really helpful in creating, sort of, what we call a fitting grid so that you can actually see through by just, kind of, assessing where these lines are on your body where you need to add or remove length or where a contour issue might actually be on, on the garment because sometimes it’s difficult to diagnose, which we’ll see, um, in some of the photos that we’ll, we’ll be looking at today.

Caroline: Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. And you’re doing that on the flat fabric? Like, once you’ve cut out your sample, you kind of do that flat before you sew it up?

Alexandra: That’s correct.

Caroline: Yes. Okay. Right. Perfect.

Caroline: So the next step, of course, is to fit the samples that you’re going to ha-, sew up your sample and try it on, see how it looks. And I always suggest that you take fitting photos, especially. Most of us are on our own in our sewing rooms, and so these fitting photos, which you’ll see examples of, hopefully in the show notes, um, that, uh, if you do take a front, side, and back photo, you actually get to see yourself in the round, I like to say.

Because that way, um, you can view yourself, kind of, more objectively because when you’re standing in front of the mirror, it’s really easy to just only look at the front, right? Because that’s the part that we see. It’s very difficult to fit anything at the back because as soon as you turn and twist, everything changes. So that’s the reason I like to take fitting photos. And when, when you’re looking at your sample to be able to assess it yourself.

Just a warning though, about fitting photos, it does show often more issues than anybody will ever see. This has a tendency to, the camera really picks up those shadows and, and the drag lines. So we’ll always feel like it looks worse. So just a little tip there, don’t be overly concerned. Just, kind of, pick them away one step at a time which we’ll talk about in a bit.

Caroline: It’s so true. Especially when you’re using that, kind of, creamy colored muslin fabric. I feel like everything looks worse in muslin.

Alexandra: Absolutely, it does. It’s a fact, it does.

Caroline: Okay. So you’ve, kind of, looked at your sample on your body, taken pictures, and, kind of, determined what fitting adjustments you need to make. So what is the next step after that?

Alexandra: So the, the last step that I always say is, always go back to your pattern and then refine the fit. So whatever you discover on the sample that you’ve created, go back to fix your pattern with the adjustments that you think are necessary, and that’s going to help you kind of refine the fit over time if you need to. So, for instance, if you only want to make one or maybe two samples and like at sample number two, you’re like, this is pretty good. I’m totally okay with this. Adjust your pattern anyway because then when you go back to use that pattern again, hopefully, you can tweak something that maybe you want it to fix, but was okay, right?

So you can always keep that as a block or a basis for improving the fit of that particular garment. And when you get to a really good point where you’re totally happy with the fit, then you can actually use that particular pattern as a basis for creating other styles and other styles that you create from that pattern become automatically fitting you because you’re already starting with something that fits.

Caroline: Yeah. We know all about that. We love, we call it hacking pattern. So taking a pattern and, kind of, changing it up, adding different style lines or different details. Um, and it makes so much sense that once you get that pattern that fits perfectly, that you would then use it as the basis for other ones.

Alexandra: Yeah, I really highly recommend it because it’s so satisfying to, on the first sample that you created, fits and you feel good in it.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. So can you talk to us a little bit more about fitting order? Because I know this is a really important component to the process for you.

Alexandra: It absolutely is. And it’s the number one question I get is: what order do I make these adjustments in? So I want to start by first saying that when you are fitting tops, dresses, or jackets, you’re always going to start at the top of the garment and move down because fitting issues have this, what we call a, cascading effect, meaning that if you correct something at the neck, likely everything below it is going to change.

So if you start at the bottom, one of the one, kind of, big, I would call it a big mistake that people start with this is as soon as people see those, kind of, drag lines or that pooling fabric at their back waist, they automatically want to make a, uh, what they call a sway back adjustment. So I would suggest that you don’t start there because it’s really easy to jump to the most offending wrinkles, but if you start at the top of the garment and move down, those things might disappear as you start working.

Caroline: Oh, wow. That’s so interesting. And then what about for bottoms, like skirts or pants? Is there a particular order or is that, kind of, the same deal?

Alexandra: Yes. So pants are just only slightly different. With pants, you want to make length adjustments from the floor up. So this is because pants are, kind of, anchored by the crotch, right? The crotch level or that, that inseam measurement. And so if you change the length of pants from the bottom up, you’ll at least get all of those positions where the knee position is, where the thigh position is, where the crotch level is, where the hip level is. Those will all be in the right place.

And then from there you can make any other adjustments from the waistline down. So girth adjustments, if you need to increase or decrease the waist girth, for instance, you would start there and then move down the pant from that point. So there are some, uh, specific order of the adjustments that I want to talk about too.

Caroline: Perfect.

Helen: Great.

Caroline: So that’s going to be: first, solving all of your length adjustments first. So that’s just like I just spoke about with the pant length adjustments, then contour adjustments, and then you’re going to do width and then girth. And I want to explain what each of these mean because it, kind of, is, might be new language for everyone. So I always say girth comes last because it’s assumed that you’ve already chosen the correct size to begin with, okay? So just keep that in mind.

So, the first thing you’re going to do is change the length because length adjustments solve for your figure proportion. So what happens is they put the darts and the shaping in the garment in the correct level for your body, so that they address the shape of your body. And, um, these adjustments are usually made equally to the front and back. So if you make a length adjustments, for instance, if you raise the waistline on, on a dress, you want to make that the same on the front and back so that your side seams will continue to match. So that’s an example of length adjustments.

Okay. So, the second one is contour adjustments. These solve for the prominence of the curvy parts and always involve dart shaping. These can be visible or invisible darts, and invisible darts are those, kind of, shaping that you find in seams. Contour adjustments always change the width and length of the pattern and also increase or decrease the dart volume. So a really good example of this is a cup size adjustment.

Now, width is going to come next, and these adjustments always solve for the width of the body and are, kind of, try to accommodate the structure, your skeletal structure. So what that means is, uh, it could be a shoulder width adjustment or perhaps a cross front or a cross back adjustment will change the width of the pattern.

And of course, the last one, which should, everyone will be familiar with is really just changing the circumference or the amount of ease in a garment. And again, these are usually made equally on the front and back and usually at the side seam. Uh, so that just, kind of, makes the garment a little bit more slim fitting or looser, however you like it.

So that’s the order that I think is really important to work in length, contour, width, and then girth.

Helen: Amazing. That’s an awesome process. I know our listeners are probably very excited to hear that and have a little bit more direction with their fitting. And I like that you pointed out that girth comes last because in my experience with designing sewing patterns, we like to put in little fitting checkpoints, and we are usually changing girth at that point. It’s like, now’s a good time to take in the side seam if you want to. But beyond that, at that point where it’s cut out, there’s not a whole lot else you can do. You do need to go back to the fitting process that Alexandra outlined and change the pattern and then proceed from there.

Alexandra: Yeah, absolutely. So there is one, a couple other things that I just quickly wanted to mention that I think is really important. It’s, kind of, a little bit, uh, it might change your perspective a little bit. So, what I want to say is that when fitting, what you need to do is really think of it as negative space and measurement distribution. So, when I say negative space, what you’re, what you, you’re fitting, you’re actually fitting, uh, the inside of the garment to fit your body shape. So, the negative space is the space inside the garment that your body occupies. So, if you think about it in that terms, you’re trying to create this outward shell to match your body shape. Now, measurement distribution comes into play because it, kind of, segments, uh, a linear measurement.

So, an example of a measurement distribution would be this. If you and I have the same hip girth measurement, for example, let’s say it’s 40 inches. If you put your tape measure in a circle at that 40 inch mark, that tape measure can take any shape, right? So imagine this circle, this tape measure in a circle, you can actually, kind of, mold it into whatever shape you want. So, what’s important is where the measurement liesl, and it’s that distribution of measurement that creates the shape that you need for your personal body. So, also think about fitting in terms of negative space and measurement distribution.

Caroline: Amazing. Okay. So does that, kind of, cover everything that you would like to touch on before we move on to the most exciting part of this episode?

Alexandra: Yeah. Sorry. That was a lot of preamble, but…

Caroline: No, it was great.

Alexandra: Yeah. I just, kind of, wanted to set the stage because we will be going through the images in, kind of, this very, very similar way.

Caroline: Amazing. Yeah, I know our listeners are so excited to get your expert fitting advice, and we got some great submissions complete with photos of the garments that our listeners need help with. So we’re going to be describing the photos for everyone here on the podcast, but we will also have them in our show notes. So if you’d like to see the pictures while we’re talking or afterwards, you can go to lovetosewpodcast.com and click on the post for Episode 197. And yeah, let’s get started.

Helen: Alright, so Em wrote, “I attempted a bodice block, which is in the pictures enclosed. I see a lot of drag lines, but not sure how to correct them. Also, the fabric is stiffer cotton than I would choose for a final garment.”

Caroline: Awesome. Okay. Thank you for these fitting photos, Em. So, these pictures are of Em in a white, long sleeve woven shirt with a v-neck line, and the fabric does look pretty stiff. It looks like it might be a muslin fabric, aand there are darts in the front chest and waist and the back waist. And it looks like there’s excess fabric under the chest and at the curve of the back. There are drag lines going up towards the shoulders from under the arms, and the armscye hanging off the curve of the shoulder.

So, Alexandra, tell us your thoughts. How would you fix these issues?

Alexandra: Excellent. Okay. So now I just want to say that this is actually a really good first sample and is a really good example of having several issues occurring all at once. And when they all occur at once, it really makes identifying the issues confusing. So what I suggest that we do is we, kind of, methodically work through that fitting process that we just went through.

So, the first one I would like to talk about is perhaps the length. And to me, it, sort of, seems that the bodice length is just a little bit too long for you. And the reason I say that is because I can see that there are sort of horizontal wrinkles that are, kind of, showing at the sides of the garment.

So, when you have length issues, uh, what you want to do is sort of assess where that excess length may be coming from. So, what you’re going to do starting at the top of the garment is, kind of, assess if the bust level or the chest level, the darts, are pointing in the correct position, which to me, it appears that they are. So, that tells me that the length issue probably is occurring below that level.

So, I would suggest that perhaps, maybe raising the waistline to a little bit higher level on your body. Now, this is where, sort of, some personal idea of where you want that waistline to sit might come into play. So making that adjustment to the waist length, I would again, make it both front and back in then the equivalent amount. I don’t know how much you can just pin it up and see where it feels comfortable.

But if you want the waist level to sit where it is right now on this sample, you may need to actually consider increasing the girth of the waistline. And I say that so that the wrinkles will actually drop and fall away. When you increase the girth of the waist, you will end up, kind of, allowing the whole garment to, sort of, drop a little bit lower on your waist. But I think it needs to come up a little bit. So you can make that decision, by all means, on your own.

The next thing I would like to, sort of, maybe assess is contour issues. So, what I see here happening is perhaps a difference in the shoulder slope of the pattern compared to yours. So, whenever I see, sort of, diagonal wrinkles that run from the neck point to, sort of, pointing to, sort of, the underarm area on both the front and back. I really think that it really is a shoulder slope issue, meaning that you need to increase the slope of the shoulder line of the pattern so that you can pick up that fabric and remove those diagonal wrinkles.

So, what I would suggest you do is simply remove the sleeve. It’ll be easier to, sort of, determine how much you need to bring it up when the sleeve is not there. And quite honestly, I feel like your sleeve fits very well. So, uh, I think I’d like you to keep the sleeve as is, which means that if you pick up that shoulder line of the seam line there, you’ll probably have to drop your arm hole a little bit. And I’ve actually given you a little sketch that shows you how to do that, a little pattern alteration sketch, which I think Caroline and Helen will put in the show notes there for you. Um, I think that’s going to really, really pick things up for you.

Caroline: Yes, we have, um, this adjustment that we’re definitely going to include in the show notes for you, Em. This is so helpful, and it’s so great. I really encourage our listeners to look at the photos, if you can, while Alexandra is walking through these adjustments cause you can really visualize what she’s talking about. Um, but yeah, it sounds like these adjustments might fix some of these issues for Em.

Alexandra: Yeah. There is one more that I would just suggest if we actually go through the width here, it does look like the shoulders a little bit wide for you. So you might want to bring those in a little bit. I almost always suggest that you test this though with the sleeve back in because sometimes you need more ease across the shoulder, then you actually, um, you know, by measurement you might think it’s okay, but in order to move your arms, you need a little bit more, so assess that, kind of, last.

Caroline: And Alexandra, would you make all of these adjustments, kind of, all in a row and then make another sample? Or would you do one at a time?

Alexandra: Well, it’s kind of up to you. So, what I like to do is use the sample for as long as I can. So, what I would do is make that first adjustment for that length adjustment to raise the waistline. You can just pin it up on this sample to begin with to see if that’s going to work for you, if you like that. And then, you can probably, if you remove the sleeves on this sample and then raise up that shoulder line, you’ll probably be able to tell if that’s working. Now, since you have to lower the arm hole, that means you’re going to have to do a little bit bigger adjustment. So, at that point, I might change my pattern and make a new sample. Um, so it’s kind of, you, you want to keep track of the adjustments that you’re making and always go back to your pattern and to see if that adjustment is actually possible the way you intend to do it on, on your pattern and the result that you’re going to get on your sample.

Caroline: Okay, fabulous. That sounds great. I think, are we ready to move on to Eve’s question?

Alexandra: So the only other one thing I wanted to say about Em was just, going back to girth, since we’re doing everything in order. So, just review again, the girth of the, of the waistline to, if you wanted to keep that waistline in this position, then you may not need to, to release it. And there’s just one other thing. You can actually raise the dart points in the back of the garment a little bit. It will actually clean up some of the excess width you have in, in the back as well.

And I just want to also make a note a little bit about asymmetry. You always can, sort of, see asymmetry in a garment when the wrinkles appear differently on one side of the body than the other. And I always say, don’t worry overly much about asymmetries in your garment because when you try to tackle them and make them exactly to follow your body’s asymmetries, often it will actually draw more attention to it. And also it makes sewing and pattern making a lot harder. So I always say, if you can all avoid, kind of, worrying about these asymmetries in the garment, kind of, let it be because we all have wrinkles when we wear garments, when you’re moving around, and actually, you know, living life, it’s okay for your garment to have wrinkles.

Caroline: That’s so comforting.

Alexandra: And coming from me, no one will believe that.

Helen: That’s a great reminder. Um, I always have to remind myself of that when I’m assessing my own fitting issues. I’m like, is this a real problem? Or just what I’m seeing in the mirror?

Alexandra: Yeah, exactly. Um, cause sometimes we do take it too far, and we call that over fitting.

Helen: Alright, our next question is from Eve, “Hello, Alexandra, my fitting issues are many. This is my first sewing project.”

Congratulations, Eve!

“And it is a camisole. It fits me like a bag. The bust dart point is way off. It gapes at the neck. I have drag lines at the side. I can’t get the strap placement right, they slip off my arms. I am not ready to give up yet, but I am quite frustrated. Do I need to move on to another first project? Or should I stick with this one and keep trying? What do you suggest?”

Caroline: So these photos show Eve in a white satin camisole with wide straps and chest darts, and there’s definitely some fabric bunching at the curve of the back, and the darts are pointing out at the sides instead of laying smooth over the chest. So I am dying to know how you would fix these issues, Alexandra. Walk us through it.

Alexandra: Yeah. So Eve, welcome to garment sewing. I totally hear you about the frustration point. Um, but I’m glad you are not ready to give up because your first project is going to be your best learning opportunity. And hopefully, I can help you here, um, with some of the suggestions that I have.

So first, if we look at the length, um, so you mentioned that the dart position or dart position point is too high. So you’ve already identified, uh, that the dart point is just not sitting in the correct position for you. So this usually will mean that the bust or the chest level is just too high for you. So what I suggest you do is maybe lengthen the straps until the dart point is sitting in the correct position for you. So whatever you assess that to be, that’s fine. Just make a decision.

If the neckline becomes too low for your comfort, what this means is that you’ll probably need to add length to the bodice above the bust line. Um, not just lengthen the straps. Um, what you’ll want to do is take a note of how much you’ve lengthened the straps and then make this change to the front and back bodice length instead. And I have also given you a little sketch that you can work from. I have two options there for you actually. Now when you do this, your entire garment will drop to a lower point on your body, and you’ll likely find that there’ll be less neckline gape and, uh, fewer wrinkles at the side of the bust. So that’s the first one, that I’d suggest.

The next one I want you to do after you make that adjustment is I want you to consider, uh, the cup size. So I’m not sure if you have made a cup size adjustment or not. Um, but assess whether that’s something that you’re going to need. And how you’re going to assess that is if you still have these diagonal wrinkles at the side, after that bust start is in the correct position and if you still have that little bit of pooling at the back waist, these are classic signs of needing a larger cup size in, in the garment. So assess that. And if there is that problem, then consider if you need to maybe go up a cup size for your pattern.

Um, the next one would be your strap position cause you did mention that they, they are slipping off of your shoulders. So it is very likely that once you correct this, uh, the dart position, and if you need a cup size adjustment, that’s going to change how your straps are gonna fit. So that’s something that you’ll just need to assess after those, those adjustments. And again, I also think any girth adjustments will, will come to light because you know that a cup size adjustment will change the width of the garment which will ultimately change the girth. So, um, it’s something that’s gonna adjust, and you’ll have to assess on your next sample.

Caroline: Okay. So it sounds like these are going to help Eve quite a bit. Do you have any other thoughts or advice for Eve as they walk through this process?

Alexandra: Um, I think, uh, once you, once you put those things in, in the correct place, you’re going to, your garment is going to change, like, how it fits is going to dramatically change. So once you do at least that, uh, putting the dar point position in the correct place and perhaps doing a cup size adjustment, you’ll probably find that it’s probably gonna fit a lot better. Just those two adjustments.

So that’s one other thing that I can say is that often when we look at a garment, we think that there’s going to be a million things to do. Um, but sometimes it could be one or just two adjustments that, kind of, put everything in the right place.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. That’s so true. Awesome. Okay. Let’s move on. We have a question from Lisa.

Helen: Lisa says, ”This top is the Glenelly Top from Itch to Stitch. It has a beautiful square neckline and raglan sleeves. It fits perfectly at the front, but the back is too big at the neckline. I don’t want a center back seam, and I don’t know if I need a small shoulder adjustment. I have a 3″ difference between my high bust and full bust. Can you help?”

Caroline: Alright, Lisa, this is exciting because we have our first knit garment of the day. So these photos are of Lisa in a white t-shirt with a square neckline and short raglan sleeves. And as I mentioned, it’s made in a knit fabric, and there’s extra fabric hanging at the back neckline. It looks a little bit like a cowl neck at the back, and there are drag lines going from under the shoulders that point to the neck. And there’s some fabric bunching at the small of the back. So Alexandra, how would you work on these fit issues?

Alexandra: So t-shirts are definitely be challenging because of the stretch in the fabric takes the place of darts and fitting seams. So what the designer intends to do is, sort of, um, eliminate all of those fitting elements and rely on the stretch in the fabric to create the fit. So when you get a raglan sleeve style like this, there’s usually, um, a dart in the shoulder line of a raglan sleeve, and this is eliminated in knits.

So what I see here is a shoulder slope issue. Now this is probably something that you’ve never even considered, but what can happen when the shoulder slope is too steep for you, in other words, it’s too angled. It can actually cause the neckline to sit up high around your neckline. So I suspect that this is what’s causing this, this issue that you have at the back neckline area. So I have actually given you a illustration of how to solve this, um, because it’s not, kind of, intuitive.

Um, so there’s a couple of illustrations, or options of illustrations, to correct the shoulder slope, um, for your sample. I would start there first and make another sample and see if that’s, uh, gonna solve the issue for you that you’re seeing. Now I do want to, uh, you did mention that you, your cup size, um, is, calculates actually to a C cup, uh, in the sewing world. So, um, you might want to just double check to see if that cup size is working for you. And the only reason I suggest this is because I can see that there’s some tension across the chest and some pooling at the back waist there.

And as I said, this is really a classic sign of needing a cup size adjustment, when you see sort of these diagonal draglines at the side of the bust, pooling at the back waist, and, sort of, tightness across the front chest area. This is, kind of, classic signs. So just double-check and see if perhaps a cup size adjustment might be, um, advantageous for you. And then, of course, the girth will change when you make that cup size adjustment. So you’ll just want to assess if that’s still working for you.

Caroline: Okay. Interesting. So the, the pooling at the back is potentially related to the cup size, and once that adjustment is made, if they’re still pooling at the back, do you have any recommendations on how to fix that? Or is that just, kind of, a natural thing that t-shirts tend to do?

Alexandra: T-shirts do tend to do this because there are no, um, kind of, fitting lines at the back, and we’re, all, almost always have that curvature in our back, right? So it does tend to create it, but I always consider this, I call it a balance issue.

So a balance issue is when the front isn’t long enough for the back. So if you think about a, um, the scales where you have the two weights on either side. One side of the garment is not long enough. So if the front were longer, the back would swing toward the back and the side seam would also swing toward the back.

And when that happens, the back hem of the garment doesn’t sit up against your bum and doesn’t crawl up your back because it’s, there’s just too much tension across the back. Almost always, it’s this type of balance issue. That’s the problem. I do have, um, uh, a video that I talked about, garment balance, um, I dunno. I’ll try to, try to, um, pass along to you guys.

Caroline: Perfect. Yeah. If you can find that we’ll, we’ll definitely include that in the show notes. So do you have any other thoughts for Lisa before we move on?

Alexandra: I think, in general, like, the girth measurements that look really good. I know. I think that you may have suggested that you thought maybe you needed a, uh, is it a wider shoulder or narrow shoulder adjustment? Um, this is something that, uh, you can definitely assess this after you make that shoulder slope adjustment. Everything is going to change when you shoulder slope adjustment.

Caroline: Perfect. Okay, great. Well, good luck, Lisa. And our next question is from Erin.

Helen: Erin writes, “I’ve got some tricky pants draglines I need help with. The photos attached are Anna Allen Persephone pants. Basically, it looks like a vacuum is sucking my back crotch curve through towards the front. I always seem to have excess fabric coming from the bottom of the crotch curve up toward my hip and waist. I have tried flat seat adjustments, extending crotch curves, knock knee/full thigh adjustments, scooping for a low butt. Nothing has fixed it yet. I did recently came across a full thigh adjustment from Colette that doesn’t lengthen the crotch curve. I haven’t had a chance to try that yet. Maybe that’s the solution? Please help! PS – my crotch curves feel like they’re the right length when I’m wearing them, but maybe they aren’t though? I don’t know!”

Caroline: This is so relatable. It’s like, I can, I can feel the stress of pants fitting from this email. Um, okay. So these pictures are of Erin wearing pants in a denim, it’s kinda like a railroad stripe denim, and the pants are closely fitted through the waist and hips with wide legs, and they close with a button and zip fly and have darts only in the back. I think Erin described the issue pretty well in their email. The fabric at the back crotch is, sort of, bunching up. So yeah, I can’t wait to hear what you think of this one, Alexandra.

Alexandra: I was so excited to see this one. I actually saw this one on Instagram first, and I actually asked her to send it in because it is such a good example of this, this issue that I’m hoping, Erin, that this will solve it for you. So, first of all, Erin, I think you’ve actually achieved a really good fit considering that this particular pattern doesn’t have side seams. So when you take out a side seam, you take out a fitting seam. So a way of actually reducing the waist girth, the transition from that hip to the waist, um, at the side seam, so it becomes straight.

So all of the fitting has to be done through the center front and center back seam as well as, uh, there is one dart there in the back. So that’s a lot of fitting to do in just those two seams. So that’s one of the things. So it’s the angle of the center back seam that is actually causing, I think, this bunching look that you’re seeing because I can tell from your email that you’ve tried everything else. So I do have some suggestions for you here.

Actually, I do want to point out another thing. I just see this in my notes that I’ll bet, Erin, if you were to stand with your feet kind of wide apart, I bet you those wrinkles would go away. So if you were to stand in a wide leg stance, a bunch of those will, kind of, all release on the front ones, which are actually, you’ve achieved a very good fit on the front, considering how angled the center front seam is. Um, so I would actually leave the front as is, I think you’ve achieved something very, you know, very, very good for how angled that center front seam is.

But, at the back, what I suggest you do is reduce the angle of the center back seam either by introducing a second dart to the back or possibly increasing the volume of that original dart. Um, because what will happen is you’ll allow the fabric to come away from the center back, but you can take up the excess that you add at center back with that dart. So you’re actually giving a little bit more fitting duty to the darts instead of all at the center back. And I have a feeling that those wrinkles will really, sort of, dissipate a little bit, um, when you do that, now,

This is very typical of jeans fitting to have a lot of fitting in the center back seam, so it’s not a problem with the pattern. The pattern is perfectly fine. It’s just the transition that the pattern needs to make from your hip to your waist, um, is, it’s just too much for that one seam to handle, um, in terms of all the fittings. So adding another dart is gonna I think, make it beautiful and maybe increasing the size of the other dart. I do have a image that I show you which is keeping just the single dart and just increasing its volume, but you can definitely add a secondary dart, um, if you feel like you want to improve the fit of the back there even more.

Caroline: Excellent. Thank you. And yeah, Helen and I were looking at these photos when we were prepping, and totally I’m totally in agreement that I think, Erin, these look great considering there’s no side seam in these pants. And we were, kind of, like, they’re not that bad. Like, I wouldn’t feel terribly bothered with this fit in pants. So with these small adjustments, hopefully you’ll be really happy with them, Erin.

Alexandra: Yes. I hope so, too. Because like I said, they, they you’ve achieved something really, really good again, without the side seam. When, they’re, the less fitting opportunities you have, the more you have to, sort of, allow yourself the okayness of there being some wrinkles because that’s just the, the way the fabric has to hang on your body with those particular fitting pieces there.

Helen: Uh, this is so interesting. I’m so enjoying listening to you talk about these adjustments and especially just the correlation between different areas of the garment because looking at these pictures, you might think the adjustment needs to happen on that lower crotch curve or on that thigh inseam. But in actuality, it’s up at the top of the waist and in that dart, and it’s so cool to realize that other areas of the garment, kind of, cascade down, as you were saying at the beginning of the episode, and affect the areas that you’re actually seeing the issue on. Very cool to learn about.

Alexandra: Yeah. And actually, the other reason I love that Erin sent this photo in is because it, she also has a stripe style which also gives you an idea about, um, that the vertical balance lines of, on a pattern. Um, so you can actually see, physically see, when you look at the photograph, how angled that center back and center front seam is because the stripe is really pitching in toward the center front and center back.

Anyway, so that’s, that’s just something that I think is really, and also you actually see even the, uh, kind of, the curvature that, uh, the side with the grainline of the fabric is taking out the side seam. So it’s really a great study and, in kind, of that relationship.

Helen: Mhm, totally. Alright, well, we’ve got more pants coming up. Next, we have Amy who says, “I’m sending views from my Mountain View jeans muslin. I’ve used a stretch denim as required in the pattern and also used vertical and horizontal lines for fitting as recommended in some of Alexandra’s videos. I’m concerned about the drag lines at the crotch on the front and now that I’m looking, perhaps the back doesn’t fit so well either. I didn’t do a full tummy adjustment cause the stretch denim seems to accommodate my tummy bulge and is not uncomfortable. What am I doing wrong?”

Caroline: Alright. So these pictures are of Amy wearing close-fitting, stretch jeans that are cut off above the knee. And they’re pull on jeans with no closures. There are drag lines radiating horizontally from the crotch, and there’s some extra fabric at the back of the pants under the rear. So Alexandra, how would you correct these issues?

Alexandra: Okay. So again, thanks Amy, for, for sending these in. This is a really good example of, kind of, sharing, kind of, a different concept that’s probably not covered in a lot of fitting books. So what I think is happening at the front there, Amy, is that I think that the crotch level is not high enough for you. So, this, in the reverse, is basically the front crotch seam is too long for you. What I would suggest you do is actually shift that front crotch point up so that it sits higher and closer to your body at the front.

Now it might not feel like it’s low, but because the entire seam line length from front to back might feel okay. But I think that that front crotch point needs to come up to get, sort of, shorten the front rise and reduce the amount of wrinkles there. I think that you are right, that, that the stretch in the fabric is definitely accommodating your tummy. That’s something again that you can assess after you move that crotch point up. And again, I think I have an illustration here available for you, too, cause I know it’s this, this alteration is a little bit, um, probably new to a lot of people.

Uh, so that basically means is that your front rise is too long. I want you to, to bring that up a little bit. Now, when you bring that up, it’s going to make your front inseam of the pant longer than the back which is normal. So you want it to be about three-eighths of an inch for most, kind of, standard pants. So in other words, the back inseam is going to be shorter than the front end seam to the knee level by about three-eighths of an inch. Now in jeans, what tends to happen is you likely need more than that. So if, even if it’s shorter by an inch, you can probably still accommodate that.

So you don’t need to make any change to the back as long as you’re within that range of three-eighths to one inch shorter than the front inseam to the knee level. Does that make sense?

Helen: Yes. This is a great example of where notching is important. We talk on the podcast about notching a lot, and of course, the temptation to skip notches is always high, but when you’re sewing pants, you need that notch inseam because it tells you where you’re going to need to start easing in that fabric, and you want it to be in between those notches. So if you’re not sure, mark your notches because they can be very helpful in certain cases.

Alexandra: Absolutely. I’m a big fan of notches. So that is the one adjustment I would suggest, and that’s going to probably solve for your friend. And as I said, I don’t think that the tummy that you’re talking about is any issue at all. I think that the fabric has probably accommodated for it. What can happen though that might create these wrinkles at the front, too, is if the fabric is, is quite stretchy, what might happen is that the stretchiness, the lengthwise stretch in, in the front rise. It’s going to, kind of, pool under, under your tummy area. So again, that’s still a too long front, front rise. So that adjustment that we talked about should still be okay.

Now, the other thing, cause you did mention the back a little bit and I feel like possibly we can, um, improve this a little bit for you. I want you to, sort of, review the crotch curve shape.

What you want to do is sort of put the front and back pant legs together at the inseam and make sure that you have a really nice smooth curve that’s transitioning through that inseam, and make sure that’s working. Now, after you do that what I want you to try doing is possibly giving yourself a little bit more negative space in the back crotch. Now I have supplied an illustration for this because this is really, kind of, difficult to, um, to explain in words. Um, but basically what I want you to try is try removing fabric from the center back seam and adding it to the side seam.

And I’ve showed you how to do that in, in the illustration because what I’m seeing is that the wrinkles that you’re having, kind of, under your bum are, kind of, pointing to your outside hip area. So that’s, kind of, telling me that perhaps you need more fabric on the side and less in the center. Now, when you remove fabric from the center back seam on jeans, you’re actually making your crotch extension greater because you’re creating more space there. And the illustration that I’ve provided, I’ve also given you, kind of, a dotted line that shows you where the original pattern might’ve been and where your new alteration will take that pattern. So I think it’ll be clearer, um, in, in the image.

Caroline: Yeah.

Alexandra: What do you think?

Caroline: These images are so, so helpful when you’re walking through these adjustments and I have not heard of that adjustment of moving that volume from the center to the side seam, but it makes so much sense. And I, kind of, want to have updates on these fitting issues and hear back from listeners and see pictures of them after because it’s so cool to hear you walk through all of these adjustments.

Alexandra: Yes. I was thinking the same thing. So, um, hopefully what I’m offering in terms of suggestions is going to be helpful cause I, yeah, I would absolutely love to see the results of the changes if they’re made so.

Caroline: Well, if we ever get any follow-up images, we’ll be sure to share them with you, Alexandra, and maybe, um, with our listeners with permission as well.

Alexandra: Yeah, that would be great. So the only other thing, Amy, I would say is just, double-check your overall total crotch length, so from center front to center back through the legs and just compare that to the pattern because that’ll also give you an idea if you need to possibly maybe scoop the back crotch curve a little bit lower, um, that might also give you a little bit more, um, negative space in that crotch curve area as well. So just something to think about. It might be an additional thing that you might want to try.

Caroline: Okay. Fabulous. Thanks, Alexandra. And thanks Amy for sending in these photos. So we have one last pants fitting question to round out this episode.

Helen: Yes. This one comes from Tina, “Thank you so much for this opportunity to share a troublesome fitting issue with your subscribers. I suspect that you will be flooded with pants photos…”

You’re not wrong, Tina.

“Here are mine. I have tried many methods for getting pants to play nicely with my generous bottom; I hope to find a new strategy here.”

Thank you for sending in your fitting photos, Tina.

Caroline: Yes. So in these pictures Tina’s wearing a gray straight-leg pants in a non-stretch fabric. It looks like they have slash pockets in the front, patch pockets in the back, and they close with a button and zipper fly. So there are some drag lines going from the middle of the waist to the outer seam at the hips. And there’s extra fabric pooling at the back under the rear, making drag lines that go from the outer seam at the hips to the knees at the inseam. So I’m very curious to know how you would crack these issues, Alexandra.

Alexandra: Okay. So Tina, you’ve done a really great job actually, but you’re actually really close to a good fit here. So for you, I think your length, um, problems or issues were all solved. I don’t think there’s any issues there. So I would say that most of the pant fitting issues that you have are contour issues.

Um, so we’ll first start with this idea of measurement distribution. So what I’d like you to take a look at is the angle of your center front seam because we see that, sort of, diagonal, kind of, dragline or wrinkle that’s going from, you know, the waistline or the center front area toward the sides of your hips, sort of, thing. So it’s possible that you may need to make a straighter center front line on your, on your pant. This will actually give you a little bit more ease in the tummy area without actually having to do, like, a tummy adjustment or anything like that.

I’d also like you to just double check to make sure the, the side shaping in the high hip area is actually following you because that’s one area that we often forget. We have a hip measurement, and we have a waist measurement, but we often forget about what’s happening in between in terms of the shape of our body or the silhouette of our body. So just double check that area and see if you can adjust things in that area. I have a feeling that some of the wrinkles will disappear there.

Now I think that there is a little bit of fullness at the front crotch area. So what I would suggest you do is possibly remove some measurement from the crotch extension at the front and add it back at the side seam. And again, I have an illustration that, sort of, describes this or shows how to do this. And it’s basically, you’re going to cut a box around that front crotch extension corner and shift it in toward the outside of your body, and then, the side seam area, you’re going to shift it out. So, you’re going to just basically change the distribution of the fabric in the front part of the pant. Does that make sense?

Caroline: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And looking at the visual photo of Tina here, I can totally see what you’re talking about, so that is a great suggestion. Thank you.

Alexandra: Okay. So, basically what will happen at that, it will probably just rearrange the fabric a little bit differently on the front there. Now the last one that I have for you is similar to what I suggested with Amy. I feel like perhaps you need a little bit more negative crotch curve space. So, again, it’s a matter of removing fabric from the center back and adding it at the side seam. So it’s really just a shift in the upper part of, of the pant so that you can alleviate those wrinkles that are coming, kind of, from the inside inner part of the knee and extending up to the outside of your hip. So again, it’s really a distribution of the fabric in a different way on your body. And so it’s, again, it’s a distribution of measurement and again, that illustration is also included. So I think that will probably be pretty clear to you.

Um, but like I said, when you have pants and you like the thigh girth, there, really the only way that you can, um, kind of, change the distribution of measurement around that area is to shift the fabric from the center back and add it to the side. Or the other option, of course, is to increase what I call the wedge in, in the back pant leg. But I don’t think that your wedge needs to be larger at all. I think it’s just a distribution of a little bit more fabric at the side and less at the center.

Caroline: Alright. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. Do you have any final thoughts for Tina?

Alexandra: Um, I think that those adjustments are probably going to solve what you have here. So, um, uh, I hope that works. I really do.

Caroline: Yeah, me too. Okay. Well that wraps up our fitting photos and suggested, uh, adjustments for the episode.

Helen: Yes. Before we let you go, I have a question that’s related to just all of the fields that go along with fitting, and we were wondering if you had any tips on how to be kind to ourselves when we’re faced with fitting issues.

Alexandra: Oh, my goodness. Um, what I have found quite honestly, is that with myself, because I’ve always been really hard on myself. I grew up in the eighties when supermodels started, right? So you’re constantly comparing yourself to something outside of yourself. And what I found as I’ve aged, is that, and, and that’s another thing that happens as you age, your body changes even more and you’re even, it feels like you’re further away from what I ever ideal is supposed to be out there.

But I feel like, as I’ve started to really take fitting photos and understand my body in terms of its silhouette, its shape and, and being able to build garments that actually, um, I feel good in, and, and I feel like, look good on me. Um, your whole mindset, sort of, changes you get used to seeing your body, not someone else’s, and you start comparing, uh, clothing to what you feel looks good on you, not comparing yourself to, oh, that looks great on that person who has, you know, a shape that is nothing like my own. So I find that you, sort of, get comfortable by showing yourself to yourself. If that makes any sense.

Helen: Yes, it’s something we may not have a lot of practice in. And for beginners, I know it can be really challenging and daunting, as well, because not only do you have to face some things that maybe you’re not used to facing, but also, there’s a lot of knowledge that you need to gain through the practice of fitting. So it can be a long road but also a very rewarding one.

Alexandra: It really is. I, I feel like it’s really changed, it really helped me accept, accept what I have, what I, what I create for myself because again, it’s an image that I’m seeing of myself. And so when I’m looking at clothing, I already have an image of myself in my mind, not of some, um, you know, unrealistic, ideal that, that, you know, society or magazines or whatever has put into my mind. It’s, it’s actually me, instead of some ideal.

Caroline: Yeah. So many parts of sewing allow us to know ourselves better, get to know our own preferences with fit and clothes and just, yeah, just, kind of, as a self discovery process, so that makes a lot of sense. And this has been so helpful, Alexandra, before you go, we’d like to ask you one more thing and that is, if you could share one piece of advice for our listeners who are struggling with fitting, what would that be?

Alexandra: Let me see, I had, like, three little notes here, but…

Helen: Three is good.

Alexandra: I said, I think one of the most important things is, is to, sort of, again, just talking about, um, understanding your own fitting needs, you know, do, just take some photos like a front, side, and back photo and sort of just take a look at your shape and see where your curves are located. See the balance of your body and, sort of, understand that, that the pattern is never going to be exactly right for you. You’re going to have to create that yourself. So understanding the, the model that you’re working with, is going to be so, so helpful.

And I would say that once you understand that, spend some time with the pattern that you want to work with, because the pattern, again, gives you a clue as to the designer’s intent in terms of, you know, how it’s, it’s supposed to fit, how it’s supposed to hang. You can absolutely change that. But if you understand the intent first, it makes it easier to know what to do for yourself. So that’s what I would say about that.

And then honestly, make initial pattern adjustments, if you can. So anything that you, kind of, are absolutely sure about that, you know you have to do, just do them ahead of time because it’s going to, not only quicken the process, it’s going to quicken that, that fitting process, but you won’t be, kind of, in this, uh, tailspin of, of constantly making samples which we can very easily get into.

And then I always say, if you can find them at all, uh, draw those balance lines on your pattern. They don’t have to be at the bust, waist, and hip. They can be at just the, the grainline of the pattern. So the vertical and the horizontal grainline of the pattern will still give you clues. It’s, consider it a fitting grid that will help you, sort of, isolate the areas that you need to work on.

Caroline: Amazing. Thank you so much, Alexandra. Tell our listeners where they can find you online.

Alexandra: Yes, you can find me at inhousepatternstudio.com. There’s tons of free fitting and pattern making tutorials there already. You’ll also get, um, kind of, introduction into any of the courses that you might be interested in, of course, as well. Um, and yeah, that’s, that’s big that you can find me anywhere if you just type in, In-House Patterns.

Caroline: And we’ll link all of that up in the show notes for everyone, along with all these photos and links for everything we talked about today. Thank you so much, Alexandra, for coming on the show. This was so much fun, and I’m sure our listeners are going to get a lot out of this episode.

Alexandra: Oh, I hope so. Uh, my intention is always to help as much as I can. I really enjoy talking to you both. And thanks so much for having me on. I really, really appreciate it.

Caroline: Aw, thank you so much.

Helen: Thanks. Buh-bye.

Alexandra: Buh-bye.

Helen: That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me Helen at helensclosetpatterns.com and Caroline at blackbirdfabrics.com. We’re recording in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Caroline: Go to lovetosewpodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, send us an email at hello@lovetosewpodcast.com.

Helen: If you love Love to Sew and you want more, you can sign up for our Patreon. For $5 a month, you’ll get a full length bonus episode and weekly behind the scenes pics. For $10 a month, you get all that plus a mini episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off discount codes for Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics. Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making this quality sewing content. Also, if you’ll miss us during our off season, you get more of us over on Patreon, and we’d love to have you there. Go to patrion.com/lovetosew for more info.

Caroline: And thanks to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore is our editor. And Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you for listening and for an amazing season of Love to Sew. We will see you next year.

Helen: Buh-bye. See you in the new year.

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