I always find it helpful to see the process that others go through to get to the perfect fit, so I thought I'd share a bit of my process. Of course, the disclaimer need be said - this is the way I do it, not the only or even the best way, so I'd love any input about your personal fit journey and what works for you.
I am a big fan of
FFRP, and I HATE making muslins, so I do most of my fitting on the pattern tissue. I'm also an inveterate tracer, so all of my patterns are traced onto soil separator fabric before I start. The great thing about that is that I can just baste together my main pattern pieces and go from there. The above image is the front of my dress, without sleeves, collar, pocket, cuffs and facings. This
pattern is cup sized, so I didn't have to do an FBA. I cut a size 10 with the D cup front and blended out to a 12 at the waist and down to the hem. As you can see, the fit is pretty good!
The back. Perfect! I pinned it to my dressform for you to see, but I actually fit it on myself and use a full length mirror, with a hand mirror to check out the back. While fitting it on myself, I pin the pattern to my bra strap at center back to keep it in place. Since I'm essentially trying on my dress, I can check things like hem length and such at this point as well.
For some reason I tend to have too much length at CF, so that little tuck you see is a typical alteration for me. I'll take that little wedge out of the pattern piece and straighten out the CF lines if needed. Poof, no neckline gaposis!
I think I'm ready to cut fabric!
ETA: Karin asked about the soil separator fabric that I use for tracing. I meant to talk a little about it because I LOVE IT! It is a plumbing product that is used in septic systems. In the states, you can get it at some hardware stores, although my local shops don't carry it, so I order it online. The kind I am using right now is made by Hancor. I order it from amazon.com, where it is called "geotextile fabric". I love this stuff for many reasons - it is sheer enough to easily see your pattern through, but sturdy enough to go through multiple uses. It drapes and can be sewn like fabric. And at 25 dollars for a 100 yard roll, it is about the cheapest tracing medium you can find. I have also used it as stabilizer for embroidery/applique and it works as a lightweight sew in interfacing. Brilliant!
12 comments:
That's really interesting, thanks for sharing. This may be a silly question, but, what is soil separator fabric? Is this something that you buy at a garden centre?
Thanks for explaining the soil separator fabric. I'm currently using Swedish Tracing Paper, which I really like. But for the price difference, maybe I'll switch!
now, how in the world did you learn about this fabric to use in your sewing? That's great stuff!
I use Frost Fleece for the same purpose, it was 80p/metre and its used to cover plants and soil in the winter to insulate them and protect from frost damage. I was looking into the Swedish Tracing Paper (seemed expensive and I wanted to make sure it was worth it) when I stumbled across a suggestion for it and I thought it was worth a try. It sounds and looks very similar to your soil separator. I've only just started using it but found it useful, as you say you can trace the pattern on (I hate cutting patterns as I'm not experienced enough to commit to one size and want options!!), tissue fit (which I was doing this morning) or make a muslin. It can then be used as your final pattern if you've made loads of tweaks or adaptations to a pattern. And for 80p/metre you can't complain! It was a bit weird going to a garden centre to buy sewing supplies, the chap who served me was a bit bemused when I said it wasn't for gardening purposes, I think he was curious but not brave enough to ask!!!!!!
Bless you for making the efforts, sharing and showing process in your sewing. I'm not yet there in getting myself organized and up to date in other aspects in my life, so that I actually sew too. However, I am so much a sewer, and appreciate greatly your generosity sharing your knowledge and experience. Thanks for sharing about geotextile fabric.
persevering in Toronto
I love soil separator fabric too! I love how you can throw your pattern pieces into an envelope and come back to them and they're unwrinkled. This stuff takes so much abuse, and takes up so much less space than pattern tissue. I like the idea of tissue fitting on a dress form...I've had very little success trying to pin myself.
Ahhh, you make it look so easy!
Using the soil separator fabric certainly would make tissue fitting more of an option for me. I've given up on tissue fitting because I only seem to rip the pieces to shreds.
Thank you for the link for soil separator paper! I've looked for this at the HOme Depot but no luck and when I found it online the price was outrageous!
Thanks for the SSpaper info. I get my muslin on sale but that sounds way more economical at $.25/yd instead of the $1/yd I pay! Don't you just love Amazon.com!
I love using soil separator paper this way. I have mine from Lowe's but love the Amazon idea. Just gives me more time to sew when there are fewer erands to run:-)
Katie,
Thanks for letting us know about the Amazon option. I asked someone at Home Depot for the septic stuff and the guy looked at me like I was batty. I had a roll of Swedish stuff but I thought it too pricey to buy again.
Cool post - thanks for sharing that!
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