Generally speaking, women’s sewing patterns (and clothing) are designed for someone with a perfect B cup.  Now that is great if you are a perfect B cup.  But some of us are “curvier” and some of us are understanding the force of gravity.  So, for the rest of us that don’t have a perky perfect size B cup, we will need to make adjustments to a pattern’s bust dart in order to make a bodice fit correctly.

I remember when I was intimidated by the idea of having to make bust dart adjustments.  What is this slash and spread thing and where do I cut?

First, make a “working pattern” by tracing the original pattern.  You want to have your original pattern intact in case you need to start from the beginning again.  This will also give you confidence when you start marking up and cutting into the pattern to make your adjustments.  It may feel tedious but doing this step has saved me on more than one occasion.

Before you do anything to the pattern, you need to have a good handle on where your bust apex really is…not where you wish it were but where it is (perhaps having to do this step will encourage you to get that new set of bras that you’ve been putting off…). Wearing a snug, but not constricting, knit top and the bra you will wear with the garment, measure from the point where the shoulder seam intersects with the curve of your neck down to your bust apex (nipple).  Make sure that your tape measure is perpendicular to the floor when measuring.  If you angle it, the measurement will be off.  At the same point on the pattern, measure down from the shoulder and mark were your bust apex is located (for example, see purple lines on illustration).

Measure how far the pattern’s dart point is from the pattern’s bust apex.  It can be anywhere from 3/4″ to 1 1/2″, depending upon the design of the pattern.  Make a mark equal to that distance next to your apex.  That is your new dart point.  If you wish, you can draw a line from the dart point to the end of the dart legs.  Also, draw a line from the dart point, through the apex and the center front.

You are now ready to make some of the adjustments that Shirley Adams demonstrates in this video…

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I owe a lot of my sewing ability to Nancy Zieman, of Sewing with Nancy fame.  I’d religiously watch it on WHYY (Philadelphia’s public television station) every Saturday afternoon in the late 80′s and early 90′s (sadly, I had to give it up when grad school got in the way of my television viewing pleasure).  Since we didn’t have cable television with the myriad of sewing experts, it was the only sewing show I could watch.

I wish I had started watching PBS during the 70′s.  If I had, I would have discovered “Sew What’s New” with George Trippon.  I just learned about him this week while reading the vintage board at Pattern Review.  And the most disheartening aspect of just learning about him is that he had a design school just over the hill from where I grew up and had worked in the entertainment industry as a costumer designer before and after The War.

He wrote some sewing related books–Let’s Design, Cut, Sew, and Fit With George W. Trippon, Becoming a Dress Designer: What Every Designer Should Know, and Sewing Tricks ‘n’ Treats–that are hard to find and go for well over $100 if you can find them.  He passed away in January so his books are even harder to come by right now.

I don’t know about you, but I always feel a little sad when I discover someone or something….just a little too late.

Did you know about him already?

Here is a promotional tape of “Sew What’s New:”

(Click here if the player does not work)

In my podcast, yesterday, I mentioned that I met my dress form and named her Joan.  I also mentioned that even though she is a “perfect size 8,” she doesn’t look like any size 8 person I know.  Even if I were size 8, using Joan for fitting my garments would be futile endeavor.  They would always look better on her.  I want them to look good on me.  This is where having a fitting double comes in handy.

Over the years, I’ve made duct and paper tape doubles of myself (and even newspaper one time!).  The materials are fairly inexpensive and it takes just a few hours to make one.  Basically, you get a trusted friend or relative to wrap you up in tape.  You cut it up, stuff it, and you’re all set.  But!  If your taper isn’t careful and ends up smooshing things that shouldn’t be smooshed, all of the work will be for naught.

Here then are some written resources to help you out and a video I found on You Tube that will help you get a visual of what to do.

Note: I prefer paper tape (regular paper mailing/packaging tape found at most office supply stores) but others prefer duct tape.  I think it is just a personal preference.

Written Information:

Clone Yourself A Fitting Assistant from Threads magazine  (I first read about this idea in Threads!).  Make sure to read ALL of the dress form articles that this article summarizes.

Duct Tape Double (Free Instructions) written by Leanna, who is featured in the Thread’s article.  Also check out her main duct tape double page that has lots of information in the Q & A section.

Michelle’s Duct Tape Double Class review on Pattern Review.  Michelle offers some great tips.

Video by Artzie

Click here if player is not working

Els from Sewing Divas has ruined my life.  Okay, not really.  The other day, she showcased a Chanel dress and fabric on her blog and then casually mentioned a documentary from several years ago called Signe’ Chanel that is available in parts on You Tube.  I am now obsessed with this documentary (I’ve only had time to watch the first two parts).

One of the things that struck me right away is that these high-end dresses are basically stitched completely by hand. It really has given me a new perspective on things.  I remember when I was still a special education teacher, one my aides–who was an Eastern European immigrant–was making her daughter’s prom dress with mostly hand stitches.  She labored over it for weeks during every break and during lunch.  I remember thinking that it was a lot of work and wondering why she wasn’t using her sewing machine for it.  Well, the truth is, the dress was stunning.  And I wonder if it would have been as stunning if she had stitched it with her machine.  I also met someone who felt she could do a better job and sew faster by hand than she could by machine.  Hmmm, maybe they are onto something?

I love the women who work for the House of Chanel.  Karl Lagerfield, however, comes off as a self-absorbed donkey’s behind.  But, I guess if you are Karl Lagerfield, you can get away with it *smile*

Part 1:

Click here to view the entire documentary

One day, during my UCLA days, I was helping My Honey with the laundry (yes, he has been the main launderer in our home since my grad school days) when I noticed that one of his work shirts only had something like two buttons on it.  He was using safety pins to hold it together!  Well, of course, that didn’t sit very well with me.  What kind of sewing blogger/podcaster would I be if My Honey was running around with safety-pins for buttons!  I hadn’t know about this shirt because he never wore it while I was at home.  He told me that he didn’t care and not to bother, but I took delight in sewing a new set of buttons on it.  He didn’t know it but my Viking #1+ does buttons in no time at all.  There is something satisfying about mending, especially in our throw-away culture.  Because of our skills, we are able to resuscitate an item and extend its life.

I have compiled several “how to mend” videos to help you learn how to mend and darn correctly.  I’ll have to admit that this has been a real learning experience for me because I never learned the proper way to do these things.  I’m looking forward to my next mending project because I now have confidence that the mend will look much better than I have done in the past.  Who knew that there were mending techniques beyond just doing basic hand stitches?

When I was growing up, I remember watching my mother darn socks.  She didn’t have a darning egg, so she used a standard light bulb (now that light bulbs are curly, we’ll have to find another substitute such as those plastic eggs left over from Easter).  But, until I started looking for resources for this blog posting, I really didn’t understand that there is a difference between mending and darning. Essentially, darning is weaving new fabric to fill in the hole.  I always thought it was about closing the circle up rather than creating new fabric.  Check your sewing machine manual.  Many machines have darning capabilities built in.  Here are two tutorials that show you how to darn socks.  My thinking is that you would want to darn your socks before the holes get as big as they are in the tutorials, but that just may be me…

Question: If you do machine darning, would you use stabilizer when creating the fabric?  I know people who use their machines to create lace use it, but I wasn’t wondering about darning.  Use the comments section to share your thoughts on to stabilize or to not stabilize.

How to do it: Darn Socks from the Zig Zag Stitch blog

How to Darn Socks video

Karen from ExpertVillage.com has created three videos that will help you repair a straight rip using a hand-sewn blind stitch and an “L” stitch using a satin stitch (this is in 2 parts).  She makes it seem so easy!  I now know how to mend correctly!