Tuesday, February 14, 2012

My First Traditional FBA -- A Work In Progress

I've discovered that one of the reasons it takes me forever to complete anything is because I'm delusional stubborn. When I get stuck on an alteration, I try to figure any way to solve the issue that won't result in a seam or a dart. (This only applies to knits.) Given how curvy am, this is a completely ridiculous notion. I've come to terms with the CB seam. The last holdout was the FBA.

I thought Nancy Zieman and her championing of the pivot and slide method would be the answer to my problems. That's still the easiest way for me to tackle the square shoulder adjustment, but it just wasn't working for my more extreme adjustments. What really helped me get there with the FBA was The Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting, which I will review later.

So, I sucked it up and admitted that the 4" difference in my upper bust and bust measurements necessitated a traditional FBA :-(  Enter the "Y" Bust Dart Alteration from Fit for Real People.


Not sure I got the placement right, but we'll see what happens. Yep, I'm still working on B5562. (I'm really sticking to my no UFO resolution.)

I still have a teeny tiny bit of hope for a no-dart FBA.  The Sew/Fit Manual by Ruth Oblander is the original pivot and slide book and it has a special section on "Uneven Block Extensions" which is apparently what I need to make the method work. I didn't fully understand it, but I will devote more time to it later. Right now, I just want to finish this top quickly so I can move on. Since I still have to figure out the collar, I took the FBA path of least resistance.

Hopefully, tomorrow morning, I'll fill it in with tissue and try it on. I might even get to adding the width to the side seams.


1 comment:

Tee said...

Check out the DVD "Full Busted" by Pati Palmer. Very, very good with up-to-date clothing samples.