Book Review: Fast Fit

I'll admit up front that this is the book I use more as an encyclopedia of fit issues. I love the way the Betzina defines the various problems. It's clear language and cute drawings.

After I have a better understanding of the issue, I move on to more robust books like the Fit For Real People series, Fitting and Pattern Alteration or even Pattern Fitting with Confidence. I need waaaay more hand holding when it comes to resolving my fit issues. The other books are more thorough.

During my first attempt at sewing, I took a fitting workshop with Lorraine Henry at one of the Expos. When I walked up to her and explained I was using Fast Fit as the basis for my alterations, she didn't have very nice things to say about the slash method.  If you read Fitting and Pattern Alteration, it talks about how the slash method presented within its pages is corrected so it won't distort the pattern.

The book is well-organized and it's a fun and very easy read. There are two parts:  The first has an All About Alterations chapter that gives helpful information about the sequence for pattern alterations and where to begin.

The second part of the book gets into the "problem areas."  Here it covers:

• The Back
• The Shoulders
• The Sleeves
• The Neckline
• The Bust and Upper Body
• Pants and Skirts

There are fitting tips sprinkled throughout each chapter.  

This was the first fitting book I ever purchased and, at the time, I thought it was all I needed. The more I read and the more patterns I try to alter, the more I realize that I could have saved my money on this one. All of the fitting issues and the the slash method used to correct them are covered in Fitting and Pattern Alteration: A Multi-Method Approach to the Art of Style Selection, Fitting, and Alteration (2nd Edition).

A Fitting Tribute - Butterick 5454

I've been working on the adjustments for B5454 for two weekends in a row, maybe three. After tracing the bodice and skirt three times and two false starts with fabric, it's all starting to run together.  But, I think I can say the hard work has paid off - I have a correctly tissued-fitted paper pattern!!! There are two small tweaks I'd like to make, but I think I can do those in the muslin.

For the bodice, I tapered from a 14 to an 18. Then, I did the FFRP slightly round back alteration by adding a dart. I went ahead and raised the back shoulder seam 1/2" for my forward shoulders. That turned out to be a problem. Too much and I widened the top of the armhole too much.

It all started to slow down with the FBA.  First, I spent a lot of time digging around the internet for instructions on how to do an FBA on a wrap top. I found a couple of good sources here and here. I'm so special ed when it comes to sewing, I had to dig through the pattern stash and find M5974. I looked at the FBA lines on it and recreated them on my pattern.  The pattern was 2" from my CF, but  I added 1 1/2" based on the finished pattern measurements (See, I'm learning.)

I lowered the front should seam 1/2" too. After trying the pattern on, I realized two things:  how jacked the armholes were and my back shoulder dart needed to match the seam in the front tuck. Grrr...  I ended up taking a 1/4" out of the shoulder adjustment. In hindsight, I may have not needed the adjustment at all; that's one of the tweaks I want to make in the muslin. All of the lines on the altered tissue got confusing so I traced new front and back pieces from the altered ones.

On to the skirt. Let the fun begin! I consulted almost every fitting book I own, plus the internet. I tapered from the 18 to the 24. I knew I wanted this dress to be 7" longer. No biggie.  However, I also needed extra length for my rump's curve. I think 4", if I did my measuring correctly. How did I know how to measure and what to do? Click here! The file links on the page don't work, but you can access the files through the link to Yahoo Groups.

Let me pause for a sec to wax poetic about these Burda workshop files. Yes, I have all the major pattern fitting books. I'm excited about this info because it gives detailed instructions like take 1/8 hip width and add 1" etc. Thank you, Cidell!!

What the Burda docs lack is telling you the max adjustment you can make. I can't add all 4" to the skirt back by using their rising hem adjustment. Through trial and error, the most I could get was 2". I had to figure out how to add 7" to the front skirt for the length I wanted and decrease it by 2" for the rising hem (I think.)

Here's the back:

The odd angle of the hem at the side seam is killing me. That's the second tweak I want to make.

Here's the front in all of it's raggedy glory.  Adding 7" and subtracting 2" is all about where you do the adding and subtracting. I got confused during the process and decided to cheat by just taping some paper to the hemline, marking the length of the back skirt at the side seam and going from there.

My side seams were pulling backward, so I whipped out my newly-purchased Pattern Fitting with Confidence and used the pivot and slide method to add 1" to the hip line. Still not too sure about how the side seams look. Since pattern pieces were starting to fall apart from so much handling, I traced entirely new ones when I added the hip width.

The last thing I did was mark how much needed to be taken out of the skirt for my sway back. So what we have, as of now, is this:

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of attempting to re-pad Ruby a while back. The side seams swing forward on her, but not on me.We are now no longer doubles; she's bigger than me in the waist and back and I'm bigger than her in the bust. hips and butt. (I did do a pretty good job with shape of the rounded back.) I don't have the patience to pad her again right now. If I ever get serious about the weight loss, I'll make another attempt when I'm smaller.  

I am pretty dang happy with the tissue fitting. It's a good thing because I've run out of my oh-so-wonderful Swedish tracing paper! I ordered more last night. I love this stuff. I actually sewed the the bodice at the shoulders and side seam instead of pinning.

On last note on this part of the adventure. I consulted almost every fitting book I own for guidance. When it came down to the what and the how, there were clear winners and losers

Winners

• Fit For Real People
• Pattern Fitting with Confidence
• Fitting and Pattern Alteration
• Honorable mention goes to The Perfect Fit, although I didn't use any of its techniques for this project

Losers

• Fabulous Fit
• Fast Fit - I'll post a review here later this week.

Book Review: Pattern Fitting With Confidence

If there is a pattern fitting book out there, I probably own it. I wanted to learn to sew not because I couldn't find RTW that I like, there was plenty that I liked -- it just didn't fit! I wasn't happy with the fit even after alterations. And so the sewing journey began.

Pattern Fitting With Confidence is great resource in the arsenal. It covers the pivot and slide method of pattern alteration exclusively. I also have Fitting and Pattern Alteration, which covers the pivot and slide method too.  Here's why I had to have Pattern Fitting with Confidence -- the devil is in the details.  I simply couldn't understand how to make the pivot and slide alterations without more direction.  This is my first Nancy Zieman book and I've added more to my wish list. She writes so clearly and the illustrations are wonderful. I get it now!

The book isn't very long, but it's jam-packed. Here are the chapters:

• Getting Started:  taking measurements, how to pivot and slide, etc.
• Basic Fitting Changes:  bust, dart, hip line, waistline, sleeve, shoulder (forward/rounded shoulder not included), back and sleeve length
• Combining Fitting Techniques:  how to combine multiple techniques and examples of typical combos
• Fitting Skirts
• Fitting Pants
• Fine Tuning the Fit
• References:  I really like the Body Silhouette Chart. It discusses figure variations without being offensive, provides best styles and even best fabrics and colors.  

Everything is presented in a very simple and easy-to-understand manner. The best part is that she gives you the maximum amount of an alteration. Here's an example:  If your Personal Fitting Chart indicates a change of more than 1/2", divide the fitting changes by four ... add [the amount] to each side of both the front and back pattern pieces."  Wonderful!

To buy or not to buy this book? This book covers a few alterations very well and teaches you the basic method; it doesn't provide the alterations for every fit variation. For that, you need Fitting and Pattern Alteration: A Multi-Method Approach to the Art of Style Selection, Fitting, and Alteration (2nd Edition). You decide if you want breadth or depth. I needed both.