Designing for Plus Sizes
Big, Beautiful Lines
What the pattern really gives us is the basic lines of the garment, or the skeleton of the design. To start your part of the design process, look at the line drawing of the garment on the back of the pattern envelope or in the catalog. All the lines you see in the line drawing are style lines. They include seamlines, darts, necklines, closures, hemlines, draping lines, fabric foldlines and trim lines.
Analyze what kinds of lines are included in the garment pattern, and note where on the body these will fall. There are four types of style lines that combine to make up the drawing. Most designs have a combination of style lines, but often one or two predominate. Use different color highlighters or pencils to locate the different design lines.
Vertical lines: Vertical design lines are a large woman's best friend--the more, the better. They draw a viewer's eye up and down, which creates the optical illusion of height and thinness. Examples of vertical design lines include: seams in multiple-gore skirts; closures, such as a row of buttons at the shirt center front; pleats on a skirt, near a blouse yoke or on tailored pants; draping from gathers; contrast bands; trims, such as a strip of lace insertion placed at the center front of a nightgown; topstitching; creases and folds pressed into pants; tucks; darts, such as waist darts; and vents or slits on jackets and skirts.
Diagonal lines: These are a large woman's second best friend. They're energetic, artistic and slimming. Elements that may be diagonally shaped and placed are shirring, tucks, pleats and gathers; welts, pockets and closures; seams, such as for color blocking; V-, asymmetrical, surplice and halter necklines; Chelsea and notched collars; peaked lapels; French darts; handkerchief and asymmetrical hemlines; raglan sleeves; lacing; and soft, draped bows.
Curved lines: These are feminine and rhythmic, and they celebrate our bodies' curves. Curved design lines emphasize body curves, so if you have a very round face, you might want to avoid curved necklines such as cowls. Some circular examples appear in yokes, contrast bands and seams; flounces and ruffles; jewel, scoop, U-, cowl and sweetheart necklines; Peter Pan, band and shawl collars; petal, bell and puffed sleeves; scalloped trim and hem shapes; and circular garment shapes such as circle skirts.
Horizontal lines: Horizontal design lines include waistline seams; side-seam bust darts; square and bateau necklines; wing and Pilgrim collars; tiered skirts; shoulder and hip yokes; hemlines; belts; epaulettes; pockets; welts; flaps; shirring; tucks; peplums; cuffs; stiff bows; and the upper edge of a bustier.
Horizontal lines draw the eye back and forth across a design, giving the optical illusion of increased width. This doesn't mean that all horizontal lines are bad, however, and you can't have a design without them. Looking at the line drawing of the pattern, analyze the placement of the horizontal lines. Do you want the illusion of increased width in that particular area? For example, if you're making a Chanel-style jacket and you're large-busted, consider placing patch pockets at the hips instead of the bust level to visually balance the bust.
When a design has multiple horizontal design lines, the brain automatically compares the lengths of all these lines. To make your waist look smaller, look for wider horizontal lines both above and below the waist. Even if you think you don't have a waist, a pattern for a shirtwaist dress with a shoulder yoke, elastic waist and flared hem will make you look as if do.
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