Q&A

PLUS-SIZE SEWING
By Barbara Deckert

Why don't patterns ever seem to fit right? I've tried the major pattern companies, plus-sized patterns and some of the independent sources. I check my measurements and adjust the pattern like I'm supposed to. When I'm finished, whatever I make just doesn't fit right. Why can't someone sell a pattern that fits?
Angie O.,
e-mail

Fitting is a very important part of sewing. Most ready-to-wear, plus-size garments are either knits that stretch to fit, loosely fitted garments that drape over the figure, or semi-fitted garments that lie flat on a hanger so they look tidy to a shopper, but may lack darts and other fitting devices to maximize profits. Most people who purchase ready-to-wear are accustomed to wearing clothing that doesn't fit well, and they're not able to judge fit as sewers can. Sewers know better and expect better.

Unfortunately, however, there is no magic pattern. Every human body is unique. Sets of standardized measurements are used to draft commercial patterns, but it doesn't matter which set is used or how these numbers are tweaked, since an individual's figure is almost always different from any standard. The standardized measurements help pattern companies sell patterns and the measurements help us determine the size closest to our measurements. Nearly everyone will need to adjust and fit a preprinted pattern.

In addition to altering a pattern for varying body measurements, most sewers need to adjust patterns for figure variations. Standardized measurements assume a regular, idealized figure shape. The measurements indicate how much area a garment needs to cover, but those measurements don't indicate exactly where that coverage needs to go. For example, if a woman has a 54" hip, she might have a prominent backside and a flat tummy, a round abdomen and a fairly flat derriere, or she may be fairly flat in front and back and carry her weight on her hips and thighs.

Even when a pattern is custom drafted from your unique measurements, whether by hand, with a computer program, or from a body scan, it still needs to be fitted no matter how many numbers are plugged into a draft or how accurate those numbers are. Why? Because drape also affects the fit. A pant pattern made in muslin will fit differently when made up in wool flannel or silk crepe. Also, individuals have personal fit preferences.

This is why sewing professionals always do a basted fitting. Each and every garment they make has to fit the body the garment is made for.

Barbara Deckert writes more about fitting in Sewing for Plus Sizes: Design, Fit and Construction for Ample Apparel and in Sewing 911: Practical and Creative Rescues for Sewing Emergencies, both from The Taunton Press. Barbara is a custom dressmaker in Elkridge, MD.

From the February 2006 issue of Sew News magazine.