A while back I signed up for Craftsy’s Sew the Perfect Fit class, but it wasn’t until this past weekend that I really found the time to go buy supplies and get started. While I’ve done a bit of sewing since I moved here, I never bought those little useful things like tracing paper and that little pointy roller to transfer marks from the pattern onto the fabric.
Once I had gathered up all of my supplies, I got a little overly excited and jumped in, following the directions in the class, but I skipped one important detail. I never checked to make sure I was cutting the right size. When I signed up for the class, I used Craftsy’s size information to pick my size, and they mailed me my pattern. According to their chart, I decided to go with the size 12, which was to a fit a 38″ bust and was the largest size in the first size group, and I figured that I would have to adjust for my chest. That’s the number I had in mind when I got my pattern and started cutting things out. It wasn’t until I was looking at the instructions, getting ready to sew all of my pieces together, that I noticed that size 12 on the pattern was four inches smaller than the size 12 Craftsy listed. Vogue’s size chart was completely different from the one Craftsy showed me, and the size I cut out was meant to fit a 34″ bust.
I jumped on my computer and sent Craftsy an email, and they’re sending me a new, larger pattern, but I wanted to keep sewing! I measured the pieces flat, and they’re pretty close to my actual measurements. I decided to sew them up for practice and squeeze into the garment to get an idea of what the dress is like. I have a harder time visualizing ease with woven fabrics so it was fun to see what too little is like. This is basically zero ease, and I can’t even sit down in the skirt. It’s good to know what that’s like because I like close fitting clothing, and now I know why I shouldn’t go overboard while fitting my next muslin. But most importantly, I realized that I have no idea how to get this dress pinned up accurately. How do single ladies who sew all of the time do this?!
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