How do I adjust a sewing pattern to fit my slim DD? URGENT

[RememberToPlaywiththeKids]

DD is 4 but very slim hipped and according to the pattern I'm using, her measurements are smaller than the 18 month old size

Anyway - I stupidly spent ages tracing and cutting out the pattern for the 5-6 year old as she's tall and I'm wondering if I can simply fold the pattern pieces down the middle somehow to 'take them in' to suit her size? Would this work and how do I calculate how much to take it in by bearing in mind that the pattern pieces are for a floaty skirt that is fitted round the hips + elastic waist...

My DD is also very tall/slim & I'm an experienced pattern cutter, so can help, but I'm wondering is the 18 month version measurements taken from you measuring the actual pattern, or what the back of your pattern says is the 18mnth body measurements??, as even though I'm used to it with my own DD, a 4 yr old fitting an 18moth width sounds quite extreme??

Its slightly more complicated than you ask, but not too much, so that would pretty much work, especially if its a Skirt????....a dress would require allowing for DDs neck & armholes not being as small as her width IYSWIM

For a SKIRT, using the difference of the Pattern CHART size measurements NOT Pattern

eg DDs size on Pattern Chart says fits waist 50cm & your DD measures 44cm, you have 2 pattern panels, 1 back & 1 front.....you need to reduce it by 6cm in total, so 3cm on each pattern piece :)

SO, if hips are the same difference or similar, simply fold your pattern peices & draw a line 1.5cm (half of 3cm) from the folded edge......pin this, or lay it along the edge of the FOLDED fabric

hope that makes sense

Is it like a gypsy skirt?

If it is a very simple pattern with an elasticated waist you could use less elastic than the pattern says for the waist. It's better to use the age 4 pattern and make it longer. You will see a line on the pattern saying lengthen or shorten here. Cut it across and add the required measurement to each piece to suit your dd's height.

see this demo
lengthen a pattern

I have a long-shanks GD

Thank you both!

Right DD's hips (measured in underwear round fullest part of bum and hips) measure 53 cm and the version measurements for the 18 month old's hips are 56.3cm.

I then looked at the pattern pieces themselves and the difference between the 5-6yrs and the 18 month paper pieces width wise was 2cm, so I then declared that as the right 'difference' (oops clearly not). So I got each paper piece and folded it vertically along the grain to reduce total width by 2 cm (so, 1cm + 1cm as it were).

i haven't cut anything - do i need to do it a different way??

No, that sounds okay,

but I'm thinking that as its such a small amount of difference, ( depending on the style of course) mumsie above might well be right,...... just reduce the elastic measurement, that way you can probably get away with "snipping" the elastic to loosen it later when DD has grown a bit & the skirt may well still fit her, but as a slightly different style.....

ie favourite Calf length gypsy style skirts, that I kept a bit looser when small, DD now wears as RaRas,

It's an insa skirt but i'm doing it without the elastic in the overskirt gore.

I was going to put extra elastic in to be let out later. would love the skirt to last for a couple of years if i've gone to the bother of making it!!

You've probably done it by now (wknds I have to fight for the computer & laptop here)

but for that sort of style, personally I would of just made it as as, & eased elastic into the waist band to draw it in a few cms,...... that way it would last DD a bit longer, & I've realised their waists get smaller, when older still, so these sort of styles can often be dug out again & worn short

aaaagh i messed up. i am so hopeless at this kind of thing. what i actually did was reduce each pattern piece width by 2cm and as there are 4 of them, that reduced it by a total of 8cm.

So - with that in mind and that i have given myself a 2cm hem allowance, if I unpick and re-sew giving myself a 0.5cm or 1cm hem allowance, will that do it???

I curiously have ended up with the overskirt being much slimmer than the underskirt despite applying my same theory to both the under and outer. it is now too narrow to even fit over her bum - again there is a total of 4 x2cm hem allowance in the whole of the overskirt. can someone please help!!!!

damn damn DAMN!!!

also - i have already ironed the seams open - has that buggered things up irreversably??

Sorry I'm confused, do you mean SEAM allowance. rather than hem??

Don't worry, thats an easy mistake to make, I'm wondering if you can salvage it better by adding another panel & running them in at the top...evenly on each 1 of course??, maybe tack it first with a loose hand running stitch to make sure its okay before machining

& no, you should be able to carefully unpick & gently steam the sewed & pressed seams into shape again

yes sorry - the seam allowance.

the underskirt will be fine i think if i make the seams much thinner but i think i've had it with the overskirt unless i do as you say and add an extra panel BUT that's in 2 diff types of material (diff to the underskirt) and I don't have any more of either left and nothing that will make a good sub i don't think! unless i unpick one of the seams between 2 of the panels and just have it open showing the underskirt for that portion. might work....or might look odd!

Can you find some spare fabric - an old sheet, some old clothes of yours (Dh's shirts) and make a mock up? It doesn't really matter if it is made from more than one thing but just stick to something similar in terms of it being firm or stretchy. When you have made this to whichever you think is the nearest size you can pin in any alterations while she is wearing it (if she'll stand still!) and then transfer them to the pattern/proper fabric?

Alternatively... looking at the style of skirt, can you find a pretty colour in a satin bias binding, that will either tone with, contrast with, or if your cloth is printed, pick up 1 of the colours in the main cloth, ???

if so add this into the seams by opening it out & using its folded edges as the seams, so that you get a satin stripe over each seam, it would make a pretty design feature if you get the right colour, & give you an extra cm & a bit between each seam

you can even get some printed bias these days, so you might look out for those too??

Does that makes sense....

it would work well with that style, especially if you bind the under skirt hem in the same contrast bind

oh yes that's a really lovely idea - the satin bias. i'll look for some.

do you know what's odd - i measured the current hip width of the underskirt that i've made up and it's 46cm - even with my calculations, that's come up even smaller than i thought.

perhaps i should just get my coat......!!

good idea on the mock up. I thought it would be too much work and not worth it but it looks like i can't possibly be trusted to manage without!! I was hoping to make this skirt a few times in diff colours over the years, so it's probably a very good idea!

You'd be surprised how much difference, that different types of fabric can make to finished measurement, & how sewing often doesn't relate at all to the measurements on the paper pattern....thats why I was saying look at the CHART measurements on the back of the pattern bag

you might be able to gain a little bit back (on the under skirt) though if you stretch it over your ironing board & shoot hot steam at it, & then let it cool...most cloth will give a little bit, but will shrink again when washed, so you'll need to keep it in mind when ironing

& tacking is always a good idea if doing something new, I still do it now with more complicated stuff & its been my trade for years....its a damn site easier than unpicking

Good luck, I'm sure it will look great & DD will be very proud of it when you've finished :)

Thanks for your help and please keep an eye on this thread for my next crisis later on today !!

I did originally measure DD and then the chart measurements and completely ignored the paper ones. I just measured the actual skirt this morning out of interest.

Much repair work going on now.....I will sort the underskirt and then fix the overskirt when I've had a chance to buy more material.

oh and just quickly - can I just let out 2 of the 4 seams out if I do that to two opposite ones??

:)

& Yes, that should work fine on that shape of skirt