Dressmaking fit ishoos

[chaosisawayoflife]

Argh! I'm having ishoos with fitting. I've made loads of clothes for my girls as well as bags, quilts etc etc so I'm not an inexperienced sewer, but I'm having major issues making clothes for myself.
I'm making New Look 6184 for myself and I've done my measurements and I'm roughly a size 12. I've cut out and half made up the bodice out of some leftover fabric but I've got major fit issues. The front fits fine around the bust but when I try to do the back seam line it's very baggy around the top at the back and then won't do up around my waist, even without a seam allowance. The side seams slope forwards from central under my arms to around 2 inches forward at my waist. I'm on my own with no dress form and can't even begin to work out where I need to make adjustments to make it fit. I had the same issue with a top I tried to make previously and gave up on in favour of making dresses for my normal shaped, easy to fit to girls. I really want to make my own clothes but this is a major stumbling block. Any tips on making things smaller around the back and bigger around the waist without drastically altering the shape and style of the dress?
Help is greatly appreciated.

Without seeing the pattern it is difficult to advise the cut lines on the pattern - basically you need to reduce the amount of cut fabric at the top back and introduce more at the bottom.

The top is easy - measure yourself between the areas it is baggy and put a fold / cut it out of the center back pattern before cutting the fabric. Think dart shaped to keep the waist / under arm measurements the same on the original pattern. As you have made toile you are best just pinning or tacking the dart in place and using the fabric as your pattern.

Expanding a section is more difficult without knowing where the current darts and seams are. Generally you add 1 quarter of the increase into each piece of the side seam (don't forget to add the same to the skirt at the waistline) - however if it is a large increase and you are sewing a princess line then you need to apportion the change over all the seams. Then grade the pattern line back to the original cutting line before you get to the bust darts / shaping .

Hope that makes sense.

I would say perhaps you need to measure yourself more accurately and at more points on your body. Perhaps you need either just the patterns or cut a bigger size whet it's tighter and then adjust the fit. If you can't afford a dress makers dummy can you make a duct tape body.
Crafty do some on line video classes which might help.

I would like to add that I have problems with clothes bought in shops, I usually have to buy dresses that have a shirring elastic in a panel in the lower back.

What I mean is I can get a dress or top to fit my front, sides seams are in the correct place but then you can literally grab a handful of material at the lower back. I have in the past bought a dress with a side zip and then my Mum helped me take in the back seam. I measure a 32" under my bust and 40" over. It sends all dress patterns helter skelter.

You need to make more measurements than the standard pattern asks for. So measure around you but also just across the front, and the back.

Do you have any lovely friends who may be able to pin you or mark the toile? If not mark the toile where you start to lose the seam allowance and make a rough guess where you need to take it in at the back, darts?. It can be trial and error and frustrating but if you love the pattern you can make several dresses out of it once you have it nailed.

Sounds like the patterns faulty to me.

You can take it in at the top back seam. As for your waist line, the general rule of thumb is to distribute size increments all round, not just where it doesn't fit. If you are really really sure it fits round the front, then you need to add the extra bits on the back side seams and back darts. If the side seams are sloping forwards at the front, it doesn't fit properly at the front.

So I would add your correct measurements to the bottom of the patter, splitting it between darts and side seams, ( not on cf or cb). Then redraw in darts and taper side seams to fit.

1. Baggy at the top of the back seam.... either take it in at the CB/zip with a gentle curve. Or put two neat little shoulder darts in, these are often seen on vintage garments. Shoulder darts became too expensive for mass produced clothing but they do help. 2)Side seams going about 2" forwards/waist. Get rid of any darts (for now). Add 2" to the bottom of your bodice and taper up to your armhole on the front. This is pure bodge but add 1-2" along the CB (tapered) then fit, then work backwards from your toile material. It is also worth considering adding length to the bodice.

But if you take the darts out, the bodice won't fit closely.

It's not fitting at all ATM. It might fit closely with the darts out,we don't know the shape that needs fitting. Not everyone has a waist :( as I know full well.

Are you sure you've got the back piece the right way up? If it's bagging out at the top and the side seam is sloping forward, it does sound like it could be

I understand your problems OP - I started sewing because ready to wear clothes so rarely fit me. Sadly it sounds like I have the opposite issue to you (small bust 32" and huge hips 42"!) but what really helped me was searching for pattern alterations on Pinterest. There'll definitely be someone out there who's got the same issue and has worked out how to adjust for it!

I borrowed a couple of fitting books from the library and eventually bit the bullet and bought my own. If you are planning on doing a bit of sewing for yourself it's a good investment. It doesn't get past the no dress form/no second pair of hands though.

(I did a narrow shoulder adjustment today on a shirt with a yoke - I was so proud and there was absolutely no one to share it with)

I've used a book called 'Fit for real people' to get a much better fit using patterns. You 'tissue fit' the pattern to your body (ie, you pin the pattern together on your body before cutting the fabric) to get an idea of where alterations need to be made to the pattern.

I now know pretty much what alterations need to be made before I start (I always need to adjust for square shoulders and a long waist).