LESSON 2: TRANSFERRING FITTING CHANGES TO THE PATTERN · PDF fileFITTING WORKSHOP WITH SARAH...

FITTING WORKSHOP WITH SARAH – PANTS

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http://sewingclasses.patternreview.com Lesson 2

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LESSON 2: TRANSFERRING FITTING CHANGES TO THE PATTERN

Some of the information in this lesson is in the videos, but the following is much more in-depth. If you like having written information to refer to, I hope the examples here are helpful. TRANSFERRING FITTING CHANGES TO THE PATTERN Transferring the fitting changes to the pattern is easy – although it does take a little bit of time. It’s best, of course, to work as accurately as possible. As with all fitting and pattern work, you will be marking seam lines on the muslin and transferring these seam lines to the pattern. If you are unaccustomed to pattern work like this, just remind yourself as you begin that you’re establishing seam lines; the seam allowances can be adjusted after the pattern alterations have been made. Transferring the fitting changes to the pattern and completing the pattern work is easiest if you have made a small number of changes. Even I find a great number of changes to be overwhelming. I work quite methodically, placing a check mark on the muslin after I have transferred the markings to the pattern and completed the pattern alteration. That way, if I get interrupted, I know what has and what has not been done. In terms of fitting, if you don’t work in the most efficient order, you will pick up on a fitting change that still needs to be made in a subsequent mock-up. Be patient with yourself. You can’t expect to see every change that needs to be made at first glance. And in my experience, there are many times that I don’t see that a certain fitting




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issue even exists until I have solved a few of the other fitting issues that have caught my eye. WORK HABITS When transferring the fitting changes to the pattern, as well as when you’re making the pattern changes, working methodically will keep confusion at bay. I also limit distractions, not wanting my concentration to be broken with telephone calls and interruptions. And even though I like to listen to the radio when I’m sewing, I often turn it off when marking a muslin and doing pattern work so that my full attention is on the tasks at hand. THE FIRST STEP: MARKING THE FITTING CHANGES ON THE MUSLIN I like to use a fine-tipped permanent marker, but the marking implement doesn’t really matter as long as your marks are easy to see and produce a thin line. I usually use red or green, because these colors are easily visible through the pattern tissue when you’re transferring the marks to the pattern from the muslin. Any color is fine as long as your eye doesn’t have to strain to see the marks. The example I use in the following photos is for a skirt, but the process is the same for any type of garment. I usually mark only one-half of the garment (i.e., either the right or the left side) since most of our patterns are developed to be double-cut. It often doesn’t matter which side of the fitting muslin I choose to mark, although sometimes I’ll feel like everything just went better on one side than the other – and then I’ll use the “better” side. If a client has a high/low hip, I use the “high” side.




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If I’m uncertain about the placement of darts, or any other alteration I’ve made, then I’ll mark both sides of the fitting muslin and compare them. Sometimes one side looks more logical or appropriate and I’ll choose that side. And sometimes I’ll “split the difference,” marking the average of the two sides. I usually make a series of tick marks rather than drawing the entire seam line on the muslin. This is because I like to transfer the intention of the adjustment to the pattern, but then use my rulers to finesse the line. The last section of this lesson gives some tips on using the Fashion Ruler (Styling Design Ruler). How you mark the fitting muslin will depend on how you have pinned the fitting changes. Following are a number of examples. MARKING DARTS The following six photos show you how to mark darts, depending on the way in which the dart has been pinned. In the first set of photos, the dart has been pinned with the dart intake coming away from the body. In the second set of photos, the dart has been pinned by folding the dart intake to the inside of the garment. It doesn’t matter which method you use since the end result is the same. I use both, because in some situations one method seems more natural or allows me to see the effect of the dart better than the other. The most important aspect of marking the dart is that the dart legs at the intersecting seam line (on pants, this is the waist) and the dart point are accurately marked.




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For a dart with the intake pinned to the outside: First mark one side the dart (one dart leg),

marking along the pins, and marking the dart point.




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Next, mark the other dart leg, marking along the pins.




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The marked dart.




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For a dart that has been folded and pinned in place: For the first dart leg,

mark right along the folded edge of the fabric. Also, clearly mark the dart point.




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For the second dart leg, mark the layer of fabric under and adjacent to the folded edge

that denotes the first dart leg.




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The marked dart. (Note: The dart in each of the examples

is not intended to be the same.)




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MARKING SEAMS THAT HAVE BEEN TAKEN IN When pinning a seam that needs to be taken in, the pinning can be done in one of two ways, just like with the two dart examples. You can pin the seam so the excess fabric comes away from the body, or so the excess fabric folds to the inside of the garment. When marking the muslin, the method is also the same as it was for the darts. If the excess fabric has been pinned to come away from the body, then mark the pins on each side of the seam, denoting the two new seam lines. If the excess fabric has been pinned by folding along one new seam line and pinning the fold along the other new seam, then mark the fold itself as well as where the folded edge touches the fabric underneath. Because taking in a seam is just the same as pinning a dart, I have not included any photos. MARKING SEAMS THAT HAVE BEEN LET OUT Marking seams that have been let out is a similar process to marking a dart when the fabric has been folded in towards the body. See photos on the following four pages.




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Here is a side seam that has been let out. I have placed the work on a pressing ham to allow for the curvature of

the seam and the dimensionality it creates. Note that it has been let out unevenly, letting out

more on the front (on the right) than on the back (on the left).




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Mark both sides of the seam: the fold of the fabric as well as where the fold touches the other layer of fabric.

It doesn’t make any difference which of the seams is folded. Often when I am letting out or taking in a seam, I give myself a mark

perpendicular to the seam to indicate where I think the seam should blend back to the original seam line.




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Here is the work unpinned. It’s easy to see that the front (on the right) has been let out more

than the back (on the left). Remember that the tick marks represent the new seam lines.




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Here I have released the remainder of the seam and lightly pressed the work so that the fabric is flat,

in preparation for transferring the markings to the pattern.




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THE SECOND STEP: TRANSFERRING THE FITTING CHANGES FROM THE MUSLIN TO THE PATTERN Although this can take a little time to do, it’s quite easy, especially if you remove the stitching from enough of the seams so that the garment lays flat. For complicated adjustments, I take the whole garment apart, and give the de-constructed garment sections a light pressing to flatten out seams and darts. Next, lay the pattern piece on top of the mock-up, and align all notches, seams, horizontal balance lines, and any other markings on the muslin. As you do this, you might well notice that the muslin has stretched out of shape. Usually, it’s easy to manipulate the mock-up fabric so that it comes back into alignment with the pattern. If you have trouble, try steaming the muslin into position again. As you align the pattern and the mock-up, pin the pattern in place. See photo on the following page.




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Place the pattern on top of the flat fitting muslin, matching the outer perimeter of the pattern and the fabric, and aligning any markings

such as the HBL, darts, and notches.




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Now, simply mark the pattern tissue wherever you have marked the fitting muslin.

Here I have started to mark the pattern, picking up the tick marks from the muslin.

For illustration purposes, I have used a marker; however, see the following photo.




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I usually use a pencil when doing pattern work, which gives a finer line and which can be erased if necessary.

In this photo, I have marked the pattern paper, transferring the tick marks that form the second dart leg.




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THE THIRD STEP: FINESSING THE SEAM LINES Un-pin the pattern from the mock-up, and draw the new seams and darts using rulers. I encourage you to use rulers when drawing the seam lines rather than drawing free-hand. The two rulers I use the most are a 2” x 18” C-thru straightedge ruler marked in 1/8” grids, and a Fashion Ruler, sometimes called Styling Design Ruler. Occasionally, I’ll use a French curve or a hip curve, but the straightedge and fashion rulers are the most important to have. The fashion ruler has time-proven curvature that results in pleasing lines on the body. How you draw your seam lines does, in fact, get translated to the garment. And there’s an art to drawing seams that are flattering on the body. I provide a number of examples in the following photos. If you feel clumsy working with the fashion ruler at first, be patient – with experience, this ruler will become an extension of your hands. When I am blending an existing seam line to a new seam line, my hands often know exactly how the ruler should be oriented, even though I couldn’t tell you that the “correct” part of the ruler was between certain numbers on the ruler. This ability simply comes from years of using the fashion ruler. There are a number of examples on the following pages.




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Darts are typically drawn with a straightedge ruler, connecting the dart point to the tick marks of each dart leg at the waist seam.

This facilitates truing the dart legs. You can see that the remaining tick marks are very close to the drawn dart legs, indicating that the dart can be sewn in the usual manner. Note that I have drawn double hatch marks on the old dart legs to

indicate “no” – that the lines are not to be used. See the following photo for an example of a curved dart.




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If the tick marks indicate a curved or shaped dart (drawn with a lead pencil),

draft the dart with straight dart legs (drawn in red) in order to facilitate truing the dart legs,

and make a note that a shaped dart should be sewn.




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BLENDING A NEW SEAM TO AN EXISTING SEAM The first step is to have the existing seam drawn on the pattern, so that you can see “where you’re going” – where you are going to blend the new seam. I often slide my ruler back and forth along the seam line, looking for the area of the ruler that does the job best. Usually this is with what I call a “long” blend: that a good portion of my fashion ruler matches both the new and the existing seams. I also use my fashion ruler in all four of its possible orientations:




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Always have the existing seam line drawn on the pattern when blending a new seam line to an existing line. Here, the tick marks represent the new seam line.

The short line perpendicular to the seam line several inches above the HBL provides an indication of where the new seam line should join

the existing seam line.




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With this ruler orientation, the blend to the existing seam line looks good, but the ruler does not pick up the tick marks near the waist.




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Rather than completely re-orienting the ruler, I often find the best ruler position by sliding the ruler back and forth.

Here, I shifted the ruler position by sliding it upwards towards the waist.

This ruler position picks up the tick marks at the waist, but it blends to the existing seam below the mark

that indicates where the blend should end.




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Here, I have flipped the ruler into a different orientation. The blend near the existing seam line is very close,

but the ruler position is off at the waist (note the tick mark indicating the where the side seam should be at

the waist is to the right of the ruler’s edge).




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Here, I slid the ruler along the tick marks, moving the ruler upward just a bit. The blend ends where it should,

and the ruler position picks up the tick mark at the waist, as well as being very close to the remaining tick marks.

It’s not always possible to pick up every tick mark. What is most important is that you get a nice blend

to the existing seam line, and that the ruler picks up on the intent of the new seam line.




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Here is the new seam line.




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To complete the process, measure and mark the desired seam allowance.

I usually do this with a series of tick marks and then use a fashion ruler to draw the new seam line,

as shown in the following photo.




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Draw the cut line using the ruler.




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To finish, cut along the cut line, discarding the excess paper.

If you are letting a seam out, you will usually need to add paper for the seam allowance: tape in a scrap of paper, measure and draw the

seam allowance, and cut on the new cut line.




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USING YOUR RULERS Learning to use your rulers just takes practice. Remember that getting the intent or spirit of the line is more important than picking up every single tick mark. Also, think about what you want to accomplish and the body for which you are developing the pattern. For instance, if someone has a very small waist, the side seam of her pants will look different than for someone who has a straight figure. How you draw seam lines definitely gets translated to how the garment looks on the body. Smooth transitions are always more pleasing than abrupt transitions. With practice, your fashion ruler will feel like an extension of your hands and you’ll often instinctively know what orientation of the ruler to use. To get comfortable using your fashion ruler, a good exercise is to set up a variety of situations on plain paper or on an old pattern that you no longer want to use. Give yourself some theoretical situations: letting out and taking in seams, and blending new seams to existing seams. And as you practice, imagine different body types. Do you want a fuller, rounder curve? Or do you want a shallower, flatter curve? Have fun experimenting! DOING PATTERN WORK IN AN EFFICIENT ORDER To begin, let me assure you that nothing will be adversely affected if you do not follow these guidelines, which are provided to help you work efficiently. If you don’t follow them, you might end up needing to finesse and true the same seam more than once. But you won’t have messed anything up that is impossible to correct. This is one of the nicest things about fitting and the resulting pattern work: you’ll always be able to continue to address problems in subsequent fitting and pattern work sessions.




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Note: On pants, I usually first work on the front and back crotch areas, which often is a combination of (1) and (2). 1. Make length adjustments such as horizontal tucks, spreads, and open- and close-wedges. 2. Make width adjustments, including reshaping vertical seams. 3. Fine-tune the placement and shape of the waist seam. 4. True dart legs. 5. Blend seam lines if not done above. 6. Walk and true seams. 7. Adjust seam allowances. In terms of fitting, if you don’t work in the most efficient order, you will pick up on a fitting change that still needs to be made in a subsequent mock-up. Be patient with yourself. You can’t expect to see every change that needs to be made at first glance. And in my experience, there are many times that I don’t see that a certain fitting issue even exists until I have solved a few of the other fitting issues that have caught my eye.

LESSON 2: TRANSFERRING FITTING CHANGES TO THE PATTERN · PDF fileFITTING WORKSHOP WITH SARAH...

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Transcript of LESSON 2: TRANSFERRING FITTING CHANGES TO THE PATTERN · PDF fileFITTING WORKSHOP WITH SARAH...