Sewing Up A New Year

I collect fabric and patterns and I sew. I sew more for others than myself. One of the issues I have with sewing for myself is that one really can't properly fit them self and I like clothing that is specific to a body, clothing that hides or highlights the form. In order to tailor make your own clothing you need to work with another seamstress/tailor or have a dress form specifically made to your own measurement, which is a large financial investment most of us don't or can't make. Another option is to buy a dress form tha can be adjusted and create a body sloper (http://pattern.stringcodes.com/ ) that rests atop the form.

A sloper is a pattern that closely follows the lines of a person's figure. Most pattern manufacturers call them fitting shells (http://www.voguepatterns.com/item/V1004.htm?tab=list/dresses_includes_designer&page=all ). They are available for dresses, which can be used to make suits, skirts, tops, jackets or coats, and pants (http://www.voguepatterns.com/item/V1003.htm?tab=list/skirts_pants_includes_designer&page=all ).

In this post I will only address the "dress" sloper.

Using gingham print or a muslin fabric (I prefer heavy weight) follow the instructions to cut and pen mark the body lines (back and front centers of body, mid hip, waist, mid chest, elbow, wrist point) before piecing and basting the shell together. I usually ask my sister to help tuck, pin and re-mark the shell so that the lengths and widths are correct to my height and shape. Arms are tricky. Pin the sleeves so they are fitted but not overly tight and do make a sleeve for each arm as our arms are never an exact match. Remember to wear undergarments that are reflective of what you usually wear so that your body shape is as "normal" as possible.

Carefully remove the sloper and stay stitch all the adjustments, re-mark the various body areas (back and front centers of body, mid hip, waist, mid chest, elbow, wrist point) and then cut another "shell" using the fitted and pinned shell as the pattern. Don't forget to transfer the body line marks! The 2nd shell should be basted, tried on and if need adjusted again before being carefully sewn and ironed as if it were a garment. Leave the back seam open but stitch alone the seam line on each side of the sloper so it can be properly closed and pinned on the form. I hand sew in the body markings (back and front centers of body, mid hip, waist, mid chest, elbow, wrist point) using colorful embroidery thread and long marking stitches.

Here comes the fun part - fitting the sloper onto the adjustable dress form. Again, the form should be adjusted so that its size is as close to your actual measurements as possible, specifically the length/height of shoulder to waist, waist to hip and left shoulder to right shoulder. Before I begin to shape the sloper to the form I first pin shoulder pads to it to add "real" breasts. The sloper is accurate and once on the form will expose the further adjustments needed for it to become a second skin for that form.  Pin and close up the back of the sloper so that the seam closes as if you have sewn it close. Do not pin it to fit the form unless by some miracle it does. With sloper closed the needed adjustments will be apparent. Once the sloper is in place adjust the dress form if it is too big or small in some areas. To fill in those areas where the sloper needs more shape than the dress form can fill use batting or pillow stuffing but be careful not to over stuff. You may have to remove the shell to wrap the dress form with batting. The fitting shell should be firm and full but not taunt. This is especially important when stuffing the arms, make sure not to overstuff or you'll create sausage limbs.

Once the shell is fitted on the dress form step back and make sure all your body lines are as straight and centered in position as possible. Remember our bodies are individual works of art and never perfect so don't be surprised that the left and right sides of the form aren't exact matches.

Happy Sewing!

(PS - sorry for not using my own pictures. I removed my fitting shell in order to make a new one and I haven't been able to schedule a work day with my sister. I am hoping sharing these suggestions for making your own personalized dress form will encourage all of us to get sewing this new year!)