My Sewing Sisters...I Need Some Fitting Help

I finally found my Loes Hinse sweater set pattern late last night. It was tucked between two BWOF mags. Like that really made a lot of sense for safe keeping. Maybe that was my newly designated "to read" pile and I forgot. Who knows. Glad I found it.

I was able to find my first muslin for this LH sleeveless v-neck top that I sewed back in 2005. I have provided pictures below. As you can see, the front doesn't fit that well. So, my question to you lovely sewing sisters...do I need to do a full bust adjustment (FBA) or something else?

Poor fitting LH sleeveless top - side view


Another view showing the front seam

It may be hard to see, but there's a front seam under the v-neck. I had sewn another muslin that's a little bit larger and still had the same problem with the front pulled up.

My backside looks fine, no wrinkles or pulling. I just have a problem with the front. Would you believe this is the first pattern that doesn't fit?

I'm retracing the top so I have something to work with. In the meantime, I could really use your help in figuring this out.

New Fingerless Gloves and Other Things

I keep the house temperature at 68 degrees during the fall/winter months. If the sun is not out, the house can be a bit chilly. One of the things I've noticed...my hands get cold while I'm working and typing on my keyboard. I was at Walmart recently and came across these fingerless gloves. You know what? They keep my hands warm while I'm working and I no longer feel cold. It has taken me half the day to get used to wearing these. So, here I am wearing my gray ones while I work and type. I also bought a pair of black ones to go with my black outfits. lol!!!!

I had a nice surprise today. My new Pants Fitting book came in the mail. Glad it came in time for some weekend reading. Yes, I forgot some of the things that Cynthia Guffey taught me in class a few weeks ago. So, hopefully with my class notes in hand and reading the book...the knowledge will come back to me.

I need to take my crotch curve and compare it to my KwikSew pants pattern. I will also do the same with a Vogue pattern. I will be sure to post my findings.

I am so behind in my sewing projects. I am now matching my patterns to my fabrics and stacking them. I'm hoping that I can get some time tomorrow to start cutting the fabrics. Maybe I'll get some sewing time on Sunday. Wish me luck.

Working on My Crotch Curve

** Updated with pictures **

Just for fun and for practice, I made an attempt to draw my first crotch curve last week. I used my 40" flexible ruler. I wrapped 3 individual rubber bands on the ruler. One to mark my front waistline, one to mark my crotch point, and the last one to mark my back waistline. I wrapped the ruler from my front, under my crotch, and over my rear. Yes, I had to wiggle the rubber bands along the flexible ruler for proper placement to represent the 3 points on my body. I carefully stepped out of my flexible ruler and immediately placed the ruler on my cutting table. I had already laid out and taped together 2 sheets of 8-1/2"x11" paper. I traced the inside edge of my ruler and marked the rubber band points on my paper.

Today, I plan on producing an accurate crotch curve. I will be using 1/4" elastic to wrap around my waist and using my flexible ruler to get an accurate crotch curve along with the 3 points (front waist, crotch pt, and back waist).

I plan on tracing my crotch curve on a piece of sturdy white paper and also on my tracing paper.

I also ordered a Pants Fitting book by Cynthia Guffey.

I will be back to post a picture of my crotch curve.


**** Sunday Evening Update ****

I finally got around to producing a pretty accurate crotch curve and I have pictures to show.

First off, I couldn't find my white roll of paper. So, I ended up taking four (4) pieces of 8-1/2" x 11" paper and taping them together.

I put on my one-piece swimsuit and tied my 1/4" wide elastic around my waist. I stepped into my flexible ruler and made sure the "rubber bands" were hitting my front waist and crotch point. DH (who was laughing hysterically at this point) helped me adjust the back waist rubber band on the ruler to match the elastic at my back waist.

Once I explained to DH that this step was necessary for proper pants fitting, he quieted down considerably. We did have a good laugh.


I had just "stepped out" of my flexible ruler and quickly laid it on my white paper. I used my Crayola pencil to trace the curve inside the ruler. I marked a line where the rubber band points were. The "front" of the curve is on the left side near the pencils.


I decided to try 3 times and traced the 3 curves. As you can see, I came up with 3 slightly different results. I am going with the last traced curve I did, which is the inside curve. When I stepped out of my ruler, I had to be careful not to distort the ruler. I finally got the hang of it on my third try.


Here's a picture of one of the rubber bands "wrapped" around the ruler.

Guess what? My practice crotch curve from last week was pretty close to the one I drew this afternoon. I feel comfortable going forward with what I have.

Now, I have a question to my fellow sewists. Does this crotch curve look weird to you? Average? What does it tell you?