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Peculiarities of Plus Size Sewing 2: Mad Skillz and bravery

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Hello everyone,

It’s time for some more peculiarities. Today, I want to make a bit of a bold claim: plus size sewists are better at adapting and altering patterns. Or at least, plus sized sewists learn advanced skills more quickly, and perfect them out of necessity.  Ladies, we are brave and bold and fearless because we have to be.

brave

Now I know that everyone has fit issues. I don’t think that anyone, anywhere actually fits a straight size out of the packet. Does anyone know anyone who does? Even if a person matches the vital statistics for a Simplicity size 12 perfectly, it is highly likely that they will need some kind of sway back adjustment, or narrow shoulder adjustment, or something.  The art of fitting is by no means reserved for us chubbies; however, it is significantly more fundamental to our experience of sewing.  If we want to sew at all, we need to learn how to grade up patterns, do FBAs, and get creative. More often than not, we can’t actually sew anything without some major fitting adjustments. It’s not that we are being picky and fretting over a slightly tight armhole here, what I mean is, unless we learn some grading skills well and fast, we won’t even be able to get the thing we’ve made over our heads. There are increasingly some great plus sized patterns available, and I don’t want to disparage the brands who have extended their size ranges. Believe me, I am SO grateful. But many brands do still release gorgeous patterns in a very small size range and I’ll be darned if I’m not going to make them. I want to wear ALL THE COOL THINGS dammit.

We need to learn these formal, advanced skills properly, because if we don’t, we end up with something like the picture below. My uneducated attempt to make a pattern fit my bust led to something that not only fit over my head, it hung right off my shoulders too. I needed to learn how to alter patterns almost as soon as I had learnt to thread my machine.

So wrong.

So wrong.

So pretty much as soon as I learned to sew, I learned to do an FBA. Or at least, I attempted one. The second thing I ever made was this Colette Sorbetto, and it was bad. I don’t know about FBAs, so my solution when it pulled at the bust was to chop down the middle of the back and add a three inch panel in, as well as making the centre front pleat narrower. Instead of making this fit my bust, it just made it fall off my shoulders. However the internet is a wonderful thing, and by the time I made my next cotton dress I was doing an FBA.

My first FBA. It's not quite right, but it was a pretty advanced effort for such a novice sewer.

My first FBA. It’s not quite right, but it was a pretty advanced effort for such a novice sewer.

I am by no means an accomplished sewist yet, I’ve only been sewing  at weekends and in the evening after work for about 18 months, but I have already mastered some skills that some sewists who fit fairly easily into the size range of a particular pattern will never need to master. Often the only adjustments that people need to do when they start out are grading between a couple of sizes for hips and waist. I have learnt different types of grading from simply adding a bit extra on the side seams via slash and spread to pretty much redrawing pattern pieces. I am proud of this, and I don’t think I would have bothered to learn these things if necessity hadn’t made it so. I’m not saying that smaller sewists can do these things (far from it, I am often in awe of the amazing grading work people do for single sized vintage patterns),  nor that we are better sewists in general (I’m certainly not: you should see what I did to the neckline of my latest make!). I am however, convinced that as patterns so often do not really cater for our shapes, we have to be a little bit braver, a quite a bit more creative, rather more resourceful right off the starting blocks than those who at least can get into a straight size from a pattern even if it doesn’t fit perfectly.

As a group of plus sized sewists we have taught ourselves some really ingenious and creative and canny fixes for apparently insurmountable problems that might have put a lesser person off sewing altogether.

a little bit braver, quite a bit more creative, rather more resourceful

The CSC and this series are a great way to celebrate our communal knowledge so tell me: what skill did you need to learn early in order to take up sewing as a hobby? What trick of the trade are you proudest of? Do you agree that we get better, quicker than other sewists?

 

 

Comments

  1. Hi Rosie, I’m so new to sewing that I have literally learned to thread my machine this week. I read your article in its entirety before jumping to defences, and thought it was great. I didn’t find it offensive, in fact it had a lovely tongue in cheek tone. I disagree with all the blistering comments made against it. It stands to reason that the further one deviates from a standard, the more canny they must be to adapt well. As a curvy sewer you are speaking for your own community, and fair play. Keep on expressing yourself as you wish.
    Good luck from Der in Ireland

  2. I so enjoyed this article, and don’t understand some of the critics. We do what we do, as best as we can, regardless of size. I have had to adjust all my sewing techniques since I gained weight. I gained it because of Cake, and also because of Disability. It is here, and I have to deal with it. My grandmother made clothes for me because I was chubby. I don’t remember her ever saying anything negative about my shape. She just made nice dresses for me in California. Now, in Scotland, I have to figure out how to dress for warmth, and size. It is not easy! Best styles seem to be skirts, trousers and blouses with cardigans. We all usually find something that works. My best fitting accomplishment has been the FBA, which is not actually as hard as it looks. My next best fitting accomplishment is not yet accomplished, and will be to get the crotch measurements right for trousers. I seem to be very long in the hip. Adding two inches to leg didn’t seem to work! Finally, I got it. Thank you for your cheerful and helpful article, Rosie. I do think we have to be brave, and just go for it. It is only fabric, and although there is cost involved, nothing ventured, nothing gained!

  3. I guess I don’t really understand the point of this kind of post. Even if the premise were true, so what? Patting ourselves on the back because we’re ‘better’ than everyone else? I don’t find that empowering or encouraging at all.

    And, as so many others have pointed out, it isn’t remotely true. In some ways my very plus size body is a lot easier to sew for than smaller ones, because my bust, waist and hips are all more or less the same size. It makes self-drafting very easy indeed.

  4. I’m disappointed by this type of statement. I’m tall, have large bust but I’m slim and I face so many different alterations often. From over 1000 sewist I know, only one is a straight pattern envelope size. I love CSC inclusive mission but this type of article doesn’t represent the community and allienate readers that aren’t necessary plus size but support the concept.

    • I’m sorry Rachel. I did say in the second paragraph that everyone has fit issues (and wow you do actually know someone who is a straight pattern size? I really thought they were mythical beasts!), I was just saying that curvy sewists often have to learn them very early in order to even be able to make a lot of trendy patterns out there which have small size ranges. My point was not so much about fit about about grading up. I meant to celebrate the skills that plus size sewists have, on a site that is a safe space for curvy sewists to share their problems, not disparage others. I am delighted that so many non-curvy sewists read the site and I do not want to alienate any of you, so sorry!

  5. Enjoyed this post, great read. agree with the fear and bravery element of pattern adjusting and fitting and even the bravery required to just cut up some fabric. the scale of what can be considered ‘brave’ may be different to all of us. for some people getting out of bed each morning may be a brave act, for others, any act of creativity may be brave and an act of great risk taking and I’d include dressmaking in this area of possibility. I’d say we can gain a sense of personal power and self belief from learning the skills to make clothes that fit us and make us feel good. then, having a benchmark of confidence to buy and cut that fabric into a piece of clothing that makes us happy is empowering. Many curvy girls never have the chance or choice of something nice to wear, and too often the choice comes down to ‘does this cover me’. So I think it is brave to look this lack of choice in the eye and make things for yourself and get to present yourself in your own way. It’s empowering and brave to not accept the status quo which relegates curvy girls to a lonely rack of not pretty clothes, and little choice, and to do something about it. It’s not perhaps ‘life saving’ or rocket science, but if it can make a girl (including grown up girls) happy for a day I reckon it’s a challenge worth accepting. I’m going to pop over to your sparkleneedles blog now Rosie and check out what you are wearing, to tea, with the vicar…I want lots of photos!!!

    • Thanks Jo-Anne! Absolutely. I love this: “It’s empowering and brave to not accept the status quo”. Not to mention rewarding as you learn skills and make something that you actually love. And yes, sometimes cutting into (fancy) fabric can require nerves of steel! Hope you enjoy the blog, I really do need to post some more makes up there!

      • yes! more sparkleneedles photos please. I enjoy the curvy collective chats Rosie, well done for contributing. it’s making me think more about my own PDF sewing pattern line as well and why I’m doing it. constantly evolving is the conclusion. write us some more stories please!

  6. I drafted a gathered skirt pattern to make my first sewing garment project. I thought would be better to use my body measurement to create a better fit. I enjoyed making it and now have a go to pattern to make a number of gathered skirts. Now I’m going to learn how to sew a waistband, put in a zip, and hem the skirt. Being a beginner, I come to realize that I need to learn more advanced skills as the garment needs to fit. Does anyone use interfacing when putting in a zip?

    • Congratulations on your first skirt! A lot of people use a thin strip of interfacing in the seam allowance when putting in a zipper–you can definitely do that! My personal preference is to use Wash Away Wonder tape, and use that to baste in the zipper before stitching. It gives you a good amount of control over the zipper placement and adds some stability.

  7. I’m just learning how to sew and realize that commercial patterns aren’t going to fit everyone. I drafted a skirt pattern yesterday. It was easy to draft because it’s a rectangle and waistband, but now I have a gathered skirt pattern that I can use time and time again. Now it’s time to move on to picking out fabric and learning how to sew a waistband, gather, and sew in a zipper. This is my first skirt.

    • That’s awesome Sheri! Congrats on drafting! Right now, I just franken-pattern what I have to what I need. I’m sure your skirt will be lovely! Good luck in your sewing…I find zippers to be very easy,,,but I’m still figuring out gathers! 🙂 Welcome to the wonderful world of sewing! 🙂

      • Yes, I’m learning a lot about having an accurate body measurement. There’s also a good tutorial on Creative Bug with Cal Patch teaching patternmaking by creating an A-line skirt. Craftsy also has A-Line tutorial as well.

  8. I need help learning to adjust or pattern draft-Nothing fits when I make it 🙁 (I am still new). Any Suggestions-Does anybody make slopers for sale

  9. I’m not sure why everyone is so disappointed in this article. She addresses pretty much everyone (of all sizes) in the second paragraph. I had to laugh with her at the Colette Sorbetto she had made. I know we have all done something similar. A neck so big you could tie the shoulders around your waist..lol I enjoyed this article. It made me laugh and remember when I first started sewing.. I was a mere size 8. Now I’m a size 18. There have been 3 kids and 30 years in between. We all have our adjustments and alterations that we have to do, and learn along the way. Just remember to laugh, sewing is supposed to be fun.

  10. What about being petite, busty, with short torso a tummy? that’s me. What about uneven hips because scoliosis? that’s my daughter. What about very old ladies with a humpback? that was my grandma. Everybody is different, every alteration is difficult. Don’t generalize please.

    • One of my aunt’s sewed most of her clothes, especially skirts and pants, because she had a hard time getting those items to fit properly as a double amputee with two prosthetic legs.

        • My grandmother and her two sisters were highly involved in the garment trade. The youngest sister stopped sewing when she went blind in her 20s, but the aunt I mentioned worked in a custom dress shop until she started having kids. Then she sewed for family, even after losing both legs. Grandmother was one of the lead stitchers for a famous, very high end menswear company for over 30 years. She sewed for herself as well. Her challenge was her height. She was only 5’1″.

  11. I’m sorry, but this entire post is simply ridiculous. I hope it was written tongue-in-cheek, but I fear not.

    Rosie, what you have to remember is that you are, by your own admission, a new sewer, and as such, only have limited fitting experience and skill. You have no idea – you can have no idea – how difficult others might – and often do – find fitting themselves. I would not expect you, at this stage, to be aware of this, but as a clearly-intelligent woman, is it really wise to make pronouncements about things of which you have neither knowledge nor experience?

    Vagaries of figure and differences of proportion can and do affect women of all sizes, not just fat women. If you honestly think non-plus-sized sewrs merely quibble mildly about the size of armholes, you need to get out a bit more. Ever thought of the alterations needed for a person under 5ft tall? Or over six feet? No, I thought not. I’ll give you a clue – it’s not just about hemlines.

    As Robin Denning says, most people have no idea of what ‘good fit’ is nowadays, so inured are we to ‘fit’ as provided by RTW cost-cutting practices and stretch fabrics. One thing I do believe, though, is that if your figure falls far outside standard fit parameters, once you know your way around a pattern, a sewing machine and a fabric shop, it is generally easier to make a simple garment with a semi-decent fit than it is to find a similar garment with a similar standard of fit at an affordable price in RTW.

    In addition, I think your trumpeting of ‘bravery’ is not merely ridiculous, but insulting. No hobby dressmaker in the prosperous West has any need or use of bravery, and to pretend otherwise is an insult to women who are genuinely brave in the face of something that needs real courage.

    I usually enjoy CSC posts, even if some of them seem a bit strange to me, but really this one is a waste – nothing but nonsensical puffery at best.

    • I am sorry to have caused such offence. It WAS written firmly tongue in cheek, was meant to be celebratory not disparaging. As I said in the article, everyone has fitting issues, it’s just that more often, curvy sewists have to do adjustments just to be able to put an item of clothing they have made on their bodies, let alone create one that fits correctly.I think some people feel bad about having to do this, for not fitting patterns right out of the packet and therefore being ‘unusual’ and I wanted to celebrate the skills that this brings. I thought I had made it clear in my very first post in this series that I was not up for disparaging anyone, and I don’t think that this article does that, but here we obviously disagree. I do not think I need to get out more (wow) and I do think it takes a certain amount of bravery for beginners to attempt fit adjustments right off the bat. Nowhere did I say that this was brave as the struggles of women in the non-western world and I take offence at you implying that was what I said. I write from the position of a beginner who has gained a lot from learning to sew, and I want to share my enthusiasm with other beginners and reassure them that sewing isn’t as hard as it seems. I want to reassure beginners that they don’t need to have a degree in tailoring to give things a go. I am more than happy to take constructive criticism, in fact, I welcome it as a beginner, but I don’t think your damning indictment of this article is entirely justified. It was meant with the best of intentions, and I’m sorry again if I failed to convey my meaning.

      • I think most of us understood what you meant, and didn’t find it offensive. Good grief. Possibly many, if not most, women of all sizes might need to make adjustments for perfect fit. But since this is a website for the curvy and plus sized, naturally that is what will be addressed here.

  12. i couldn’t get past your very first statement to read the entire post – WTF? I am slim but I need so many effing alterations that I have turned to learning pattern drafting and I am drafting my own patterns nowadays. My plus-sized daughter fits beautifully into Burda Plus size patterns with few, often no alterations at all. I have been sewing for a very long time and I sew for different people. I find absolutely no way to generalize on who is easier to fit and who is harder to fit. If I can generalize on anything, it is that most people don’t even know what a good fit is. We have all been buying clothes for more than a generation now. Home sewing died out and now it is coming back in baby steps. On top of that, stretch fabrics have come into the market and that dramatically affects the need for a garment to fit well (or well enough).
    People are starting back at square one to learn about proper fit and how to sew. That is fine. There is no shame in being a beginner.
    Just be careful about making generalizations.
    Sorry to be blunt, but I may as well speak my mind. Holding it in gives me gas.
    Ha! That was a joke.
    I actually do wish you all the best and hope you enjoy your journey in learning to sew.

    • I don’t think it’s strange that on a curvy-positive/curvy-centric site that we are a bit militant. We have to cross our fingers and hope that that there’s anything available AT ALL in RTW. Go to Nordstrom- see amazing and varied clothing lines until the plus size section. If you like sequins or boring Ralph Lauren baggy shirts with button tabs you’re good to go! Go to buy patterns and check out the percentage of larger sizes to “regular”. Look at how the media marginalizes and reviles us.
      WTF indeed, I am offended by you comments.

      • Dear Splendidcakes, Even though I said I need a lot of alterations to make clothing that fits, I get the sense you don’t believe me. I cannot go into Nordstrom and buy a baggy Ralph Lauren shirt because my measurements fall outside the proportions of RTW [I am tall and I carry a lot of height above the armpits – I have to completely re-draft armholes, chest width, shoulder seams, necklines and collars] My favorite patterns are by Style Arc because of the consistent drafting. That consistency makes it easy to do all my alterations. Sadly, very few of the popular indie brands are as consistently well-drafted as Style Arc, so I don’t buy them. They have a pretty inclusive size range. As a mother I am extremely interested in plus-sized offerings. Tis site is about sewing for young-ish plus women so I think I am allowed to read here. If I ever caught someone fat-shaming my daughter, or any friend – or heck – any stranger – I would rip that shamer a new a-hole. Hopefully I am “militant” enough for you. All that’s left to discuss is that I suggested the author might be careful about making generalizations. If you find that offensive then well … not much I can do about it.

    • There’s a difference between being positive and giving a voice to curvy/ larger women and being dismissive towards other bodies. I get it– larger women are invisible. When visible, we tend to be ridiculed and turned into jokes or cautionary tales. But does it really advance visibility and create body positivity to trivialize other women’s fitting issues or to rank the skill sets of different types of sewers?

      • I am pretty sure we are in agreement here. If I dismissed other body types, it was not my intention. If I ranked sewing skills, well, we all work at different levels so that is just a fact. Perhaps I neglected to compliment Rosie on her enthusiasm and I regret that. You can be a beginner and turn out a wonderful garment. You can be very experienced and make a mess of it. Building skills is part of the fun of sewing. Getting better is inescapable and yes it is fun to grow in this way. None of us will ever run out of things to learn.

        • We are in agreement. I think I accidentally clicked your post reply and not the one I was thinking about. And I didn’t realize it until your post, because it originally came up under the post I thought I was replying to.
          Make sense? Hope so! 🙂

    • I’m sorry Robin, it was a sweeping opening statement that was meant to be a little provocative, but if you read the rest of the article you might find that I’m not being quite as damning as you think. It was obviously a mistake to open with line this judging by the comments below, but please be assured I was just hoping to bolster the confidence of plus sized sewists, not do others down. I’m sorry to have caused offence.

      P.S I entirely agree with you about proper fit: I certainly have a great deal to learn here. I just also don’t want people to be so frightened of achieving the perfect fit that they don’t try sewing at all. I wanted to encourage sewists that have to make adjustments that they are learning some awesome skills and not to feel put off by it.

      • I get that a slightly provocative blog post will get more clicks and I think that is a good thing – more readership is a good thing. It frustrates me that I have built up some knowledge (because I started so young!!) but I don’t have much of an outlet for it. I wish I lived close enough to anyone interested in sewing and blogging because I could help out behind the scenes and pay it forward. I guess you can tell my daughter never got the sewing bug! She appreciates it when I sew for her but has proven unwilling to let me brainwash her into becoming a sewing fiend. ha! Rosie, I love your enthusiasm!!

        • Ha, I wish you lived near me and could help me out behind the scenes! Oh well, at least we have the good ole internet to allow us to share skills and learn from each other and have a healthy debate! 😉 If you would like to write an article for us to pay it forward I know plenty of readers would absolutely LOVE to learn from your knowledge and experience.

        • You’d be surprised at the ways you can reach out. I was asked to do a presentation at a little boutique about sewing and I thought maybe 5 people would show up. Nearly 40 women came and I was the oldest person in the room (I’m 45!). Now I teach lessons at the shop twice a month and host a sew-in where new sewers can bring whatever project they want to work on and “Auntie Jean” will sew with them.

  14. I must say that I have had more fitting problems as my body is aging than I ever did for the first 40 years I sewed for my gifted body. Forward head, rotation of my shoulder forward, stooping shoulders, and my personal favorite…… a tilted pelvis!

    I am learning again what it takes to get a really good fit as I tackle new fit issues.

    Just when you think you have the problems solved, something new comes up.

  15. I’ve still not done an FBA yet – THE FEAR! But I am thinking about it for the Colette Aster. I’ve tried my size but it is a bit too tight, so I’m now debating whether to do next size up or an FBA.

    • Decide based on shoulder fit. If the shoulders are right do a FBA. If the shoulders are tight and the armhole snug then go up a size.

      • I think this is another generalization as there can be several reasons for a snug fit in the shoulders that are not at all related to size. When the shoulders bow forward for example the fit will be tight and going up a size will not necessarily correct that because a larger size can also mean the shoulder seam is too long. This is a fit adjustment I need to make on everything I sew.

    • I know all about the FEAR! But I promise you, they really aren’t as scary as they seem and boy will you feel the benefits. There are some great tutorials on the CSC if you need a hand.

      • Thank you both! I’m away from home at the moment but as soon as I get back I’m going to retrace the pattern and practice an FBA. I CAN DO IT!!

  16. I think all sewists just have a better concept of what good fit is… period. RTW equals settling for “good enough” and sadly too many, of any size, have become so accustomed to rtw’s poor fit that they don’t even recognize what real good fit IS anymore..

    • Yes Denise, you’re right. I cringe when I see plus sized sewist post poor fitting or badly sewn garments. I’m happy for them that they tried. Trying to make something with a limited skill set is not easy. Attempting to learn grading and fba’s online can be difficult (for me anyway). Years of wearing rtw can skew our opinion of good fit and well made.

    • I realised recently just how much of my personal style has evolved due to needing to buy whatever fit me – because of my pear shape, the best fitting garments were always fit-and-flare dresses. I’ve never worn button up shirts or jeans because they never looked good. Until now!

    • Agreed. All bodies vary from standard pattern sizing. Generalising that certain shaped sewers are ‘better or worse’ is pretty redundant. It’s not a competition.

  17. I think a measurement we often overlook is marking our bust point on our patterns. You measure down from where you neck and shoulder seam meet to your bust point, which might not be your nipple. It is where the tape measure drops off the bust. Then you measure from bust point to bust point. From my shoulder to my bust point is 12″. Bust point to bust point is 9″. So 12″ down from my should and 4 1/2″ from center front is my bust point. After doing an FBA you need to measure the bust point again as it might have changed after the FBA.

    • Just to add to that, your bust point will USUALLY drop a bit from an FBA–the bigger the FBA, the more your bust point will drop. I know that we haven’t talked about bust point much on this site to date, but we do have a couple of planned posts around lowering darts, etc.

    • Thanks for this! I recently did my first FBA (I’ve only been sewing a couple months), and based off the unaltered first version of the pattern, decided to move the position of the dart as well. (I’m not super busty, but some feedback from more experienced sewists led me to try going down a pattern size and doing the adjustment). It ended up being kinda not in the right spot, and I was wondering if there was a better way than the “hold the pattern piece up to your body” method that most tutorials give…

  18. Well, yes YOU are brave and fearless and good at math!
    Or at the very least better than I am.
    I am re learning to sew after dare I say it thirty odd years, I was not very good at math then either. So all these gradings and FBA’s, they might be easier to do than I think but the black abyss of math is really daunting.
    Still, reading about all these curvy women who just sew what they want to wear is bolstering my courage to just try even if it won’t be perfect the first couple times.

    • I’m not sure I am better at all: and I’m still scared of the maths! But that’s exactly the point: don’t worry about perfection, just give it a go! I’m sure you will impress yourself!

  19. Try this newish book “Create the Perfect Fit: Measuring and Pattern Fitting for Real Sewing Solutions”. This is the EASIEST fitting method I’ve ever tried, and I’ve tried all of them. It makes it easy to make ANY size pattern fit us. 🙂

    • would you recommend this book for a child. One of my granddaughters was a preemie and they go through puberty earlier. She is on the plus side as is her mom and dad. She is developing busts and she is 9 years old. I made a 14 1/2 top for her and found that the top was not long enough and the armhole needed to be 16 1/2. I did find out she was long waisted. She is short too and most likely will be as her dad and his side of the family is. She will most likely be large busted from what I see of the females in on her dad’s side of the fam.

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