Easy pear shaped sewing

[alias_sqbr]

I find myself in a bit of a vicious cycle: I am too frugal, fatigued, fat, and funny-shaped to have much luck shopping for off-the-rack clothes. I got a sewing machine to make my own, but am too funny shaped to fit the patterns I've tried, and don't have the money or energy to do a lot of practice sewing to get competent enough to make my own stuff from scratch (I'm barely competent enough to make stuff from patterns)

So: does anyone have advice for styles, patterns, or instructions for clothing suitable for a short dumpy pearshaped(*) woman who sucks at sewing? Easy instructions on how to adapt patterns or ready-made clothing to fit such a shape would be cool too.

I know from past experience that I suit A-line skirts if they're a size too big and have a relatively tight elasticized waist, and I've found some promising looking instructions (1 2 3) which I intend to play around with. But most other styles of clothing I suit are too complicated for me to feel comfortable just having a go. I may have a go at this dress or something like it and make the skirt a size bigger before attaching.

(*)More specifically: I have a short torso, bendy back, wide hips, big bum and narrow sloping shoulders. Clothing the right width for my shoulders/waist hits my hips/tummy and bunches/stretches in a seriously unflattering way eg this dress, which is a very flattering style on me and still too tight for my tummy AND too broad for my shoulders. And, a year after that photo was taken, too small :( :(

Comments

[baby-elvis.livejournal.com]

Honey, just a word of advice. The blue dress looks lovely on you, and I don't think it's too tight in the tummy per se, but the fabric is of a type that reveals every bump on anyone - shiny satin, especially cheaper, lightweight satin; extra especially if in a pale colour. Go for a less reflective material in a slightly darker shade and you will be much happier.

As for the sewing - well, the only way to get it to fit well is with a good dressmaker, I'm afraid.

[alias_sqbr]

Oh the fabric certainly didn't help, I had a similar dress in a less shiny burgundy and it looked a lot better. But this was the best picture I could find which showed how clothing can fit me badly, since naturally my usual aim with photos is to NOT have this happen :)

I think dressmaker is the only way to have it fit BRILLIANTLY, but there's definitely stuff that can be done at home. My experiments with adapting t-shirts haven't gone too badly, and I have high hopes for these skirts.

[penchaft.livejournal.com]

Your head looks weird in that photo. o__o

[alias_sqbr]

I know! I think it's the weird fancy lens Cam was using.

[nico-wolfwood.livejournal.com]

See, this is why i knit - I can pull it on half way through and adjust it. Plus, if I hate it, I can take it apart and reuse the wool. :P

[alias_sqbr]

You can do that with sewing too! But then I adjust it wrong and it sits funny.

[fe2h2o.livejournal.com]

I have the Readers' Digest Sewing book (can't recall it's name, and kids are energetic, so I'll look later). I haven't yet used it, but I have read it and it looks reasonably clear (although, I count myself as a sewer). You are welcome to borrow if you're interested—it focuses on how to measure/fit, and it's the one my sister (who is currently teaching sewing) put on the required books list.
I can highly recommend wrap skirts, both from a sewing perspective (lots of straight seams, no fiddly bits) and fitting perspective! I have a half written post on how to make one (from measurements, not a pattern). They're great if you need any sizing flexibility—I wore the same skirts throughout my last pregnancy, and I'm wearing them currently (at my 'nursing two children' reduced size).

[stephbg.livejournal.com]

I think babalon posted an online tutorial somewhere for a simple wraparound skirt. Possibly bias cut and floaty? Um...

[fe2h2o.livejournal.com]

It was an instructable. Not wraparound, but certainly simple skirt.

[alias_sqbr]

Ok, thanks, I'll try and look up a copy. I bought a sewing book which has some instructions on adaptations, but I found it all a bit overwhelming. I should look at it again.

I find a lot of wrap around skirts gape on me becuase of the angle created by my large hip:waist ratio but it's possible some designs won't do that.

[penchaft.livejournal.com]

Do you like loose swishy skirts? Mum's made some nice ones for me, but there might be too many panels for your liking.

[alias_sqbr]

I do! And that would depend on how many is too many. 5? 50? :)

[penchaft.livejournal.com]

I think the pattern I like the best has... 10? ish panels? There are big ones, and then small ones in between to give it the swishy flair. But in the pack there are also some with fewer panels, I'm pretty sure. When mum gets back in a few days, I'll get her to find them. She's reorganised and I have no idea where anything is now!

[alias_sqbr]

Awesome, thanks.

[fred-mouse.livejournal.com]

do you have any already that are the shape that you are interested in? because I have all sorts of simple patterns that *might* be useful, but I don't actually have any idea of what is likely to suit people. Do you like drop waist dresses? that kind of thing.

[fred-mouse.livejournal.com]

umm, and by 'suit people' I packed two concepts together, and wasn't clear. I meant "generally, I'm not good at picking what will suit people" and "I don't have a clear idea of what it is that you are looking for". Clear as mud, right?

[alias_sqbr]

I need the waists on dresses to be reasonably high (or V shaped), since otherwise they bang into my hips and I look like a potato. Generally I suit wide skirts and fitted tops.

[babalon-93.livejournal.com]

A line skirts are generally the most flattering, particularly if they are bias cut. here is how I make mine (http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-bias-cut-skirt-with-wide-stretch-wai/).

[alias_sqbr]

Thanks! That looks like it's exactly what I'm after.

[redbraids.livejournal.com]

I second the idea of stuff like wrap skirts which can change a lot. Also, separates rather than dresses as these can be variable top and bottom. The other idea is that if you can get ONE fitting pattern then you can copy it in many ways and fabrics using the one pattern. I find that the longest part of clothes sewing is making or fitting the pattern.

One thing that I do for tricky designs is to make a mockup in scarp fabric, and fiddle with that to get your pattern right.

Another thing is to get something that DOES fit and then copy a pattern of that.

Alternatively, if you were table to get a"block" or "fitting shell" fitted you could use that to alter commercial patterns. A block or fitting shell (as you likely already know) is
a close fitting "dress" you fit. It has lines and things on it that match up with specific lines on commercial patterns used for fitting. So, if you take up the sleeves 5 cm then every time you get a pattern from that company you take it up 5cm at the same line.

Check out this on from Butterick, but many pattern companies have them.

http://www.butterick.com/item/B5746.htm?tab=list/dresses&page=all

I have a pattern for one of them but have never gotten around to fitting it :-)

[alias_sqbr]

Huuuh. I didn't know about shells, actually. I had thought about adapting patterns from clothes that fit, but a lot of them are pretty complicated looking.

[sanguinity]

The differently-sized tops and bottoms sounds like a good solution with rsepect to fit, effort, and skill. And the pattern you picked out ought to be good for it, too, what with all the gathering at the bodice/skirt join line (and thus lots of flexibility in getting the two diameters to match at the join). A bias-cut skirt would probably fit better, since that would allow a little more give over your tummy, while allowing a little more smallness at the skirt/bodice join. (On a bias cut edge, you can make it quite a bit longer or shorter simply by stretching or... um, squeezing, it. Hard to explain if you don't have a sample to play with. However, because a bias-cut edge has no structural strength -- no single length it wants to be -- and because a gathered edge has no single length IT wants to be, either, you probably should add a line of twill tape to that seam, just so that the diameter doesn't grow three inches on you over the course of a day's wear.)

I wish clothing sizing didn't exclusively call out everything in "how many inches to go around the biggest part", because while that's important (it can't go on, otherwise!) that dimension has little to do with fit. When I change weight, my biggest around measurements change drastically, but my shoulder width changes not at all. Nor does my back length. Nor any other dimension governed by my skeleton. Yet all patterns assume that my skeleton changes size every time I gain/lose weight.

But anyway. Top half official size != bottom half official size should be fairly simple to quasi-solve, of all possible fit problems.

[alias_sqbr]

Yes, separates can be easier. The downside there is comfort (I can't stand having my stomach constricted) and, well, I LIKE dresses :D

Good suggestion about a band at the waist, I'll keep that in mind.

[sanguinity]

I was unclear; I didn't mean separates were a good solution (because you weren't asking for separates!). I meant making the top half of the dress a different official size than the bottom half, and joining them together, would be a goodish solution. On some patterns, that wouldn't even be tricky to do.

[alias_sqbr]

Ahhh. Yes, right. Definitely.

[firecat]

I recently bought some clothing that has an extra wedge of fabric in back to accommodate the big bum. That helps the hem hang more evenly all the way around. Here's a drawing:

http://www.loveyourpeaches.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=853

[alias_sqbr]

Oh that's a good idea. Hmm.

[velithya]

What I generally do with my costumes is cut the pattern out on my fabric a little big, then try it on and fit it to me. Well, try it on one I have enough seams for it not to be 5 separate pieces of fabric, anyway! ;)

When I want patterns I pretty much go to Spotlight, sit myself down in front of the pattern books, and have a flick through until I find something I like.

[alias_sqbr]

What I generally do with my costumes is cut the pattern out on my fabric a little big, then try it on and fit it to me. Well, try it on one I have enough seams for it not to be 5 separate pieces of fabric, anyway! ;)

I've done that but then they sit funny because I take them in in all the wrong places or something. I think I need to do more sewing to get a better feel for how to make things fit 3 dimensionally.

I've done the "sitting at Spotlight" thing, that's where I got that dress pattern. And then they didn't have it in stock! And then I realised you can look stuff up online which is easier :) I've found some promising looking patterns, at some point I'll have to trek into Spotlight and get the supplies.

[velithya]

(Just in case there is any confusion!) when I say "take in" what I mean is, I take it in with pins, while it is on me. Then after I have inched out of it without (hopefully!) pricking myself on any pins, I sew straight down the new seams I have pinned out. That way there isn't a great chance of taking it in in the wrong places - because you have sewn right over where you have pinned.

fraction of circle skirt

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

I've also got a big discrepancy between waist and hips. My favourite don't-need-a-pattern skirts are portions of circles. That's actually what A-line pattern drafting are heading towards, but pattern drafting (I did a course) tends to be based on rectangles and makes weird approximations for curves, and it might be easier just to start with the circle. Since you're a mathematician, this should not be a problem :-).

Measure your waist, your hip, and the hip depth, as in your link 1. I recommend adding 2cm to the waist measurement and at least 5cm to the hip measurement (you can add more for a fuller skirt). So you have waist = w, hip width = x, hip depth = y.

Now you calculate what size wedge of a circle (or rather annulus) will fit you:
z (the radius to the waist ring) = wy(x-w)
angle of skirt = w/ (z * pi) in radians!
You'll probably want to make two pieces with half that angle each. You'll need to attach your centre-of-whatever-you'll-be-using-as-a-compass some distance from your actual piece of paper (or glue some other bits of paper on as temporary guides). Many measuring tapes have a hole near the end, so I use them as compasses, although of course the hole is never exactly on zero so you have to take that into account.

Draw up the angle you've calculated. At radius z, draw a fraction of circumference (measure to check it's your waist, or half waist). At radius z+y, draw the next fraction of circumference (check it's your hip measurement as above), and at radius z+ desired skirt length, draw another fraction of circumference - the hem line.

Remember to add seam/hem allowances on all sides, and note that you'll need to sew the waist to a straight band (I cut a strip off the selvedge) both for strength, and because you'll need to clip the waist seam allowance as the inner bit is probably quite a bit smaller than your waist!

As for grain: you can cut this straight or on the bias (where "straight" or "bias" refers to down the middle of each pattern piece) - bias is probably nicer. Also I can't guarantee this skirt will fit brilliantly as you are probably not a perfect conic section between your waist and hips. But if you make this up, and the a-line skirt from a "rectangular" perspective, you should get a good idea where your perfect-fitting a-line skirt is to be found - you might find the circle construction good for the back, and a rectangular construction with a bit of dart good for the front, particularly if you've got tummy, sway back and booty like me.

I think I have the opposite problem to you on top - note that blouse/top fittings say "bust size" but they don't actually mean "bust size", they mean "what would your bust size be if you were a B cup" and then you need to increase/decrease the pattern over the bust you actually have. What I mean is, if you keep finding that top patterns are too wide in the shoulders, you probably need a smaller pattern size but adjusted for a larger bust, whereas I have to start with a larger pattern size and reduce across the bust to fit my shoulders properly.

And look! There are patterns that actually know about bust sizings! (http://www.nancysnotions.com/product/id/129959.do)

Re: fraction of circle skirt

[alias_sqbr]

Thankyou. I think I need to draw myself some diagrams to totally get it, but that looks useful!

Afaict I really am a regularish sized torso and bust with narrow shoulders, not a small torso with a big bust. Small band+large cup bras certainly don't fit me very well.

Re: fraction of circle skirt

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

Re-reading, I guess that wasn't terribly clear, particularly if you haven't sewn much. Okay, imagine a circle skirt first: a huge circle of fabric with a small circle cut out of the centre to fit your waist (and obviously a zip or something to get it on and off). Then a half-circle skirt: cut that circle in half, and make the centre hole a bit bigger to still fit your waist, and sew the two straight sides together. It's like a cone with the tip cut off to fit you inside (and since most fabrics aren't that stiff, it doesn't look like a cone, but like a skirt with a full hem). Then a quarter-circle.

At each stage, the waist measurement is the circumference of the small circle, or half the circumference, or quarter, and the skirt gets less and less full around the hem - the cone formed is closer and closer to a cylinder. To go to any smaller fraction of a circle, you need to make sure the skirt will be full enough to fit around your hips, and that's when the maths starts as in my first comment. You might want to start by picking some circle fractions: 1/8th, 1/12, and working out what the inner radius has to be for the small circle circumference part to fit the waist, and then work out what the circumference of that skirt is going to be at hip level.

Small shoulders pattern modifications, I can't help you from here :-(. My own are slightly larger, so for a fitted pattern, I lift the shoulder point 1cm and move it out 1cm, redraw the shoulder seam from the neck and the armscye from the underarm curve. Then on the sleeve pattern, I raise the top of the sleeve by slightly more than 1cm and re-draw the curve.

It's not nearly as safe to go in and down, as particularly the sleeve head will get distorted and may not fit well at all across the top part of the arm. Also you'd probably need someone else looking you over, while you're wearing a fitting shell to try to determine how much to go down and how much to go in - it's not necessarily the same, just because it was in my case.

If I was in Perth, I'd love to help out - once you have a personally fitted bodice and sleeve head pattern, the world is your oyster.

Re: fraction of circle skirt

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

Here's a nice picture of why circle skirts are circle skirts. (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bnmQO25i5VI/SvmVlWamDcI/AAAAAAAAALs/KTTAtYazNQQ/s1600-h/modernliving52h.jpg)

How's your German?

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

There's a infosheet on modifying patterns for sloping shoulders from Burda here, but it's in German:
http://www.burdafashion.com/downloads/Workshops_DE/Workshop_09_2004.pdf

Re: How's your German?

[alias_sqbr]

Mein Deutsch ist nicht so gut, aber immer hat Mann Google Translate :D