Tag: alterations

July 7, 2015

Making a Slot for Removable Swim Cups

I received an email from a customer that reminded me of another option for the cups of a swimsuit! So I thought I would share it here as well.
A lot of RTW swimwear and activewear garments are created so that foam cups are removable from the garment. It’s a practical application for many reasons, including reducing sewing time in production as you don’t have an extra step of securing the cups into the garment. From a wear perspective, depending on the quality of the foam they can degrade quicker than the garment itself and also personal preference of the wearer – some of us just don’t want the foam cups! Personally I’ve had some mixed experiences with free floating cups in cami-top style sports bras, where they migrated across my chest during a yoga class. The visual result was highly amusing – I had one perky and one floppy boob!
Back to the cup lining alteration, below is an example of the 8101 swimsuit pattern from one of the original prototypes. I was trying out different options including a partial cup lining to allow for easy insertion and removal of swim cups.
You can see that the lining is cut shorter by about 3-4cm’s than the outer cup, with the top edge left raw and loose leaving only the sides and bottom edge of the cup sewn to the rest of the swimsuit. To recreate this opening, just cut across the top of the cup lining pattern piece, parallel tot he top edge.
That small gap (where the pen is) is just wide enough to roll up and slot in a swim cup, but not too big that it’ll slip out when you’re busy with practicing your latest swim choreography down at the pool.

I almost want to say I’m sorry for finding this gif…. but i’m not.

I’ve seen some low-impact sports bras that have the gap on the lower outer edge instead, so if you want to retain the clean finish around the top edge and cover the strap ends you could just cut out a small wedge on the lower outer corner instead.
In the end I decided to go for a full cup lining for the pattern as when we’re sewing for ourselves it’s easier to cut away from a pattern piece that the fudge around and recreate a shape, and also a full lining creates a cleaner finish on the inside.

June 25, 2015

8101 Alterations Part 2 – Basic Fit Changes

Today, I thought we could look into some basic pattern alterations for fitting the 8101 swimsuit.

Lengthening or Shortening the Body

For versions 1 & 2, the simplest way to alter the bodice length is to take the bodice pieces and divide it into 3. Then cut along the creases and then spread or overlap by as much as you need to.For version 3, the bikini, take the bottoms and divide it in half, the cut and spread/overlap.

Smaller Cups

The pattern comes with 3 cup sizes started at a B/C and going upwards. I received a couple of questions about how to alter the cup size for smaller cup size range.
Take the B/C cup and lining pattern pieces in your size. Find the bust apex by drawing in the stitching lines on the cup lining pattern piece and measuring 1cm (3/8″) up from that point. Then find the mid-points of the three long edges and join them to bust apex – which is 1cm (3/8″) – cut and slash along those lines.

Additional Cup Support

Whilst on the topic of cups, some of you may want to add a little more ‘oomph’ in that area, either to create a smoother breast shape or have some additional strentgh to support the breast, especially if you’re on the larger end of the cup sizes.
If you have swim cup inserts (something like these) you can slot them in between the lining and outer fabric before basting the two together, free floating inside the cup. If you want them to stay put, you can sew the cup to the wrong side of the lining, with a zig zag stitch that follows the perimeter of the foam cup.

If you have yardage of foam, then you can use the lining pattern piece to cut the foam, trimming away the 1cm (3/8″) seam allowance from the sides and the top, sew the dart and place that in between the lining and the outer fabric, and will be sewn into place when you turn the elastic and topstitch it down.
There’s some great tutorials already out there in the wilds of the internetz including a round-up of information for sewing swimsuits from a ‘Swimalong’ that happened back in 2013, so I won’t be re-inventing the wheel on this one. Check out this post on how to sew foam into shape, and this post on how to sew the swim cups to the lining.
I made a bikini top with this pattern for a client with a DD cup, so I used a swim cup inserts to give some defined shaping to the cup and also added a layer of power mesh as an under lining on the cup and front portion of the bra band. I decided to go for a power-bar style shape to keep the breast shape projecting forwards and inwards rather than spreading outwards – it worked a treat!

Raising the leg line for a Higher Cut

The swimsuit comes with a low cut leg and full butt coverage, but if you want to show a little more cheek you can raise line and have a more contemporary cut.
To start, mark the vertical stitching lines 1.5cm (5/8″) for the side seam and fold the ‘flaps’ under for the time being, it will make the drafting of the leg opening much easier.

You’ll want to raise the side seam from the bottom edge, about 5cm (2″) or you can measure any of your bathers that has a cut you like and use that. Mark that off on both the front and the back.
On the Front leg opening redraft the leg opening in a smooth, shallow curve. Sometimes I like to do this free-hand to get a feel for the curve then finalise it with a curved ruler.
On the back leg hole find the midway point and measure in 5cm (2″), then draft in a new leg opening from the side seam to the crotch passing through the mid-way mark.
Just to note that this will affect the shape of the crotch curve, so you’ll likely be shaving off the corners.
The last step is to true the side seams together and make sure they blend smoothly together.
This pineapple bikini has a higher cut leg at the sides and when the side seams are scrunched it gives a more modern shape.
Alrighty, that’s it for today, the last installment will cover converting the bra band and straps!

May 26, 2015

Pattern Alterations for 6101 Skirt Pt.2

Here’s part two to last weeks post on pattern alterations to the 6101 skirt. It’s dedicated to adding length after a question I got through Instagram. The skirt is designed to fall above the knee, but sometimes you just want a little more coverage (getting caught over a windy subway grate is a good reason for me!). There’s a few different ways you can approach lengthening the skirt, depending on how you want it to look and also how much effort you want to put into it 😉

Adding Length

The first decision is where you want to add length: Do you want to keep the hip and front panels the same size and just increase the length of the rest of the skirt? or do you want to extend the whole silhouette?
For the first option, mark halfway down the centre front seam and the side seam. Then fold the pattern piece in half vertically so the side seam meets the centre front seam, mark the middle point on that creased line. Now join the three marks together in one horizontal line (it won’t be straight) and cut.
Spread the pieces down by however much length you want to add and secure in place. To balance the length with the volume of the flare; take the top part of the pattern piece, draw a line that extends down from the side seam. On the lower panel piece, slash along the middle crease line and spread that piece out so it fits against the continuing side seam line. Repeat the same process for the back pattern pieces. Now you’re ready to cut and sew.
If you want to lengthen the whole skirt proportionately, start by marking the halfway point on the side front pattern piece – the easiest way to do this is by folding it in half vertically so the top and bottom edges meet. Then mark it’s corresponding depth onto the centre front panel. Slash along this line and spread to extend the length. I would personally only increase this section by 1/3 of the total desired increase as the side panel are designed to fit against the body stopping just above hips/widest point of the body. Then repeat the process I described above for increasing the length of the lower skirt, but only extending it by the remaining 2/3 of your total increase.
You could get really fancy and add an additional slash line that cuts across the top portion of the lower panel and the lower portion of the centre front panel. This would extend the length of the front panel proportionately along with the length of the lower pieces. This change entails more work as you need to ensure you re-draft nice smooth curves and ensure the corresponding seam lengths match at that point too.
If you want to shorten it then you would follow the same slash and spread methods i’ve described above, but instead of extending everything down, you would overlap the pieces by the necessary amount.
Don’t forget to lengthen your lining pieces as well! The simplest way is by folding the pattern piece into thirds horizontally and slash and spread at the two points.
Make sure you keep the height of the side seam slits the same so that you don’t restrict room for movement, and if you’re lengthening the skirt substantially you may want to make french tacks to loosely hold the lining to the skirt on the inside so you don’t have too much separation.
So that’s some of the techniques you can try out.

May 22, 2015

Pattern Alterations for 6101 Skirt Pt.1

Let’s take a look at some basic changes you can do to the 6101 skirt pattern. This originally turned out to be a monstrously long post, so i’m splitting it out into two. Here’s part one, so grab a cuppa/cocktail/beer and read on!

Grading Between Sizes

This skirt is designed to fit smoothly against the body from the wait down to the hips then flare out at this point, with the lower edge of the side front panel should hit just at your widest point. You would grade between sizes on this pattern the same manner as any other pattern. I only really want to highlight an option that I played around with a different way of grading for my own version of this skirt. I kept the front panel the size of my waist measurement and then I graded out more at the side seams to accommodate the additional fabric needed that would have come from the front panel. That way it maintained the shape & size of the front panel but still gave my butt all the room it needs to move!
The pink line is what I cut. The blue line in the middle would be a normal grade between sizes.

Adding More Flare

This is the simplest of pattern alterations. The skirt is designed with subtle folds and flare at the sides of the skirt, but if you want a little more oomph, then follow these steps:
You will need the Back and Lower Front skirt pattern pieces and some additional spare paper. We’re going to use a ‘slash and spread’ method for this alteration. Start by drawing in the stitching line on the top curve of the pattern piece.
It’s best to divide the additional flare evenly on the curve, so draw three vertical lines in the curved area of the pattern piece. Then cut from the hem up to (but not through) the stitching line on the top curved edge, snip from the top curved edge down to the stitching line, leaving a hairs breadth of paper joining all the pieces. By keeping that top seam edge in tact ensures it will still fit to it’s corresponding seam on the side panels when you sew them together.
Place the spare paper underneath the pattern piece and secure them together near the centre edge. Now you can decide how much additional flare you want to add – for this example we’ll add 2.5cm/1″ between each section. measure and mark 2.5cm/1″ from the edge, them spread the first cut section open until the lower inside corner meets that mark, secure it in place. Then continue with all the sections, but marking, spreading and securing them down in their new position.
Once they’re in their new position, you’ll need to draw in the new hem curve and top seam curve, smoothing out any corners and bumps. Don’t forget the hem curves up at the side seams so it has a varied curve.

Stretch Fabrics

It’s a little more comfortable to wear as it provides a little more give with body movement, and natural expansion during the day (four O’clock tea and biscuits anyone?). If you want to use a stretch fabric for this skirt then you can make a few extra changes to the construction and pattern.
I recently made a neoprene version of this skirt. The neoprene I used was a hefty 4mm thick so topstitching the seam allowances was a must to keep them open. Because it doesn’t fray I left the hem edge raw. The neoprene has generous stretch so I omitted the centre back closure in favour of an elastic waistline. All you need to do is remove the centre back seam allowance from the pattern piece and cut it as one with the centre back ‘on the fold’ or if you’re cutting the fabric flat, you flip the piece over at the centre back line..
For the waistline to remove any unnecessary bulk and in order to keep it flat as possible, cut a 1″ wide elastic the length of the skirt waistline (add some seam allowance) and sew it into a loop. Then zig-zag stitch it to the stitching line on the right side of the waistline raw edge. Flip it to the inside and then tack it down with a few stitches, by using the stitch in the ditch method at each of the seam joins around the waistline.
Let me know if you have any questions about any other changes, the next post will cover lengthening the skirt.

May 19, 2015

Pattern Alterations for 1301 Summer Top

I thought I would write a little about potential fitting changes you might need to make to the 1301 summer top.

Shorten or Lengthen the Bodice

If you’re petite or long in torso length then take your bodice pattern and fold it into thirds horizontally (from the shoulder notch). Cut along the crease lines that you just created, then either spread or overlap by as much as you need to, and smooth out the curves and seam lines where you overlapped or spread the pattern pieces.
If you’re just short-waisted or long waisted, you can fold the pattern in half from the hem up to the bust dart apex, and slash and spread/overlap where you made the horizontal crease.

Full or Small Bust Adjustment

Maison Fleur patterns are designed for a C-cup, if you’re smaller or bigger then you’re likely to need to make an adjustment on the front bodice to either remove or add room for you bust. There’s a million tutorials out here on the internet so I won’t be reinventing any wheels here:
If you’re doing an FBA and it feels like there’s way too much fabric in that dart, you can draw seam allowance around the dart legs and trim away the middle excess fabric.

Sleeve Adjustments to version 3 Puff Kimono Sleeve:

Adding More Puff to the Kimono Sleeve

If you want more puff or room around the shoulder for the sleeve variation you can approach it one of two ways; either with a slash and spread method or by blending from your overall size to a larger one that will accommodate the additional space you want to create. Below is an illustration of slashing and spreading/overlapping for a balanced change in the volume of fabric at the sleeve.
This will increase/decrease the amount of fabric that is gathered and sewn to the sleeve facing. For wearing comfort I would suggest that you have the majority of the fabric gathering on the outer areas of the arm, and avoid adding too much bulk to the underarm area.

Wide Bicep Adjustment

The kimono sleeve sits at the bicep on the arm. I would recommend measuring your bicep and comparing it to the measurement of the sleeve facing. Ideally you’ll want some ease for movement and comfort. If your bicep measurement is smaller or larger than the pattern size you would start by completing the above step to adding more room to the sleeve by slashing and spread/overlap the pattern piece by however much you need to, then you’ll want to adjust the sleeve facing so it will fit better around the bicep.
Cut along the long ends of the sleeve facing, parallel to the short edge. Then spread or overlap by the amount you need and secure into place.
I think that covers some of the most common changes for bodices I can think of for now, let me know in the comments if there’s anything else you’d like me to cover.