The Kingstowne Clothiers had a great turnout for our meeting on the Top-Down-Center-Out technique for pants fitting. Attendees were given information from Threads Summer 2022 issue and Crooked Hem's YouTube video series to provide background and prep for the meetings.
Everyone had worked on their waistband, which is a key component of the TDCO technique. Everything hangs from the waistband, so having it marked, interfaced, and fitted for where the wearer wanted it on their body was critical. We also brought one leg so we could check for overall fit before building the rest of our trousers.
I think everyone was happy with the outcome. As one member remarked, "It's a lot more fun to do fitting in a group than by oneself", and I agree. It's also a lot less tedious.
We have several lessons learned from this exercise.
- Mark all seam allowances, especially center front and center back seam allowances. Do this for both the pant legs and the waistband.
- Mark grain lines.
- Draw horizontal balance lines.
- If you have standard alterations you make to your patterns, such as shortening for petite sizes, make those changes.
- Staystitch the waist and crotch seams. This enables clipping without distortion when fitting.
- Add extra allowance (1-2 inches) to cutting lines in case more volume is needed when fitting.
It'll be great to see the next iteration of toiles and possibly finished pants!
Show and Tell
Here are the notes from our Show and Tell.
Sandra modeled the Geneva Blouse from Liesl + Co. She made it out of Liberty Fabric and deemed it a wearable muslin. She is still refining shoulder fit.
She had an interesting observation on order of sewing and how it might affect the final fitting. Sandra used paper bodices to check order for shoulder slope, forward shoulder, and broad/narrow shoulder. This was an excellent discussion and might be a great topic for a future presentation!
Resources discussed included techniques on "pivot and slide" and Nancy Zieman's book "The Busy Woman's Fitting Book" provides the best descriptions of how to do this.
Joyce discussed her "Magic Box," a clear plastic tackle box that contained all her sewing supplies.
Marjorie demonstrated the Chakoner, a Japanese chalk pencil that will delight sewists and ASMR enthusiasts! It makes a nice line and easily brushes away. Sandra pulled out a chalk pencil from Lidl which was also a cool tool. Unfortunately, it's hard to know when or if Lidl's chalk pencil, which was part of a sewing kit, is still available.
Brenda and Marjorie are working on sleeve slopers and will have a compendium of what works and doesn't work with sleeves. They described draping a sleeve using a corded armscye from Threads.
Bonnie added information about a rolling ruler to measure the armscye. Sewists can also make an arm for their dress form. Use a ham to steam the seam allowance and set the sleeve. Be aware that different armscyes should be used for patterns that feature variations for sleeveless and sleeves.
Susan showed how she kept her thread and bobbins together.
Bonnie showed her Classmate Bag from Kathy Saladino's Workshop.
We also talked about the book, "Fitting and Pattern Alteration," by Elizabeth Liechty, Della Pottberg, and Judith Rasband. The fourth edition was published this year, but there's no need to buy a new edition if you have an earlier edition----especially since the latest edition is rather pricey and doesn't seem to add much new information, except for a discussion on sustainability. We also discussed ASG's "University of Fashion" subscription, one of the benefits of membership. Keep an eye on your ASG email newsletters for the next opportunity to enroll. Subscriptions run through October 31 each year.
At our next meeting on Saturday, September 21, at the City of Fairfax Regional Library, we'll check the status of our pants fitting and we might even have some pants completed for Show and Tell!
