My Pattern Adjustments

As I find myself browsing sewing blogs, I’m always asking myself – “which of these adjustments will be important for me to make?”…  “Which adjustments are necessary based on the pattern drafting for all bodies?”

To answer these questions, below, I am including my (gasp) mid-thirties, post-two baby, body measurements in the hopes that you will find this helpful as you read my reviews:

(Updated) As of July 2017:

Height: 5 ft 2.5 inches

• High Bust: 32 inches
• (full) Bust: 34.5 inches (B sewing cup, D bra size)
• Waist: 29.5 inches (give or take depending on day and time of day)
• Hips: 35.5 inches

As of December 2016:

• Height: 5 ft 2.5 inches
• High Bust: 32 inches
• (full) Bust: 35 inches (C sewing cup, D bra size)
• Waist: 30 inches (give or take depending on day and time of day)
• Hips: 37 inches

This makes me roughly a rectangle (some calculators will call me a pear).  Postpartum, I now have a swayback for which I need to adjust both my tops and bottoms, as well as a short torso with long legs (which means I typically remove 1.5-2 inches from the bust of most patterns and will add AT LEAST that much back in the skirt/leg area).  Finally, for most patterns, I have to complete a 1″ full bust adjustment, as they are generally designed for B-sewing cups (2 inch difference between high and full bust) vs. my C-sewing cup.

I’ve included links to some helpful tutorials for each of the adjustments I complete:

• Full Bust Adjustment (with dart): http://curvysewingcollective.com/the-beginners-guide-full-bust-adjustment/
• Full Bust Adjustment (without darts): https://www.paprikapatterns.com/how-to-do-a-full-bust-adjustment-on-a-dartless-shirt/
• Shorten (or lengthen) Patterns: http://www.emmakespatterns.com/shorten-a-pattern/
• Size Blending: http://www.burdastyle.com/techniques/adjust-patterns-for-mixed-sizes
• Swayback Adjustment: http://curvysewingcollective.com/tutorial-a-basic-swayback-adjustment/ (this is the RIGHT way to do it — I usually just use darts to take up the excess length)

I hope you find this helpful as you read through my blog posts!

– Mac