I always like to share things I've either figured out, learned, or fudged in a way that works.
In Part 1 I showed a photo of the front of my pleated bodice where I was pinning it in on me to fit it better. I thought I would go into more detail of how I fitted it on me since fitting has been a struggle for me for years. And over those years I’ve learned a bit more and I can share this one. Sometimes a friend would pin my bodice in for me and then tell me to transfer the markings to my pattern which I never seemed to get right anyhow. Maybe this time I will.
As a reminder, this is the pattern I used, TV 455.
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Because I had changed the front effect of gathering to pleating it caused my upper portion to be much too big and fluffy on me. After it was all pleated I sewed the shoulder seams and side seams with a machine basting stitch. The back is closed with hook & eye tape. I put it on inside out and then pinned the front edges together matching the edges evenly. Then I started pinching it in next to my body to where I thought the seam should be and pinned it. I did this all the way down the front. The top section on me was taken in quite a bit. I readjusted the bodice on me by pulling the back down again and a bit forward. I can tell if it’s a good fit or if I need to take it in a bit more. Sometimes I take in some on the side seams. If you haven’t done your darts already, this is another way to fit it on you too.
Once I was happy with how it was pinned, I marked my sewing line with chalk. I only did one side because I have front edges perfectly lined up together. When I unpin it this will be very important because I want to have the same seam line I had when it was on me.
I didn’t trim all the excess fabric off the front seam, leaving instead a two inch seam allowance just in case.
So that’s how my one-woman bodice fitting was done on this pattern. Obviously if any fitting is needed in the back, then I’m up the creek again.
~Val
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