I'd like to show you the broad or narrow back pattern adjustment.

You will know if you need this pattern correction if, for instance, the mid-back area of your garment feels really tight, while the front fits okay. You will only feel this tightness across the back of your garment, especially when you have a sleeve in; that’s when you'll really notice if you need to do a broad back correction. If you need to do a narrow back correction, you’re going to see some vertical drag lines that indicate excess width across your back area.

Watch the video now for the step by step tutorial on making this adjustment to your pattern.

Enjoy!

All My Best,
Alexandra

Over the last couple of weeks, we've been talking about fitting the back.

Last week I demonstrated how to assess the muslin and adjust your pattern for a rounded back fitting issue.

This week I want to show you how to adjust for a prominent shoulder blade. I thought it important to cover this fit issue because it seems most people use the rounded back pattern adjustment to solve a prominent shoulder blade issue. While the rounded back adjustment will work to some extent, you may find it will cause another fitting issue.

Watch the video to find out why and what to do instead.

Resources mentioned in this video:

Three Ways to Manage the Back Shoulder Dart

How to True Darts and Manage Dart Volume

I hope you enjoyed this video! If you found it helpful share it with a friend!

All My Best,
Alexandra

Last week that we talked about fitting the back and I demonstrated a little draping lesson to show you how important the back shoulder dart is to achieving a good fit.

This week, I want to continue the conversation about fitting the back by talking about what most people call the rounded back adjustment. I’m going to use my lovely assistant Marjie to demonstrate what how to recognize this fit issue in your sample and then how to adjust your pattern to correct it.

Next week I'll cover another common back fitting issue. I hope you'll tune in!

Resources mentioned in this video:

Three Ways to Manage the Back Shoulder Dart

How to True Darts and Manage Dart Volume

 Enjoy!

All My Best,
Alexandra

This week, I wanted to concentrate specifically on the back bodice fitting. The back of the body is obviously challenging due to the fact that we simply can't see what's going on back there. When you twist to view the back or even move your arms, you automatically change the way the garment hangs. So, what are you to do? Well, I have a couple of suggestions.

First of all, have your body measurements handy.

Of course, you'll need help to take your back body measurements, but these don't change by very much over time, so one good measurement session should be valid for quite a while. You'll need your shoulder width, your across back, and your center back neck-to-waist measurements to get you started. You're going to use these body measurements to guide you in choosing a pattern in the correct size and assessing the pattern for fit. To learn more about how to do that, you can grab your copy of the Perfect Fit Guide and watch the Fitting Fundamentals video series.

Secondly, take some...

If you caught last weeks video tutorial you’ll know we began a discussion about back contour shaping on a pattern with a back yoke. In that video I shared a method of removing the yoke seam so that you could better understand how to make a standard rounded back adjustment. This week I wanted to talk about the best position for a yoke seam line and how to customize it for your body.

The back yoke is a great styling choice when you have a rounded back because it allows you to shape the back by creating an invisible dart in the yoke seam. This invisible dart, hidden in the seam, has the ability to give you a more refined fit but like a dart the styling will work best if the yoke seam is addressing the most prominent area of the back. If the yoke seam is too high or too low, you may find that you are not achieving the fit you hoped for.

The most prominent area of the back spinal curve usually occur between 2 1/2” to 5” below the base of neck. (That’s about 6 to...

You might be quite familiar with making adjustments to a pattern to accommodate a more rounded back than what the pattern has been designed for. On a basic pattern with a shoulder dart, the method is well documented and I’ve even created a video tutorial on this as well, but what do you do when the style has a back yoke?

Join me today to learn how to eliminate a back yoke seam to better understand how to alter the pattern for more prominent back contour shaping.

Watch the video now to see how back contour shaping can be incorporated into the back yoke seam as an invisible dart and how to remove the yoke seam and rotate the invisible dart to the shoulder seam so you can easily make a standard rounded back adjustment.

Not sure how to make a standard rounded back adjustment? This video is for you:

The Rounded Back Adjustment

The Lila sewing pattern I shared with you in this video is a Fitting Essentials sewing pattern. When you purchase this pattern you get access...

Last week we talked about bust adjustments on a t-shirt pattern, this week I'd like to address how to handle back contour shaping. Age and posture can take a toll on the body and sometimes can result in more rounded shoulders and back. In order to achieve a good and comfortable fit in your garments you'll likely need to make a pattern adjustment to accommodate this body shape so today we'll cover the upper-back and mid-back contour shape adjustments.

Watch the video now to see how it's done.

If you'd like to learn about stretch fabric pattern making, I invite you to look into my online course The Custom Stretch Knit Bodice. You'll learn how to draft a basic T-shirt using your own body measurements. I'll leave a link for you on this page.

If you're not interested in drafting your own T-Shirt I have a pattern you can use. It's called the Jenny Tee and you can find it at inhousepatterns.com. For more information about how the Jenny pattern fits take a look at this video: Fitting...

Here is the third video from this month's series on Pattern Fundamentals.

In the last two videos I showed you how to rotate darts, how to true them up and how to manage large dart volumes.  If you missed those just click the links below to watch.

PATTERN FUNDAMENTALS: Two Essential Skills for Successful Pattern Manipulation

PATTERN FUNDAMENTALS: How to True Darts and Manage Dart Volume

Today's video covers three ways to manipulate the back shoulder dart. We'll cover how to rotate it to the neckline, how to create a yoke seam and how to eliminate it entirely without affecting the fit. If you've already read this popular article, you'll find that this week's video brings it all to life.

Enjoy!

As I mentioned in the video, get your FREE Scaled Block Patterns to practice your pattern work. Click the image below to get started!

Share your pattern work from the Pattern Fundamentals series on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram by posting a photo with the...