Silhouette Patterns Fitting Trifecta Tour, Part 1

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Seattle event of the Fitting Trifecta Tour with Peggy Sagers of Silhouette Patterns on January 25 and 26th, 2019 in Seatac, Washington. Peggy travels the country, teaching women how to make the clothes they sew fit properly on their bodies, with as little fuss as possible.

My notes from the workshop follow. I didn't take notes at the workshop; these are written from memory so there may be a few gaps.

Friday Evening

The Friday evening workshop was to fit the shell from Silhouette Patterns #195, Sweater Set. Peggy started by talking about her approach to fitting, "LCD." L stands for length, C for circumference, and D for depth. When evaluating a garment, vertical drag lines indicate length issues, horizontal indicate circumference issues, and diagonal lines indicate depth issues. Adjustments are always worked in the same order...Length first, Circumference second, and Depth last.

Peggy demonstrated how these principles apply to the shell on a "fitting model" chosen from attendees.

Fitting the Shell

Length

Do the darts end inside the bust circle? Do you like where they end? If the darts come up too far, remove a few stitches; if they don't come up far enough, add a few stitches.

The bust circle is an imaginary construct with the bust apex at it's center and ranges in size from 3" in diameter in the smaller sizes and and up to 5" or more, depending on the size of the garment. It is acceptable for darts to end at any point inside the circle, but they must not extend past the bust apex. Everyone in the workshop seemed to have different opinions on perfect dart placement, but as long as the darts end inside the circle, without extending past the bust apex, it's a matter of personal preference.

Circumference

Does it feel comfortable? Is there adequate circumference? Look for horizontal drag lines to evaluate. Let out the side seams if necessary, or go to a bigger size. Is there too much circumference? Take in the side seams or try a smaller size.

Depth

Is there gapping around the arm scye? This is corrected at the shoulder seam. Remember, the shoulder seam, an angled line, is a dart. Gapping is corrected by taking a deeper dart.

Question: After you take a deeper dart at the shoulder seam, how do you modify the sleeve to fit? Answer: No sleeve modifications are necessary, because you restore the original arm scye to connect the new shoulder point with the underarm seam.

Question: Do you take an equal amount all the way across the shoulder seam? Answer: No, you taper to nothing at the neck edge. If you take an equal amount all the way across, you've adjusted length, not depth.

High round back is a depth issue. Before you make this adjustment you must pass the three-question test. 1. Is the neck too high (i.e., choking you) in the front? 2. Are the shoulder seams pulling to the back? 3. Is the back neck too low? If you can't answer yes to all three questions, you do not need a high round back adjustment. The solution to the high round back issue is to slash the back from stitching line to stitching line (at or above...sorry, I don't remember exactly where to make the slash*) the shoulder blades, allowing the back to relax. The shoulder seams are now free to move forward, Next, a piece of fabric is added under the slash and pinned to the garment. The top of the slash must be pinned first.

The swayback adjustment is required if there is pooling above the waist in the back. The solution is to take a dart just above the waist, starting in the middle and tapering to nothing at the side seams. Be aware that pooling can also be caused when a garment is snug enough around the hips that it can't move freely up and down over the hips during movement.  If you make a swayback adjustment and, afterwards, the back hem is raised in the middle, the swayback adjustment wasn't required. At this point, you have to decide if you wan't more circumference around the hips This is a personal decision.

Those are all the issues we discussed during the workshop. On thing that was striking was how many women (a large majority) had chosen a size that was too large, even many sizes too large.  Think about this when choosing your size, and even when evaluating your muslin for circumference. Many of the women had to be told their tops were too large; they couldn't see it themselves.

Unfortunately, I don't have before and after photos of my shell because, honestly, it was really, really good right out of the envelope. My partner did make a tiny change to the shoulder seam and a swayback adjustment, but I didn't think to have her take photos of it. I was skeptical about the concept of having darts in knit tops, but I am a believer now. This fit of this shell is pretty fantastic, and on a print, the darts don't even show.

As I found out, being able to attend a fitting workshop with Peggy Sagers is a fantastic opportunity, but you don't have to feel left out if you can't attend one. Peggy has generously shared a huge amount of information, for free, on the Silhouette Patterns YouTube channel. You can see her line of patterns here.

*My friend, Debi, who also attended the workshop says the slash for the high round back adjustment is taken just above the shoulder blades.