Hey, I finally did my first small bust adjustment! Yep, I’ve never done one before, which, when I think about it, is both surprising and then not. Frankly I never gave much thought to doing one because I haven’t made many fitted garments. Or I’ve made things from knit fabrics so the bust wasn’t an issue. Most of the ready-to-wear shirts I have aren’t fitted so I’m used to a bit of looseness.
But looking back, I can think of two things I’ve made that needed a bust adjustment – the Colette Patterns Jasmine blouse. I was swimming in it and ended up taking in a couple of inches on the side seams but it was still a big roomy in the bust, which you can see here. Sheesh. Colette Patterns are made for women with generous bosoms!
The 1950s dress I made for the BurdaStyle Sewing Vintage Modern Contest was a little loose in the bust area too. I did made a couple muslins of the bodice but I was focused on changing the neckline from square to boat neck. I really wasn’t paying much attention to the bust.
But over the past year after seeing sewcialists like Leila of Three Dresses Project mention doing a full bust adjustment on garments she’s made. So doing a small bust adjustment has been percolating in my head for a while.
Then when I got indie designer Christine Haynes’s latest pattern, the lovely Emery Dress, I realized that I had the perfect opportunity to do a small bust adjustment. Her sewalong began towards the end of October and includes many tutorials, including a very helpful one on how to do a small bust adjustment, by Haley on Christine’s blog City Stitching. I followed her step-by-step instructions to make my adjustments. There are plenty of helpful photos as well.
I made Muslin No. 1 for size 10 (37.5″ bust, 29.5″ waist), following the pattern exactly and got this (yes, I only did one sleeve).
The fit wasn’t bad but you can see that it’s a little loose in the bust. I could pinch about 1/2″.
In this side view you can see how it’s a bit roomy there, especially above the bust dart.
So I made the adjustments following the SBA tutorial on Christine Haynes blog.
It got a little fiddly on the bust dart – folding it and then trimming it so I wasn’t sure if I did it right. So on to Muslin 2 with the SBA – a much better fit!
Here’s the side view of my SBA muslin. Hey, no wrinkle!
Yippee! My first small bust adjustment worked! The only thing is that the front waist darts seemed a bit long. So I drew another line on the pattern piece as you can see in this photo, to put the apex of the waist dart about 3/4″ lower. Anyway I’m really happy it worked and I’m sure I’ll be doing more SBAs. So thanks Christine for putting the tutorial on your blog!
Have you done any bust adjustments? How did it go?
So far, so good! Looks like you’ve got a good handle on the SBA. I’ve never done one because they scare me a little, but I’m sure that someday I will have to buckle down and learn! I’m also really glad that I’m not the only one who just does one sleeve if I’m doing a muslin! =)
Thanks! I’m know what you mean about being scared about doing a bust adjustment. But if you trace out your pattern, you can make all you mistakes on that. 😉 The SBA instructions on Christine’s blog are pretty clear. You should give it a whirl! You can do it!
Looking nice! Congrats on your first SBA! yeah, it takes me a while between learning about a new thing and applying it. But once I apply it, I go to town. 🙂
Thank you! I’m glad I decided to take the plunge. I think seeing all you FBAs inspired me. =)