Lately I’ve been having fun going back and rethinking the fit adjustments on old makes. Like most, I adjusted patterns according to the typical guidance in the sewing world.
A classic recommendation when making length changes is the advice to divide up the changes between multiple locations. This was what I did when I made the Sewing Workshop Tosca dress. One of the adjustments involved removing 5½ inches of total length. I did this in by carefully measuring the pattern and making even tucks in four positions evenly distributed throughout the garment. Fussy. Laborious.
Since then I’ve developed the concept that a seam is a line on a garment that represents a journey. Like all journeys, there is a starting point and a destination.
In between the start and the destination is the route. The route is first a cut line on the flat cloth and then a line on the garment that traverses space when the garment is worn on the body.
IF we want that route to start and end with at same circumference positions but reduce the vertical dimension then we can just move those positions vertically and redraw the route that transitions between them. There should be no reason not to do this all at once.
I decided to test this and compare the results.
Removing vertical distance on a slanted line results in a jagged outline (b.). The outline was smoothed to create a new “route” or pattern cut line (starting at the original start position and ending at the original destination.
The altered “route” or cut/seam line looks similar to the original (a.) but is a shorter journey as expected when we reduce distance.
Here is the outcome comparing the original pattern adjustment (in 4 locations) with taking all 5½ inches out at a single location at various places along the “route”.
Reader, the resulting altered patterns were all equivalent1. Whether one adjusts in multiple locations or a single location, near the beginning, middle or end of the route, the outcome is the same.
A quicker and more accurate procedure with a single pattern adjustment.
Because one of the locations where length was removed in the original was between underarm and neckline, this also altered the armholes however the armholes were further adjusted in a secondary style adjustment
I'm wondering about dresses like the Named Kielo, with oddly shaped sticky outy bits. Well, even if you have to do one above and one below the wings it's better than the TooMany I've done in the past.
This is such a thoughtful comparison. I’ve never taken it out in multiple places. I just shorten the route and hope it’s ok. It’s very nice to know the result is the same. Thank you for doing the work that I don’t. And sharing it for us all to benefit from.