Guess what!? I'm petite! I'm just a wee little thing, so delicate that a gust of wind could blow me away--NOT!
But I did have a petite fitting epiphany while working on my latest shirt: I need to take a tuck in the bodice--above the bust--just as if I really were petite.
I have known that my backwaist length is around 2" shorter than standard patterns, but I always thought it meant I was short-waisted when what I really am is short-chested.
This short-chestedness is the cause of my most hated fitting problem: Collars falling down my back. I hate it when the collar falls down my back! And it does in every single ready-to-wear shirt I have ever tried on, as well as many shirts I have made. Now I know how to fix it!
Taking the same tuck at the same level across the front, sleeves and back pattern pieces eliminates the individual fiddling I used to do on each piece. It takes care of too-long sleeves and too-low armholes, and puts the waistline mark in the correct place, all with one little tuck!
My theory is that I can take a size 16 pattern and do the following alterations:
Petite chest-tuck
Full bust adjustment
Increase waist
Increase hip
Increase sleeve width
Sounds like a lot of work, which is why I've been working with Unique to get custom patterns. But ironically, it was on one of their custom patterns that I had to make the chest-tuck. Well, I intend to test my short-chested theory soon on some patterns that I have in my stash. At least the dang collar will stay on my neck now.
But I did have a petite fitting epiphany while working on my latest shirt: I need to take a tuck in the bodice--above the bust--just as if I really were petite.
I have known that my backwaist length is around 2" shorter than standard patterns, but I always thought it meant I was short-waisted when what I really am is short-chested.
This short-chestedness is the cause of my most hated fitting problem: Collars falling down my back. I hate it when the collar falls down my back! And it does in every single ready-to-wear shirt I have ever tried on, as well as many shirts I have made. Now I know how to fix it!
Taking the same tuck at the same level across the front, sleeves and back pattern pieces eliminates the individual fiddling I used to do on each piece. It takes care of too-long sleeves and too-low armholes, and puts the waistline mark in the correct place, all with one little tuck!
My theory is that I can take a size 16 pattern and do the following alterations:
Petite chest-tuck
Full bust adjustment
Increase waist
Increase hip
Increase sleeve width
Sounds like a lot of work, which is why I've been working with Unique to get custom patterns. But ironically, it was on one of their custom patterns that I had to make the chest-tuck. Well, I intend to test my short-chested theory soon on some patterns that I have in my stash. At least the dang collar will stay on my neck now.
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