Pattern Cutting Weekend at Ray Stitch

I've been sewing for five years now and would like to think that my dressmaking skills have improved a teeny bit during that time. One thing I still don't have much of a clue about though is fitting. I've never been properly taught how to fit patterns - everything I've learnt has been cobbled together from reading sewing blogs and books or by following sewalongs. Yes, I can more or less tweak a pattern to fit me, but I don't really know how and why I'm manipulating it. I've always wanted to be able to make a sloper or block to fit my proportions exactly, which I can then use to adapt other patterns. I don't want to become a designer, I just want somebody knowledgeable to explain the basic mechanics to me. 

So when Katie posted this excellent review about the three day pattern cutting course she'd taken at Ray Stitch, I was on red alert.  I knew that this was exactly the course I'd been looking for and booked in for the October Pattern Cutting Weekend. During the weekend I would create a skirt and upper body block and learn how to use the blocks to adapt commercial patterns and even create my own!  I. Could. Not. Wait!

The course was taught by Alice Prier, a super-stylish pattern cutter and designer with a ton of knowledge and experience to share. Alice was also very engaging and funny, which really set the class off on the right foot. This was a world away from the soul destroying needlework lessons at school! We started by taking 'accurate' measurements of each other. It was reassuring that Alice could take one look at our pattern paper and know immediately if we had an incorrect, or, in some cases, physically impossible measurement (ahem!) We each created an upper body and skirt block joined together at the waist to form a dress, which we then sewed up in calico. After trying them on, we all needed only minimal adjustments to ensure a perfect fit. Honestly they all looked great, and that's saying something as calico is notoriously unflattering (see photo below…) I achieved a good fit across the bust (hallelujah!) but needed to add an inch across the stomach and bum area i.e. the widest part of me, as the toile turned out a bit tight. I also had to pin a small chunk out of the front neckline as it was slightly gaping. Apart from that it fitted. Perfectly!

Any pulling you see is just the way I'm standing - it actually fits like a glove

This all happened on the first day - the second day was devoted to learning all about darts. Now I've done the odd FBA (full bust adjustment) and gaping back adjustment in my time, so I had a rough idea about what happens if you pivot or spread a dart.  Having it explained properly really did cement it into place for me - this was definitely my lightbulb moment of the whole weekend! Alice slashed a bodice into sections and then showed how a different fit/look could be achieved by pivoting the darts around the bodice.

This is the block we started out with. It has darts at the top and bottom

Once a bodice block is created, there is a set amount of shaping within the darts - so as long as this total amount of dart area remains the same, the darts can go anywhere. It can all go into one dart.

It can be redistributed between two different darts.

It can be joined together to form a princess seam (forgot to take a picture of that one.). It can be an underarm tuck.

Or, if you want more ease, you can simply choose not to sew the dart up at all.  This may be obvious to a lot of people, but it wasn't to me, so to finally understand it was well worth every penny of the course fee. These basic principles can then be used to create patterns for whatever you like. The possibilities are endless and I came away bursting with ideas. I've now transferred all my scribblings to my 'fitting' notebook', just in case I forget anything, which is highly likely. I've also decided to take Alice's advice and trace my block onto card to preserve it.

Obviously you're not going to learn everything there is to know about pattern cutting in just one weekend, but I felt that I learnt more than enough for my purposes.  I also met some lovely new sewing pals and a very inspiring teacher. Plus we were constantly plied with chocolate cake, which didn't hurt. Thank you to Ray Stitch and to Alice Prier for an excellent weekend course. x