I see what you mean. It is more challenging to let out than it is to take in, when altering garments. Especially when you want to add fabric into seams to make the garment larger.
Thank you so much. We will be releasing the Set-in Sleeve Block Pattern diagram this week. We will inform everyone by email as well.
There are a few differences between the sleeve pattern we drafted in the video and a shirt sleeve. On a shirt the top of the sleeves at the sides are less curvy. The armholes are also less curvy. This will allow for more freedom of movement, especially for men's shirts. You can notice this in store bought shirts.
I plan to make a shirt sleeve pattern video lesson in the future as well.
To make a skirt like the one in the picture, you need to cut two circle skirts. Then cut along the length of each one and sew the two circle skirts together; if your circle skirts does not have any seam lines.
Once the two circle skirts are sewn together, you can gather the waistline to make it fit your waist circumference. This way you will have a gathered skirt that looks like the picture you posted.
If you want the skirt to be even fuller, you can cut more circles and join them together.
Test your skirt by using an inexpensive stiff lining fabric.
I made all brides maid dresses also flower girls dresses and pageboys prince Charles coats for their kilts and my own outfit. love sewing and enjoying esewingworkshop.
I am trying to let out pants that I last wore 25 years ago! ;) and yes, found out there was no seam allowance. But, if they are jeans (the specific pants I am refering to are nice thin leather pants (worth keeping all these years, cut like jeans), one could put a wedge in there..I messed up the pants, and will have to wait till I have better skills!
Also, I am a real beginner. I would appreciate an introduction to general pattern reading etc. thanks!
Thank you so much. I will add your suggestion for this topic to my list for future lessons.
Generally when we can not find the right size at the store, it is better to buy a garment that is larger rather than smaller, so that we can alter it easily. Usually ready made garments do not have enough of a seam allowance to be let out as much as needed. That's why I covered shortening and taking in the lessons.
Even if the sleeves are not raglan, you need to shorten them from the hem. You do not need any darts in the shoulder area, just add to the top of the side seams and at the top of the sleeve seams under the arm, by letting out some fabric from the seam allowances. If the seam allowances are not enough, you can add small trangle fabric pieces using the left over fabric from shortening the sleeves or any other matching fabric.
it's not a raglan sleeve and i don't know what you mean by. do i make armhole bigger and add some darts at the top of the sleeve near shoulder blade and side of sleeve?
If you want your pants to have the same style cuffs, you can pinch the excess length above the knee to see how much shorter you want the pants to be. Then open the stitches that hold the fold of the cuff. Now you see a regular hem. Measure this hem allowance. Then add the amount you need to shorten the pants to this hem allowance.
For example: if you have an 8 cm hem allowance and you want to shorten the pants by 3 cm, you will add the 3 cm to the 8 cm hem allowance, which is 11 cm. So you make the hem allowance 11 cm. Then look at the other leg of your pants that you have not touched yet and copy the exact measurement for the cuff. Do a fitting for the shorter leg to make sure you like the length. If it is good replicate it for the other leg, otherwise you will need to adjust it a bit more and then copy for the other leg.
I believe you are saying that the sleeve is raglan and it is long. If so, you need to shorten it from the bottom of the sleeve, not from the top.
To fix the tightness above the bust-line you need to let out from the side seams, if you have enough seam allowance to do so. If you don't have enough seam allowance at the top of the side seams, you can join a piece of fabric there. You can use the pieces you cut from the bottom of the sleeve. These pieces will have a different grain line and may look a different shade, but since they are under the arms they are not so noticeable.
When you add to the top of the side seams you will also need to add to the top of the under arm sleeve seams. This way you will be able to sew back the sleeve to the armhole under the arm.
Yes you can join fabric to the armholes to make the shoulders wider, but you don't need to add it under the arm.
Note: The fabric you cut from the bottom of the sleeve will have a different grain line than the grain line of the armhole. Which may cause the joined piece to have a different shade than the rest of the garment.
Hi everyone. I too am from Australia and am so glad to have discovered your website and have joined the monthly membership program for now and am also impressed at how detailed the videos and instruction are and it seems all the basics and more are covered... sure have got a lot to learn. I'd love to be able to design my own patterns and also be able to fit and alter patterns so as they fit me we well.
I too am from Australia and have just stumbled over your website whilst looking for sewing classes. I watched a few of the free samples and have purchased a yearly subscription as I was impressed by what I saw..
I am hoping to learn how to get things to fit me properly, me being a typical pear shape!!! As well as improve my sewing skills.
It is possible to sew this type of garments with two sets of darts on the front and back. I have done this myself many times in the past, when I wanted the garment to be very fitted.
But if you want some ease around the waist area, you don't have to sew the second set of darts. But if you want you can increase the intake of the first darts a bit more. You still would draw the second set of darts on the pattern but you wont sew them on your garment.
Thanks a million for your clear explaination. After watching your video on line, my confidence soars and I become quite ambitious at times.
If I want to do sew a "dress with pleated skirt, apaghetti straps. Piping and Invisible zipper" as shown in your video or a cheongsam with only one set of waist darts on the front and the back pattern, could you please advise me on smoothing out the side seam at the hip line again without adding the second sets of waist darts on the front and back pattern( is it possible to do that) ?
Dear ros_b,
Thank you so much for the kind words and letting your family and friends know about us.
We are planning to make a video on either jacket or coat sewing in the near future as well.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear ros_b
You are very welcome.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear sewfashionista,
Could you please let me know which video lesson and chapter number are you referring to. This way I can answer your question more accurately.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Bernd,
I see what you mean. It is more challenging to let out than it is to take in, when altering garments. Especially when you want to add fabric into seams to make the garment larger.
Thanks for your suggestion.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Denese,
Thank you so much. We will be releasing the Set-in Sleeve Block Pattern diagram this week. We will inform everyone by email as well.
There are a few differences between the sleeve pattern we drafted in the video and a shirt sleeve. On a shirt the top of the sleeves at the sides are less curvy. The armholes are also less curvy. This will allow for more freedom of movement, especially for men's shirts. You can notice this in store bought shirts.
I plan to make a shirt sleeve pattern video lesson in the future as well.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear LadyMoonShine,
To make a skirt like the one in the picture, you need to cut two circle skirts. Then cut along the length of each one and sew the two circle skirts together; if your circle skirts does not have any seam lines.
Once the two circle skirts are sewn together, you can gather the waistline to make it fit your waist circumference. This way you will have a gathered skirt that looks like the picture you posted.
If you want the skirt to be even fuller, you can cut more circles and join them together.
Test your skirt by using an inexpensive stiff lining fabric.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
I made all brides maid dresses also flower girls dresses and pageboys prince Charles coats for their kilts and my own outfit. love sewing and enjoying esewingworkshop.
Thank you for your response; are you able to advise when this is likely to be available.
What a nice difference that added touch made - glad that you caught me before I made a big old line of stiches 1 cm instead of 1 mm!
I am trying to let out pants that I last wore 25 years ago! ;) and yes, found out there was no seam allowance. But, if they are jeans (the specific pants I am refering to are nice thin leather pants (worth keeping all these years, cut like jeans), one could put a wedge in there..I messed up the pants, and will have to wait till I have better skills!
Also, I am a real beginner. I would appreciate an introduction to general pattern reading etc. thanks!
Bernd
Dear ros_b,
Thanks so much for the kind words. Yes you are correct, the only thing is that you need to sew 1 mm down from the seam not 1 cm as you stated.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear bernd,
Thank you so much. I will add your suggestion for this topic to my list for future lessons.
Generally when we can not find the right size at the store, it is better to buy a garment that is larger rather than smaller, so that we can alter it easily. Usually ready made garments do not have enough of a seam allowance to be let out as much as needed. That's why I covered shortening and taking in the lessons.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear jeannemarie1,
Even if the sleeves are not raglan, you need to shorten them from the hem. You do not need any darts in the shoulder area, just add to the top of the side seams and at the top of the sleeve seams under the arm, by letting out some fabric from the seam allowances. If the seam allowances are not enough, you can add small trangle fabric pieces using the left over fabric from shortening the sleeves or any other matching fabric.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Wow! What a nice job you did with the zipper! Very nice indeed!
it's not a raglan sleeve and i don't know what you mean by. do i make armhole bigger and add some darts at the top of the sleeve near shoulder blade and side of sleeve?
Dear Ha Luu,
To learn how to shorten pants you can watch the Pants Shortening Video Lesson.
If you want your pants to have the same style cuffs, you can pinch the excess length above the knee to see how much shorter you want the pants to be. Then open the stitches that hold the fold of the cuff. Now you see a regular hem. Measure this hem allowance. Then add the amount you need to shorten the pants to this hem allowance.
For example: if you have an 8 cm hem allowance and you want to shorten the pants by 3 cm, you will add the 3 cm to the 8 cm hem allowance, which is 11 cm. So you make the hem allowance 11 cm. Then look at the other leg of your pants that you have not touched yet and copy the exact measurement for the cuff. Do a fitting for the shorter leg to make sure you like the length. If it is good replicate it for the other leg, otherwise you will need to adjust it a bit more and then copy for the other leg.
For the Sleeve shortening you can watch the Jacket Sleeve Shortening Video Lesson.
Hope this helps,
Happy sewing Nehzat
Dear jeannemarie1,
I believe you are saying that the sleeve is raglan and it is long. If so, you need to shorten it from the bottom of the sleeve, not from the top.
To fix the tightness above the bust-line you need to let out from the side seams, if you have enough seam allowance to do so. If you don't have enough seam allowance at the top of the side seams, you can join a piece of fabric there. You can use the pieces you cut from the bottom of the sleeve. These pieces will have a different grain line and may look a different shade, but since they are under the arms they are not so noticeable.
When you add to the top of the side seams you will also need to add to the top of the under arm sleeve seams. This way you will be able to sew back the sleeve to the armhole under the arm.
Hope this helps.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear jeannemarie1,
Yes you can join fabric to the armholes to make the shoulders wider, but you don't need to add it under the arm.
Note: The fabric you cut from the bottom of the sleeve will have a different grain line than the grain line of the armhole. Which may cause the joined piece to have a different shade than the rest of the garment.
Hope this helps.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Chris,
Welcome to our site. I am sure you will learn a lot and benefit from our pattern drafting video lessons.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Stephanie,
Welcome to our site. I hope that you can benefit from the video lessons and be able to sew yourself well fitted garments.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Thank you for your response, I'll be watching your new video on how to draw currved lines by hand.
Hi everyone. I too am from Australia and am so glad to have discovered your website and have joined the monthly membership program for now and am also impressed at how detailed the videos and instruction are and it seems all the basics and more are covered... sure have got a lot to learn. I'd love to be able to design my own patterns and also be able to fit and alter patterns so as they fit me we well.
Thanks heaps for such an informative website.
Chris :)
Hello,
I too am from Australia and have just stumbled over your website whilst looking for sewing classes. I watched a few of the free samples and have purchased a yearly subscription as I was impressed by what I saw..
I am hoping to learn how to get things to fit me properly, me being a typical pear shape!!! As well as improve my sewing skills.
Cheers
Stephanie
Dear Jsee,
It is possible to sew this type of garments with two sets of darts on the front and back. I have done this myself many times in the past, when I wanted the garment to be very fitted.
But if you want some ease around the waist area, you don't have to sew the second set of darts. But if you want you can increase the intake of the first darts a bit more. You still would draw the second set of darts on the pattern but you wont sew them on your garment.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Nehzat,
Thanks a million for your clear explaination. After watching your video on line, my confidence soars and I become quite ambitious at times.
If I want to do sew a "dress with pleated skirt, apaghetti straps. Piping and Invisible zipper" as shown in your video or a cheongsam with only one set of waist darts on the front and the back pattern, could you please advise me on smoothing out the side seam at the hip line again without adding the second sets of waist darts on the front and back pattern( is it possible to do that) ?
Yours sincerely,
jschan_123