A Small Change To A Shoulder Princess Blouse

Posted Oct 21st, 2011

One of our PFS Elite members were fitting a beautiful Shoulder Princess blouse,the tissue fitting was as good as at it could be but here is her experience in her own words – as well as my response and the end result:

I have done something else in this time. I cut a pattern of a top many weeks ago, I took from my magazine and I did the tissue fitting alone. All seamed nice so I took a big piece of old fabric and sewed it.

Well, something funny is going on after I have sewed the front parts together. The seam of the side part is a bit longer then the front part, (the curve at the bust, I think), so I gathered the “too much” of the side piece, at the bust, for around 9 inches. Look at the bubbles on the side part. What did I wrong? The same thing happens on my daughter’s blouse, after I did a big FBA for her.

I will take some photos of the top on me later. I don’t know how women can take photos themselves in front of the mirror. I tried, but they are all unusable.

I didn’t change my pattern at all, as there is a lot of ease at the bust for me. I measured it comparing my measurements to those of the pattern.

Should I do a pleat on the side piece of my tissue paper at the bust, a sort of triangle, to take away the excess or should I gather for a much longer amount then 9 inches?
Did you ever have such an issue?

I would be very happy to hear your thoughts. Thank you so much.

I could feel her frustration and desperation but the fix was easy:
I think this is a great pattern you are working with – it may be that the fabric is a bit different and it grew while you worked with it – I know Rayon do this as well.

My response:
No problem it is easy to fix

And here is the end result – all those extra wrinkles are gone and she her daughter had beautiful new blouse

Butterick B5170 A summer top

Posted May 24th, 2011

I love this little top. It was easy to sew, I do believe that this a great op for any beginner. With two bust darts and the side seam – how can you ever go wrong.

I also love the fabric I used, I had this in my stash forever. But when I saw this little top I new this fabric was just the one for this little top.

I used Butterick 5170 size small I also added some length to the waist because I’m long waisted and I need that tad bit extra. This is something I see some ladies ignore from time to time. But when I prepare my pattern it is the first thing I adjust.

I do want to sew the pants as well in one of the colors in this top. I did not wear any pants with elastic before but I guess it maybe a good idea for something casual for a day at the beach.

A forum update: We have started our first sew along for this year on the forum, our goal this year is to sew a complete wardrobe, this sew along is open to all PFS Elite Members, and I hope to meet some of our new members. If you need fitting assistance during this wardrobe sew along all you need to do is to post your photo’s and we will work on adjusting your pattern. If you want to become a PFS Elite Member and join the sew along please click here:

V7903 – A Perfect Fit

Posted May 13th, 2011

This blouse of Sandra Betzina has been around for many years. And it is still one of my favorites. One of my Elite Club members sewed this up in a beautiful red check.

There is a total of 16 darts in this blouse, but I do believe that it is the darts that help her achieve such a beautiful fit in the waist area.

She did mention that she think she would shorten the sleeve with about an inch next time.

Enjoy her “runnway” movie – Hope she would inspire you to take the time to fit before you sew next time

Have a fitting question – don’t hesitate to post to on the forum

Simplicity 4146

Posted May 8th, 2011

I really enjoyed working on this pattern. I took a chance and sewed the top according to my bust measurement with 1″ seam allowances. I was afraid that the neck maybe to big, but the pattern was drafted with negative ease, so I thought it maybe a chance worth taking. In the end I did not need a high round or a broad back adjustment like I do when I work with a woven.

I used a Matte Jersey for the top from Joann’s I really like the colors in this fabric.

The wide legged pants was also easy to fit and sew – the waist is desighned to sit below the natural waist line without a waistband. I used a linen fabric, it is so comfortable but it wrinkle like nobodies bodies – I used a 5/8″ satin ribbon to sew at the waist, and it worked beautifully I will also use this mehtod on skirts in the future.

Have you used Perfect Sew And Fit?

Posted Apr 14th, 2011

I was wondering how many ladies have used the video’s here on Perfect Sew And Fit?
Please tell us if you have watched the video’s and if you have used any of the fitting rooms on the forum. And what do you think about Perfect Sew And Fit?
If you have any questions about Perfect Sew And Fit – Please let us know. I love to work with the ladies in the forum, we are having great success and a lot fun learning how to fit our own bodies.

Do you have a flickr account? Now you can join the Perfect Sew And Fit Group on flickr – I look forward to see what you will post, anyone can visit and leave comments for the members who already posted their photo’s.

Here are a few of the Perfect Fit and Sew Ladies who completed their fitting proejcts.

New Look 6875 How To Rotate The Bust Adjustment To The Neckline

Posted Mar 3rd, 2011

This a cute and easy top to sew. The reason I sewed this top is because one of our PFS Members wanted to know how to rotate a full bust adjustment to the neckline for this kind of pattern. I needed a new top, and she needed the information so we had a win-win situation. The video information could be found here for all PFS Elite Members.
Not a member but want to watch the video visit this link As a PFS Elite Member you will be able to follow along with some of our ladies who are also sewing this top. Here you can see what a perfect fit one of ladies achieved with the same top, using the information in the video. (This link is only visible to our Elite Club Members)

Before I say anything else – I want to warn you about your fabric choice. If you choose a knit that is not stable enough, you will have really bad droopy wrinkles between the bust area – How do I know? It happened to me – I used some knit fabric I had in my stash, and boy did this look bad? I will definitely stick to the pattern recommendations from now on. Because the fabric was so heavy and stretchy it really made the front look bad. (I think I’m the only teacher who actually share her disasters with the world – But hey, this is how we all learn from each others mistakes. Don’t worry I did sew another one that fits PERFECTLY)

When you look at the top on the right you will see A LOT of drooping going on, what I did in this top was I pushed the gathers really close to each other. But on the left side I spread the gathers a bit more evenly across the bust, which did not create as much of the droopiness.

I then decide to see what will happen if I sew the blouse up, only with my broad back and high round adjustments, eliminating the full bust adjustment. I really like how this worked out for me. I will sew one more top with the added fullness at the bust in the recommended knit fabric. – But I have wear this top to work, and received a lot of compliments. One lady even ask me to sew one for her.

Please excuse the tissue in my hand I forgot to put it down. I’m feeling a little under the weather struggling with some bug.

The one thing I did differently to this top that is not in the instruction sheet: I added a very soft interfacing to the neckline, Just cut a template form your neckline front and back and add your 5/8″ plus 3/8″ for the width. Fuse it to the neckline this will stabilize the neck and it make top-stitching so much easier. If you have any questions about this technique please visit the forum or post your question here.

Happy sewing, hope to see you all on the forum. Sharing were you can share your sewing adventure and get advice, motivation and or encouragement

Completed Vest Butterick 5359

Posted Feb 13th, 2011

I love this new addition to my wardrobe. The only thing left to do is to shop for buttons. I Have no idea what kind of button I want for this vest. Maybe a plain black, or maybe something with a little bit of silver.

Sewing this vest was a great experience. I used a shiny black embroidery thread for my topstitching. I also like the way the armholes look. There is no draglines under the armhole at the back of the shoulder. No matter how hard I’ve tried in the past I always had those excess wrinkles under the shoulder blade, showing that I have sloping shoulders.

But not any more…I used the easy to use shoulder template to re-draw the slope of my shoulder, this is defnitely a “fool proof tool” each sewer should have on their cutting table. This video is available to all Perfect Sew And Fit Elite Members here: to view the shoulder template video and have greater success with your sewing projects.

The vest I used had a armhole princess, I used the princess video for the step by step bust adjustement instructions. To view the video click here

I also used this video with easy to follow tips on how to line a vest, quick and easy – to view the video’s and to see how easy it is to line a vest click here

I hope others would be able to use these video’s to make their sewing experience a greater success.
Happy Sewing to All.

Sew Knits

Posted Feb 8th, 2011

It is easy to Sew knits once you know a few basics. I found this great tutorial that will show you how to sew a perfect neckline everytime, with a regular sewing machine, a straight stithcing foot and a ball point needle.

When I sewed my knit top, I used a regular straight stitch set at 3mm, and I stretch my seam as I sew, this build the give you need into the seam, and your stitches won’t pop half way through your day when you wear the top.

The amount of stretch varies from knit to knit so it’s important to learn how the different fabrics behave and then experiment with the various types of neckline finishes you’ll be creating. This video takes you through the process of sewing neckline bindings for knits. Click the RealPlayer or Quicktime link to start the actual video.

Sloping Shoulder or Square shoulder How to adjust the pattern

Posted Feb 6th, 2011

Here is A easy way to adjust your pattern for sloping & Square shoulders

I have just completed another video on how to make the fitting process at the shoulder seam a bit easier.

In this video you will see how you could use a shoulder template to adjust your shoulderseam, each and every time without fitting the tissue on first.

The reason I have made this video is because so many ladies had problems with fitting the shoulders and now by using this video you will have
a bigger success in the shoulder which mean less wrinkles/fold lines below the armhole.

The location and password to this video is available to all Elite Members by clicking here: Not a Elite Member but want to watch the video, visit our forum by click here

Sewing A Vest A Quick And Easy Method

Posted Jan 29th, 2011

Sewing a vest is a really quick and fun project. I believe even a beginner will learn a great deal by viewing the vest making video below. All you need is a simple vest sewing pattern, in your size. And you will be on your way to sew a vest in no time flat.

The Vest Sewing Tutorial video below will give you a few tips on eliminating gapping armholes, as well as complete how to steps to sew the vest and line the vest. The method to lining the vest is not your conventional way mentioned in pattern instruction sheets. But a method I have learned over 20 years ago, and it’s still my favorite method of sewing a vest.

If you need any help, or have any questions about sewing your vest you could post your question to our VEST Board.

If you have find these video tutorials helpful please click on some of our social bookmarking links so other great sewers could learn about Perfect Sew And Fit. Thanks.

In this video you will learn how to get rid of the little gap we sometimes see in the armhole in the back or front.

In this Vest Sewing Video you will learn how to line your vest.