Introduction

Fitting is an important part that makes a garment perfect. The art of garment fitting requires skill and
patience. When standard fit is done, garments will look better and feel more comfortable. Making
apparel which really fits is one of garment making’s greatest challenges and crucial successes. No matter
how lovely the fabric, how fine the garment design, or how expert the sewing, the results are
disappointing if the garment fits poorly. Perfect measurements are the key of good fit.

Five standards for good fit

1. Ease- Ease the garment, which seems to be right size is neither too loose not too tight.

 Back shoulder seam eased on to front about 1/2".

 Ease around bust line about 4".
 Ease across back 1/2 " to 3/4" Ease across chest 1/4" to - 3/8".
 Ease through hips, standing 11/2" Ease of skirt at waistline to fit on to belt – 1" or 1/4" on
each quarter.
 Ease at back of sleeve cap 2" to 3" (1" to 11/2 inch) ease at elbow 1" (1/2" inch) to be
able to bend elbow comfortably.

2. Line

 Line The basic silhouette shows the lines in a garment.

 The circumference lines include neckline, armhole, and waistline and wrist line.
 Lines should be smooth without folds and neat.
 There should be smoothly graded curves in back and front.
 Armhole should be oval, but not pointed or round in shape.
 It follows natural creases made where the arm joins the body.
 The curve lines should not be too low which will hinder the movements of the hand.

3. Grain

 Grain the placement of warp and weft yarns form grain. It denotes the direction of the
threads.
 Usually the length wise or warp threads are heavier than cross wise or filling threads.
Heavier threads tend to drape well on the figure with graceful folds, when gathers, pleats
and ruffles occur on the straight grain.
 Length wise grain should be perpendicular at the floor, at the centre front and center
back, unless, off grain seams are present.
 The crosswise yarns are parallel to the floor at centre front and centre back. On the bust
and hiplines, the grain on the right half of the garment should match that on the left half
except in the case of asymmetric draping.

4. Set

 Set a well-fitted garment has a smooth set without any wrinkles.

 The slanting wrinkles are caused by the garment being strained over some curves or
bulges of the body.
 Slanting wrinkles in sleeves and near the shoulder are unbecoming and uncomfortable.
 Crosswise wrinkles occur, because the circumference below them is fitted too tight.

5. Balance

 Balance The garment should look balanced from left to right and front to back.
 The skirt should hang so that it extends the same distance from the center to the right and
left sides.
 The necklines should fit neck snugly at all points.
 If the shoulder seam stands away from shoulder at neck point and fits tightly at armhole
point, the garment will look out of balance.
 General Rules to follow in Making Alteration

 Presentation is communication tools that can be used all similar pieces must be altered to
correspond with the alterations on the major piece.
 Additions or extensions must be made by taping an extension strip to the edge involved.
 Altered patterns must have the same character as the original pattern piece.
 Correct movement on altered pattern to give the altered line the same character as the
original line.
 The altered pattern must be properly flat, as like the original pattern piece.
Demonstrations, lectures, reports, and more. it is mostly presented before an audience.
Presentations are communication tools that can be used as demonstrations, lectures,
reports, and more.

LENGTHENING AND SHORTENING PATTERN

LENGTHENING

 Do you have a particularly long or short torso, legs or arms? If this sounds like you, you
might want to consider lengthening or shortening your sewing patterns to get a better fit.
 If you want to lengthen your pattern piece, cut along the bottom “lengthen or shorten”
line, to separate your pattern pieces into two.
 Get a piece of paper a bit wider than the pattern piece you are lengthening, and draw two
parallel lines. The distance between the lines should be the amount you want to lengthen
the pattern piece by. Place the piece of paper underneath the top part of the pattern, align
the newly cut edge with the upper horizontal line, and stick it down with tape or a glue
stick.
 We need to extend a straight line down from the top pattern piece so we can correctly
match it up with the bottom pattern piece. In this example, using a ruler, extend the center
front edge (the long vertical edge) and draw a line to the bottom of the bit of paper.
 If you’re using something without a straight vertical edge, you can extend the grain line
arrow if it’s vertical. With a ruler, extend the grain line arrow from the top pattern piece
right down through the paper you just attached.
 Now align the lengthen/shorten line on the bottom piece with the lower horizontal line,
matching up the vertical lines or grain line arrow. Lastly, fill in the missing part of the
side seam line and cut away any excess paper.
 Don’t forget to repeat the above processes for any matching pieces, like the back bodice.

SHORTENING

HOW TO: SHORTEN A PATTERN

Sometimes, you can simply cut off some length from the hem of a garment, but
there are times when you may want to remove (or add) the excess length to the
interior of a pattern piece, so that the piece still fits properly with the rest of the
pattern. For example, if you wanted to shorten a sleeve that had a cuff, you
wouldn’t want to just lop the excess off the bottom. The sleeve would no longer
fit the cuff correctly, and you could also lose important details like the placket
position. This is also the case if you have a pattern with an interesting shape –
such as an A-line dress. You would not want to just cut the excess off the bottom
of an A-line dress, as it is likely you would lose the shape of the A-line.

For the case of the example, I will use the simple summer top pattern I showed
you how to draft a few weeks ago.
Take a copy of the pattern, with seam allowance. Normally when making alterations to a pattern
I suggest to remove the seam allowance, but with something as straight-forward as this, there’s
really no point removing it. Take note of any important details, such as pattern markings
(notches etc.) and the grain line. Draw a horizontal line through the pattern, roughly half-way
between the armhole and the hem, on the side seam. If you are using a ready-made pattern, it is

likely that your pattern will have a “Lengthen and shorten line” already on it, so you can skip this
step.

Cut through the horizontal line, splitting each piece in two.

Work out how much length you would like to remove from the pattern. This is when a toile can
really come in handy!

For the sake of this example, I will be removing 5cm (2”) from the length of the top. On one of
the pieces, draw a horizontal line 5cm (or whatever length you are removing) from the cut line
(parallel to the cut line).
Now, simply move the lower half of the pattern up to the line drawn on the upper half of the
pattern and tape (or glue) in place.

Take a separate piece of pattern paper and trace the new pattern pieces, creating a new side seam
that runs smoothly between the underarm and hem.

Be sure to add all pattern markings, as well as the grain line. And you’re done!

WIDENING AND NARROWING

 PATTERN
ALTERATION

Submitted by: Group 1

Casidsid, Robegine

Cubero, Angelica

Arado, Jannah Mae

Berangel, Greazyl

Federicos, Ivonnie

Casamayor, Lovelyn

Jadman, Jackielyn

Submitted to:

Mrs. Evelyn Del Carmen