Refine

Your Patterns
Subtle changes improve the fit
and hang of every piece you sew
BY MARLA KAZELL

O
ver several decades of making custom clothing, I’ve learned a
lot about garment fitting. Many of my favorite techniques were
taught by Roberta Carr and published in her book, Couture: The
Art of Fine Sewing (Palmer/Pletsch, 1993). From her, I learned
to make some small changes that better accommodate a body’s curves and
help a garment hang smoothly over the figure.
A few simple pattern
These refinements don’t appear substantial on the pattern, but I have
adjustments can enhance the
found that they make a difference in how a garment looks when worn. fit of your go-to garments.
They’re easy to accomplish, even for a beginner, and I encourage you to try Pattern: BurdaStyle 6760. Fabric: linen/
them. They can take your sewing up a level and give you more to be proud of rayon blend, StylemakerFabrics.com.

when you wear your garments.

Marla Kazell teaches, writes, and creates custom couture clothing. She’s based
in Tigard, Oregon. MarlaKazell.com

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 Add a curve to straight seams
Commercial patterns often default to straight seams, even where the
body has a natural curve. You can change these lines into extremely subtle
curves to better conform to your shape.
BACK SHOULDER SEAM
The back of your shoulder is curved and can benefit from shaping there.
Garments that don’t have a shoulder dart often fit awkwardly over the
shoulder and back armhole.
To add ease, curve the back shoulder seam slightly. Raise the center
by 1⁄8 inch, and curve it back to the original cutting line at each end. This
lengthens the seamline; ease the excess to the front shoulder seamline.
1
⁄8 inch
Finesse waist darts
Darts are the most commonly used shaping device
in garment patterns but, often, they aren’t ideal
in shape or placement. Straight darts may take
the correct amount of width out at the waist, but
if they’re not shaped correctly, they may pull or
bubble. Customize the contour of the darts so they
mold smoothly over your curves.
SWAY BACK
If the back waist curves in, you need to remove
more fabric along the dart legs than is taken up
with a straight dart. Mark a point 1⁄8 inch outside
each dart leg, halfway between the dart point
and the waistline. With a curved ruler as a guide,
redraw the dart legs with a gentle curve that
passes through these points.

BACK

⁄8 inch
1

V-NECKLINE
A low-cut V-neckline
may not lie smoothly FULLNESS AT HIGH-HIP LEVEL
over a full-busted figure. For a body that curves outward substantially just
By reshaping the front below the waist, you need more fabric higher in
neckline to add a shallow the dart. Mark a point 1⁄8 inch within the dart value,
curve, you can add fabric halfway down each dart leg. With a curved ruler as
over the fullest area of the a guide, redraw the legs with a curve that passes
bust. This new neckline through these points.
shape reads as a straight
line on the body.
At the level of the bust
point, mark a point 1⁄8 inch
out from the V-neckline ⁄8 inch
1

edge. Redraw the neckline Bust point

edge, blending from this
point to the shoulder
1
⁄8 inch
seam and down to the FRONT
point of the V. The line
should be convex at the
marked point, but slightly
concave above and below.

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 Convert darts to ease
Small darts at the shoulder, waistline, or bust may be eased SPREAD THE EASE MORE WIDELY
instead of sewn. Success depends on the amount of dart take-up
Measure the dart take-up. Then mark a point on
and the fabric you are using. For the best results, opt for cross-
grain edges, soft fabrics, and natural fibers.
1 each side of the dart one and a half times this
amount. The ease will be spread over this area.
There are two ways to mark the ease placement. Cutting and
spreading is better for smaller darts. For larger darts, position
the take-up over a larger area. Side bust darts with more than
1 inch of take-up may not ease well.
One and a One and a
half times the half times the
dart width dart width
CUT AND SPREAD THE DART VALUE
⁄8 inch
1

Mark the ease area.

1 Draw two lines on
each side of the
existing dart, from
the pattern edge to
the dart point, 1⁄8 inch
BACK
apart. Cut out the dart
and slash down all four
lines to the dart point.

Ease the fabric. Ease-stitch between the marks;

2 Spread the sections evenly and tape them to pattern paper.

Draw in new curved stitching and cutting lines at the pattern
2 pull the stitches and steam-shrink to reduce the
seamline by the amount of the original dart take-up.
edge. Do not cut off any of the original pattern.

Revised
seamline

FRONT BACK BACK FRONT

(WS) (WS) (RS) (RS)

BACK
Eased area

Easestitching

Ease the fabric. Cut the garment using the revised pattern. Mark
3 a point at each end of the spread area and easestitch between
the points. Pull the stitches and steam-shrink the area until the
seamline length matches the adjacent piece.

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 Sew a sleeve-cap dart
Sleeve caps with generous ease are challenging
to sew in tightly woven fabrics. Add a dart at the
top of the cap to take up the ease.
Calculate the sleeve-cap ease. Measure the
1 sleeve-cap seamline and the armscye seamline.
and find the difference. This is the ease.
Mark the dart take-up. Divide the ease by two.
2 Mark a point this distance on each side of the
sleeve cap’s top to indicate the dart leg ends.
Widen seam and hem allowances
Some garment seams can benefit from wider allowances, for structure and
support. Similarly, generous hem allowances can improve a garment’s hang
by adding weight. Learn clipping and hemming methods that manage the
extra fabric without bulk.
KNOW THE BENEFITS
Increase support. On long vertical seams in dresses, skirts, jackets, and
coats, wider seam allowances— 3⁄4 inch to 1-1⁄2 inches—function as a
flexible, internal scaffolding that better sustains the garment’s fabric as it
drapes over the body.

Prevent raveling. Fabrics that fray need extra

Sleeve-cap top width. If you serge the edges after handling,
Sleeve-cap ease
you’ll still have a substantial seam
allowance.

Make room for zippers.

Additional seam WS
SLEEVE allowance width gives
more space for zipper
installation, especially
with a traditional
lapped insertion Extrawide
method. seam
Draw the dart. Measure down from allowances
3 the cap 4 inches to 5 inches and
place a dot for the dart point. With
Provide space for
alterations. Wider
a curved ruler as a guide, connect allowances give “in
the dart leg marks to the dart Dart case” room for fitting
point. Make the dart curved adjustments; this is
to avoid taking up too especially helpful for
much fabric in the bias-cut garments.
upper sleeve.
SLEEVE (WS)
continued ▸ ▸ ▸

Align the sleeve-cap

dart with the
shoulder seam.

Wider seam allowances

ensure that long seams
hang smoothly.

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SCALLOP THE SEAM ALLOWANCES
Press the seam allowances open. For curved
seams, such as shaped side seams, scallop
the allowance edges rather than clipping.
Cut the scallops’ concave points 1⁄4 inch from
the seam and the widest part 1 inch from the
seam. Finish the edges with pinking shears or
overcast them by hand.
1 inch
Make vertical edges hang straight
The edges of garments with a vertical opening at the hem tend to hang open in
an inverted V below the lowest button. Counteract this with a technique called
off-graining. With this treatment, the opening edges are tilted slightly off grain,
but they hang straight when worn.
GARMENT FRONT
Draw a new front edge. Begin with a pattern
1 that has a separate front facing. If the pattern
has a cut-on facing, separate it at the foldline,
FRONT
add seam allowances to both pieces, and treat
the pieces individually. At waist level, mark a
point 1⁄2 inch from the original front edge. Draw
a line from the original front neckline point Waist level 1
⁄2
through the marked point, and continue to the inch

Grainline
hemline. The line must be the same length as
Hand
the original front edge; at the hem edge, the
overcasting
Pinking corner should be a right angle. Blend from this
corner to the original hem edge.

Photos: (pp. 40, 45) Jack Deutsch; all others, Mike Yamin. Illustrations: Steven Fleck. Stylist: Jessica Saal. Hair and makeup: AgataHelena.com.
⁄4 inch
1
Draw a new
2 center-front line.
Make it parallel to
the new front edge,
and start it at the

Styling credits: earrings—A New Day (Target.com), bracelets—stylist's own, belt—FreePeople.com, shoes—stylist's own.
FRONT
original center-
ENHANCE HEM DRAPE front neckline point. Move the buttonhole
Widen the allowance on straight hems, such and buttonhole placements marks to the new
as those on fitted skirts and jackets. The added center-front line.
weight helps the fabric hang smoothly. On
heavy fabrics with hand-sewn hems, add
Adjust the front facing. Off-grain
a second row of stitching within the hem
allowance. Fold the hem allowance halfway 3 it as you did the front. If you
separated a cut-on facing, off-grain
down and blind-hem stitch (A), then fold it into Original
its final position and hem as usual (B). center-front it as well. Correct the facing’s inner FRONT
line edge to bring the facing back to its FACING
original width.
A New
WS center-front
line

Fold
Blind-hem stitch
HEM ALLOWANCE
Revise the front lining. After
4 reshaping the front facing, off-
grain the front lining piece to match.
FRONT
LINING

B
WS

Confirm the grainlines. Ensure

5 that you have not changed the
original grainlines; only the front
edges are changed.

HEM ALLOWANCE

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 OFF-GRAIN TIPS FRONT
With this method, the heavier
the fabric and its notions Waist
(including interfacing layers
and buttons), the more width
you need to add. Likewise, the
longer the garment, the greater
the increase at the hemline. For
each factor that adds weight,
add another 1⁄8 inch of width Jacket length
at the hemline. If you find you
added too much, you can trim
it during construction.

⁄8 inch
1

Knee length
SKIRT SLIT
Prepare the pattern. If
1
Photos: (pp. 40, 45) Jack Deutsch; all others, Mike Yamin. Illustrations: Steven Fleck. Stylist: Jessica Saal. Hair and makeup: AgataHelena.com.

Off-grain the seam. Redraw

the pattern includes an
extension at the slit or vent,
remove it temporarily.
Styling credits: earrings—A New Day (Target.com), bracelets—stylist's own, belt—FreePeople.com, shoes—stylist's own.
2 the seam, connecting the
waistline to a point at least
1
⁄2 inch outside the original
seamline at the hem. Keep

the seamline the same length, Full length

and make a right angle at the
lower corner. A longer skirt or
heavier one may need to be
off-grained more than 1⁄2 inch.

BACK
Reattach the vent
3 extension. Sew the
skirt as usual.

BACK

BACK

Remove the vent extension.

Off-graining
ensures that
the center-front
New center-back edge
edges don’t
flare open at
the hem.

Replace the
vent extension.

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