dress mockup
Sep. 16th, 2011 04:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elizabeth_mnCurrently I’m working on the printed corduroy jumper dress. I’ve only gotten to almost-fitted mockup stage.
It’s not really going to be that short! I am just super stingy with mockups because I make so many of them and I get annoyed at throwing so much fabric away. The actual length will be around the knee.
I cut two sizes smaller than my recommended size because 3.5” of ease across the bust (and even more in the waist) is a bit much for this style. I lowered the bust point, an alteration I almost always have to make with every pattern ever, and I also scooped out the princess seam above the bust point, because there was just too much fabric in the upper chest. Maybe I just have a really hollow upper chest, or maybe the pattern is a bit optimistic.
This pattern is sized by cup size as well as measurements, but the company seems to know only vaguely what cup sizes mean. It took me a while to figure this out.
If you have a 36” bust and wear a D-cup, let’s say you choose a 12 based on your full-bust measure, and you choose the D-cup pieces for that size. Since a letter cup size is based on the difference between your underbust measure and full bust measure (or, as in some methods, the difference between the upper chest and full bust) you would imagine that all the size 12 pieces would be based on the 36” full bust measure, and the upper and underbust measures would change with cup size. After all, your cup size doesn’t change your full bust measure, nor the other way around. It only describes the amount of difference.
Well, that’s not quite how it measured up. I measured each set of different cup size pieces for the pattern, and the upper and under bust measures were the same across cup sizes; the full bust measure was the one that changed. A size 12-B had a smaller full bust measure than a size 12-C and 12-D. So the difference between underbust and full bust was greater the larger the cup size is, as it ought to be, but instead of the full bust getting bigger, the under should have gotten smaller, since the size is chosen by the full bust.
Overall, it can be forced to make sense, but you can’t choose your size based on their chart. Instead choose first by your cup size, then choose your number size by the finished measurements (but it’s usually helpful to do that anyway).
I think I made it work, but I just wish patterns would work on their own sometimes! I’m eager to cut the dress, but there’s a whole new challenge involving pattern matching coming up. Taking a deep breath and hoping for the best!
It’s not really going to be that short! I am just super stingy with mockups because I make so many of them and I get annoyed at throwing so much fabric away. The actual length will be around the knee.
I cut two sizes smaller than my recommended size because 3.5” of ease across the bust (and even more in the waist) is a bit much for this style. I lowered the bust point, an alteration I almost always have to make with every pattern ever, and I also scooped out the princess seam above the bust point, because there was just too much fabric in the upper chest. Maybe I just have a really hollow upper chest, or maybe the pattern is a bit optimistic.
This pattern is sized by cup size as well as measurements, but the company seems to know only vaguely what cup sizes mean. It took me a while to figure this out.
If you have a 36” bust and wear a D-cup, let’s say you choose a 12 based on your full-bust measure, and you choose the D-cup pieces for that size. Since a letter cup size is based on the difference between your underbust measure and full bust measure (or, as in some methods, the difference between the upper chest and full bust) you would imagine that all the size 12 pieces would be based on the 36” full bust measure, and the upper and underbust measures would change with cup size. After all, your cup size doesn’t change your full bust measure, nor the other way around. It only describes the amount of difference.
Well, that’s not quite how it measured up. I measured each set of different cup size pieces for the pattern, and the upper and under bust measures were the same across cup sizes; the full bust measure was the one that changed. A size 12-B had a smaller full bust measure than a size 12-C and 12-D. So the difference between underbust and full bust was greater the larger the cup size is, as it ought to be, but instead of the full bust getting bigger, the under should have gotten smaller, since the size is chosen by the full bust.
Overall, it can be forced to make sense, but you can’t choose your size based on their chart. Instead choose first by your cup size, then choose your number size by the finished measurements (but it’s usually helpful to do that anyway).
I think I made it work, but I just wish patterns would work on their own sometimes! I’m eager to cut the dress, but there’s a whole new challenge involving pattern matching coming up. Taking a deep breath and hoping for the best!
