.
In this video, join me on a journey to this exciting new world with the Sure-Fit Designs
pattern system and end your sewing nightmares forever.
Just imagine the unlimited possibilities when you have had a custom-fitted pattern for any
body size, no matter the width, the length, or height, in virtually any design you choose
in a short time every time.
Whether you are a beginner or an advanced seamstress, you'll sew with new confidence
because you'll no longer need to hope that it fits.
And imagine the time saved because you'll have no more troublesome pattern alterations
before sewing.
I'll reveal to you the secrets of the pattern industry and remove the mystique of pattern
fitting and designing once and for all.
Together we will design dresses, skirts, jackets, pants, jeans, and shirts that really fit and
even sew for your children and men quickly and easily.
In this video, we will first focus on providing a new experience for the sewing enthusiast
who has not yet had the opportunity to enjoy the exciting world of the Sure-Fit Designs
system and second, to serve as a companion and guide for home sewers who have already
made the journey to better fitting patterns with their Sure-Fit Designs sewing kits.
Come with me now as we use the designing stylist to open the door to a whole new world of successful
sewing.
The ingenious designing stylist is the key that unlocks the unlimited possibilities for
you with the Sure-Fit Designs sewing kits.
The dress kit is complete with all the necessary master patterns, templates, and 44-page instruction
book so you will be able to fit and design ladies' blouses, dresses, skirts, jackets,
and coats.
The pants kit is complete with master patterns and instruction book and gives you the capability
to design and sew dressy slacks to casual pants, sports attire, including shorts and
jeans or any style of pant you may desire.
The shirt kit is also complete with master patterns and instruction book and you will
love designing and sewing for both women or men.
Sew attractive dartless blouses, dresses, and casual jackets for women as well as dress
shirts, sports shirts, and casual jackets for your men.
The children's kit rounds out the versatile Sure-Fit Designs sewing kits with all necessary
master patterns and instruction book included.
This kit literally sews for toddlers to teens, boys or girls with a wide range of designs.
Hoods, robes, skirts, jackets, pants, and many more design possibilities await you.
The men's pants designs instruction book complements and adds another dimension to the women's
pants kit.
It shows you how to adapt the women's pants pattern for sewing men's pants.
There is built in economy and versatility, not to mention happy men with well fitting
pants.
To make the most of your sewing kits, we also have available an assortment of most requested
designs.
First there is the four page fashion design sheet with five fashionable dress designs
for today's women.
Then there are eight single page fashion leaflets with designs ranging from dolmen and raglan
sleeves to the latest in pants, the stirrup pants.
Let's begin our journey.
I'd like to show you how to eliminate your pattern frustrations by showing you how to
utilize the Sure-Fit Designs dress pattern.
You'll notice on the patterns that there are a series of dots going up and out in various
locations.
These dots are called the grading dots and they are the dots that will physically change
the size of the pattern to fit your unique body shape and size.
Now beside every dot there is a number and that number represents a part of your body.
In this case, because we're working in the bodice front, these dots actually represent
your bust measurement.
The smallest number is 28 inches or 71.1 centimeters and they go all the way on up to 62 inches
or 157.5 centimeters so I know I'm going to be able to fit every single one of you.
Now before we can actually start marking in your dots, I need to show you how to take
a set of accurate measurements.
I'd like to introduce to you Enid.
She's going to be our measurement model while I show you how to take your dress measurements.
First of all, when you're at home, please make sure that you do your measurements over
top of your appropriate foundation garments, your bra, slip, pantyhose, etc.
It's going to be that much more accurate for you.
All right, the very first measurement we'll do is a bust measurement.
Enid, if you would turn with your back to the camera please and put your arms straight
out like this.
What I'm going to do is take this tape measure and put it over the back shoulder blades.
Normally, we do a bust measurement with it parallel to our bust but this time we're going
to take the tape measure up a little higher on the back shoulder blades and then go over
the fullest part of the bust.
Now lower your arms down please.
When she lowered her arms down, I picked up just a little bit of expansion in the front
of the tape measure.
That's because I'm incorporating the breadth of her back as well as the fullness of her
front bust circumference.
Now you can turn back around please.
Thank you.
Now if you've ever been a lady who's ripped your seams out of your set in sleeve garments,
you likely know the problem that you've had.
You've not had enough circumference going around in that particular measurement so that's
why we do it that way.
We're going to do it just one more time so you can see what happens in the front of the
body.
Put your arms out and I'll just have you face the camera now and we'll take the tape measure
up over those back shoulder blades then go over the fullest part of the bust.
Now lower your arms down.
When her arms came down, the tape measure actually expanded a little bit.
That's the expansion of the back that I'm picking up and it is that larger measurement
that you will want to record.
Now if you are very narrow in your back and you don't have that expansion occurring, don't
worry about it.
You've done the technique, if you get the expansion use it, if you don't that's fine.
Measurement number two is a waist measurement.
Now when you're at home, I'd like you to tie a string or a narrow piece of elastic around
your waist and we'll just tie it comfortably.
Then you'll want to bend from side to side two or three times and that will just help
to settle that elastic right in your natural waist position.
Does that feel pretty comfortable there?
Good.
And then we'll do the second measurement.
Number two is the waist measurement.
Alright so that's what it would look like.
Measurement number three is a high hip measurement.
For this one we'll measure down approximately three inches which is about seven to eight
centimeters down from your waistline into your high hip and tummy area.
You want to make sure that this measurement is in fact parallel to the floor.
Measurement number four is a full hip measurement.
For this one we'll measure down approximately eight to ten inches down from your waist elastic.
That's about 20 to 25 centimeters down and you'll measure yourself in your fullest hip
area.
You might just want to measure yourself two or three times, slide that tape measure up
or down so that you do get the fullest hip circumference.
Once again please make sure that the tape measure is parallel to the floor.
Measurement number five is shoulder to apex.
Now what we're going to do here is simply measure from the natural shoulder line down
to the apex or the highest point of the bust.
And the way that you find the natural shoulder line is to find an imaginary line from just
behind the base of the ear out to the shoulder bone.
And you can see I'm laying the tape measure on top.
That would be her natural shoulder line.
Take the tape measure and place it in the middle of your shoulder and then measure down
to the apex or the highest point of your bust.
Measurement number six is shoulder to waist.
That's done over the apex from the middle of the shoulder line all the way down to the
waist elastic.
Measurement number seven is waist to hem.
That will be the length of your day dresses or skirts.
Measurement number eight is apex to apex.
For this one we'll measure from bust point to bust point to determine the width or the
spread of the apex.
And you'll take that measurement and then divide it in half.
It is the half width measurement that you are going to be using.
The second part of measurement number eight is that you need to write down whatever your
bra cup size is.
And measurement number nine is shoulder length.
For this now we'll measure the length of the shoulder from the neck point to the shoulder
point.
You want to do that so that when you're wearing a garment with a set in sleeve it will actually
set on your shoulder where it's supposed to.
At home what I'd like you to do is take your tape measure and simply lay it around the
base of your neck.
Where that tape measure physically stops that is indicating your neck point.
And then from there you will measure out to your shoulder bone.
The way you find your shoulder bone is to put your arm straight out and at the top of
your shoulder you'll feel a little dent or hollow.
Keeping your finger on that dent or hollow you simply lower your arm up and down like
this.
Sometimes the movement really helps you to identify that shoulder bone.
And then all you do is measure from your neck point to your shoulder bone.
Measurement number ten is shoulder to elbow.
Just turn slightly so your arm is facing the audience there and just bend your arm comfortably.
And you'll start the tape measure now at the top of the shoulder and you'll go right down
to your elbow.
That's measurement number ten.
And measurement number eleven is shoulder over the elbow and all the way down to the
hand side of the base of the wrist bone.
You all have a prominent bone at the base of your wrist and you want to go right down
to the hand side.
Thank you very much Enid.
Now I would like you to stop your videos and all of you do your personalized measurements.
Just before I start utilizing your measurements I'd like to talk about ease.
There are two basic kinds of ease in our clothing.
One is called wearing ease and the other is called design ease.
Wearing ease is just that minimal amount that's required for comfort and fitting.
Call it wiggle room if you like.
The other is called design ease.
That's added above and beyond wearing ease and it physically changes the silhouette of
the garment.
Do you remember back in the 60's when they designed those tent dresses they had lots
of fullness in them?
Well that changed the outside silhouette and that's called design ease.
Wearing ease is what I'd like to focus on right now.
There is an ease factor formula.
It's two and a half, one and three.
In the bust area you want two and a half inches of ease or 6.4 centimeters.
In the waist you want one inch or 2.5 centimeters and in the hip three inches or 7.6 centimeters.
Now that's an industry standard.
You can have less ease or you can have more.
It's up to you and whatever you'd like to have in your finished garment.
Now when you're working with the Sure-Fit patterns these patterns do incorporate ease
for you.
So once you have your pattern all drawn off and if you were to measure from stitching
line to stitching line you would end up with your actual measurement plus the ease allowance.
Now this is called a master pattern.
That means I don't want you to write on it, draw on it, cut it apart because you will
be able to reuse this many times over.
So what we're going to do is put up a piece of tracing vellum.
This is a lightweight yet very see through and extremely durable tracing medium and this
will allow us to draw our pattern onto the tracing vellum.
This is a product that we've looked around for a lot for home sewers and we're very pleased
to be able to bring to you our sewing product called tracing vellum.
There is 10 yards in the roll which is about 9.5 meters and it's 24 inches wide which is
61 centimeters wide so you'll get lots and lots of patterns out of one roll.
Now we're going to start here on the bodice front.
The most logical measurement to use is your bust measurement.
His bust measurement was 42 inches or 106.7 centimeters.
So I will start at center front at the smallest dot.
I'm going to work my way up until I come to her actual bust measurement number.
Of course you would mark in whatever your bust measurement number is.
So that's the dot at center front.
In the neck point I will put in the same dot.
That's 42 inches or 106.7 centimeters.
The same at the shoulder line.
We'll go into the middle of the arm hole and mark in that dot.
And at the underarm there is her dot right there.
And at the top leg of the bust grading series of dots.
So now I have a series of dots running all the way around the outer edge.
Now all you've got to do is connect them together.
But if your freehand drawing of curves is anything like mine is you're going to need
a little bit of a help to do it.
So what we have for you is the Sure-Fit Designing Stylus.
It has on it all the curves of your body and it's my job to show you how to find your
body on this stylus and how to put it on the pattern.
We also have a series of slots inside the outer edge and those are the seam allowance
slots and I'll be showing you how to use those as we progress.
Alright the very first thing that I'd like you to do is turn your stylus over so that
you are looking at the white side and you're going to be holding with the two big curves
going downward.
You'll notice in the bottom lower curvature I have written in the words neck curve.
I want you to do that on your stylus as well.
The next thing is to draw your neck curve.
So just remember this rule.
When you're drawing any curve you find the curve on the stylus that's exactly the same
curve as that of the master pattern.
You can see that if I held the stylus that way I'm not repeating off the correct neckline
shape.
So you find the curve of the master pattern, you slip the stylus up until it exposes your
two dots and then literally all you do is just draw around.
When I take that away I have created the neckline that is unique to her body.
Now we'll continue on and use the straight edge on the stylus and draw straight down
center front and I will also put in the straight grain marking.
That's just copying off the two straight lines that were on the bodice front.
Then we need to measure the shoulder line.
If you recall that was the distance on Enid's body that we measured and I want to make sure
that that is actually going to fit on the top of her shoulder properly.
So I'll measure in between the dots and that is not quite wide enough for Enid.
She was broad shouldered so I'm going to move the dot out on the same linear plane and I'm
going to X out the dot that I do not require.
If you were shorter shouldered than what the dots provided you would simply move your dot
inside and X out the dot that you do not need.
Then you'll take your designing stylus and connect from your neck point to your personalized
blue printed shoulder point.
Now we'll go into the arm hole.
In the middle of the arm hole there's a series of dots labeled front arm size point number
one and a lower series of dots labeled full bust measurement front arm size point number
two.
Arm size is simply a fancy term in the industry that means arm hole so don't let that confuse
you.
Now what you need to do is hold your styluses with the words facing you and the two curves
going downward and you'll come down this long curvy edge all the way down to the bottom
arrow head and that says match to front arm size point number two.
Well arm size point number two is that lower series of dots so take arrow head two put
it on dot number two and simply pivot the stylus into your personalized shoulder point
and then literally all you do is just draw around when I take that away I've created
the arm hole that is unique to her body.
Now for any of you who have a fuller bust circumference that is 48 inches or bigger
you are going to be utilizing this arm size template.
You'll hold it with the words facing you and on the left hand edge as we come down there
is one arrow and it says match to front arm size point number one.
So you'll take arrow head number one and you put that into dot number one pivot into your
personalized shoulder point connect those dots and then at dot number one you would
simply pivot the template up until it does expose dot number two and continue drawing
around to your dot.
So that is used for the fuller bust circumferences of 48 inches and beyond which is 121.9 centimeters.
The next thing to do is mark in your shoulder to apex and shoulder to waist measurements.
If you recall those were distances on her body that I did measure so that's the next
thing that I want to mark in.
Because I measured in the middle of the shoulder on her body I will bring the tape measure
down from the middle of the shoulder on the pattern and I'll mark in her bust level and
I will also mark in her waist level.
So that was shoulder to apex and shoulder to waist.
Next I measured from apex to apex and I divided it in half because I am working on half a
pattern.
So whatever your half width is you start the zero edge of your tape measure at center front
and you come out at the level of your apex and you make a crisscross.
And I think that you would all agree with me that that's Enid's apex right there.
Yours might be up here, over there, down here, in here, out here, you could be anywhere around
in there couldn't you?
Because you've done a length and a width and when you crisscross that becomes your apex
marking on the tracing vellum.
Now we did that so that we can put in a bra cup that fits you properly.
You may or may not be aware of this but about 95% of the commercial patterns available to
you in the marketplace today have a B cup dart in them.
So if you're anything other than a B cup you've got problems don't you?
The A cup people have all that excessive fabric in the front that they don't need and the
C's, the D's and the double D's, well you all know their problem, that's the straining
and pulling across the front and you don't want either situation occurring.
So what we will do to rectify that is utilize this template called the adjust-to-bus template.
There are six different bra cup sizes on it, A, B, C, D, double D and E. So you choose
the dart size that is your bust measurement.
But Enid was a D cup bra size so there is the D cup series of holes.
I will be marking through those.
First of all let me explain.
The blue line at the top is the top stitching leg of the dart.
The blue line in the middle is the fold line of the dart and the blue line at the bottom
is the bottom stitching leg of the dart.
So you take whatever your bra cup size is, in this case the bra cup size D and you place
that over top of your bust grading series of dots.
And then you take the template and you make sure that the fold line is aimed towards your
apex.
So you pivot like this until that fold line does aim exactly at your apex.
And then all you do is simply mark in the side edges of your dart through the dots that
are provided.
Now you never ever want your dart to stitch right up to the tip of your apex.
That would not look flattering in your finished garment.
So at the end of the template there are just a little series of holes right here and you
need to mark back anywhere from about an inch to an inch and a half which is about two to
three centimeters back and that will be your dart tip.
And then all you do is connect the top leg, the fold line, and the bottom leg of the dart
and then connect the side edges like this and that completes a dart for you.
It's done two very important things.
It's given you a dart in the correct width for your body and it has pointed it in the
direction of your apex.
Now if you happen to have a bust level on your chest that is fairly low down, when you're
working with this template and as you pivot the fold line towards your apex, if this kind
of situation occurred where the template was really aiming down at that kind of an angle,
that wouldn't look very flattering in your finished garment.
So just remember to do this.
Take your template and on the same linear line just slide the dart template down until
it is actually horizontal to wherever your apex is and then that will give you a dart
that is horizontal to your bust line and it will look much more flattering in that area.
The next thing to do is the waist level.
Now on the master pattern there is a waist guideline going across the bottom of the bodice
and then there is a series of dots that begin and they are labeled as waist measurement.
Up to this point we have utilized your bust measurement but now most logically we will
use your waist measurement.
Your waist can be as small as 20 inches around or 50.8 centimeters and it will go all the
way on up to 54 inches or 137.2 centimeters.
But before we can actually mark off your waist measurement dot, you will notice that Enid
is very long waisted.
You may have been short waisted.
Whether you are long or short, the next step is virtually the same.
You release the tracing vellum and for long waisted people you are going to shift your
tracing vellum up until your line lines up with the waist guideline of the master pattern.
Had you been short waisted, you would simply shift the tracing vellum downward lining up
your waist guideline with the waist guideline on the master pattern.
So there we have the tracing vellum in position.
Now you can mark off your waist measurement whatever the case may be and that was Enid's
waist measurement dot.
Then you utilize your stylus and connect the bottom of your dart to your waist dot.
Now you can see what is happening here.
You are really blue printing in that mid rift area.
If you are a full busted lady with a very narrow waist, as you connect to your narrower dot,
you are getting it much smaller in here.
You are getting rid of the excess of fabric that you always have to contend with.
And if you are very thick in your waist, you would come down to a wider waist dot giving
you the additional fabric that you need going around in your waistline area.
So we truly do blue print here for you.
Next we need to put in this dart underneath your apex and to make that a simple process,
we utilize this template called the waist darts template.
On the template there is a blue line going across the bottom and that is labeled as waist
guideline that will always line up with the waist guideline on the master pattern.
Every dart is labeled according to its usage and dart number one is labeled as bodice front
dart.
As we look at that and go up to the tip of the dart, there is an arrowhead and it says
align arrow with apex position.
So that is exactly what I am going to do.
Take the arrow, put it on that apex position and then simply draw in the tip of the dart.
Now looking down to the waist edge, you will notice that the waist guideline on the template
is about an inch above the waist guideline on the master pattern.
I need to line those up.
So I am going to just shift the template down until the waist guideline on the template
does line up with the waist guideline on the master pattern.
Then you draw through the template.
Now we have a tip and a tail end to the dart and all that you are going to do is connect
the top of the dart to the bottom of the dart and that finishes it off.
Let me do that one more time.
Let's say that your bust was lower down.
You would take your arrowhead and put it on your apex.
You draw in the tip of your dart.
Now the blue waist guideline is substantially lower than the waist guideline on the pattern
so you would shift your template up, draw in the tail of the dart.
Then you would connect together the tip to the tail end and you can see how much shorter
your dart would be in that area.
So whether you are high or low busted, you always get the correct positioning and length
of the dart underneath your apex.
The next thing to do is to put in a slightly curved line and you just simply use your designing
stylus to do that.
It would look like this.
Now to finish off the bodice front, this is called a strip down pattern.
It means it doesn't have any seam allowances on it so in order to cut it out and sew it
together without losing any of the ease, we are going to draw through the slots that are
provided on the designing stylus.
Now at this point I would like you to stop your tapes and draw off your personalized
bodice front.
Let's start drawing off your skirt front.
The very first thing that you'll want to do is put in the center front marking so you're
just using the straight edge on the designing stylus.
You're drawing all the way down and the next thing will be to put in your straight grain
marking.
Up at the top of the skirt you'll notice that there is a hip fitting dart here and then
there's a series of dots and they are labeled as half apex to apex measurement.
You're likely wondering why.
Well this dart will need to line up directly underneath this dart and because we used her
half apex with measurement here, we need to use her half apex with measurement right here
and that will make sure that that dart will line up properly and I'll be showing you that
as we go on.
Now to make this dart, we utilize this template, the waist darts template one more time.
It says dart number two, skirt front dart.
Take the tip of the dart and aim it going downward in the direction of your dart on your skirt.
Line up the blue waist guideline with the black waist guideline on the master pattern
and then all you do is just simply draw through that template.
That positions that hip fitting dart on the front of your skirt.
Then the top series of dots at the top of the skirt is labeled as waist measurement
and so you'll mark off whatever your waist measurement is.
The next series is labeled as high hip measurement so you mark off your appropriate high hip
dot.
Coming down even lower, we have a third series and that's labeled as full hip measurement
so we need to mark off whatever your full hip measurement is and now we just start connecting
all of these dots together.
You connect from center front to the edge of the dart and then from the other edge of
the dart to the side waist point and now your hip curve.
When you're doing your hip curve, you hold your stylus with the words facing you and
the two curves going upward.
As we come up this curvy edge about three quarters of the way up, you'll notice that
it says hip curve.
You can actually use any section along on here whichever best repeats the shape of your
hip curvature.
And if you happen to be a heart, a diamond, or a straight shape figure, your instruction
book will guide you in choosing the correct hip curvature as you're drawing off your pattern.
What you want to do basically is just take your stylus and shift it up or down until
you get the best connection for the hip curvature of your body and then just connect all three
dots together.
The next thing to do is put in your hem level so you measure from the waist guideline down
to whatever you want your hem level to be, your day length garments, and that would be
Enid's hem length right there.
And so now you want to shift that tracing vellum up until it rides on the hem level
marking of the master pattern.
And you just need to keep straight of grain and center back straight, center front straight
as we line that up.
And at the outer edge of the hem, you'll see that it says full hip measurement and that's
just a guideline dot so you'll mark that in.
And I'm going to freehand this for convenience sake, but when you're at home, please use
your designing stylus to draw in that two inch curved hem.
That's 5.1 centimeters wide and you can see the curve that you would use right there.
And then the next step is to connect your hip to your hem line.
And basically the skirt front with the exception of course that you do need to add those seam
allowances.
So I'd like you to stop your tape now please and draw off your skirt front.
I'll show you how to make your bodice back now.
First of all, because we're working in the bodice again, you will be utilizing your full
bust measurement, in this case 42 inches or 106.7 centimeters.
Now start at center back and again work your way up to whatever your bust measurement is,
in this case 42 inches, 106.7 centimeters.
Mark that in at the center back, at your neck point, at your shoulder point, in the middle
of the armhole and at the underarm.
So now we again start connecting those dots together.
Take your designing stylus and the first line we'll draw this time is the center back.
Take that all the way down and then put in your straight grain marking.
Now to do the back neck curve, you'll hold the stylus this time again with no words facing
you and the two curves going downward and you're going to use this neck curve area again.
But tilted on edge it's a slightly shallow curvature.
So you find the curve on the master pattern and slip the stylus up and simply connect
your dots together.
Now we need to make the shoulder line be exactly the same length as the shoulder line on the
front of the bodice.
So if you did change the length of your shoulder line, make sure you do the same amount on
the back of the bodice so that those shoulder seam lines do sew together in a one-to-one
relationship and of course you X out the dot that you do not need.
Then you connect your neck point to your personalized shoulder point.
Then we'll go into the armhole.
And there is a series of dots labeled back arm side point one and a lower series labeled
full bust measurement back arm side point number two.
Take your designing stylus and hold it with the words facing you and we'll come down this
long curvy edge to the first arrowhead and that says match to back arm side point number
one dress.
So you take that arrowhead and put it into dot number one and pivot the stylus into your
personalized shoulder point and connect down.
Now dot number two, I've covered it up a little bit.
So at arrowhead and dot number one you use that as a pivotal point and simply pivot the
stylus up until it does expose all of your dot number two and then just draw around.
When I take that away it will give her one of the best fitting back armhole she's ever
worn.
Once again for the ladies who have a fuller bust circumference that is 48 inches or 121.9
centimeters and above you will utilize this arm side template but this time you're going
to hold it with the words upside down.
And as we read down the left edge there is an arrowhead and that says match to back arm
side point number one.
Take arrowhead one, put it into dot one, pivot into your personalized shoulder point, connect
your dots and then pivot up to expose your dot number two and continue drawing around.
And that's for the bust measurements 48 inches or 121.9 centimeters and beyond.
Now this particular template is found within the Sure-Fit Designs dress kit.
The next thing we need to do is make sure that the side seam on the back of the bodice
will be exactly the same length as the side seam on the front of the bodice.
Now remembering on the front of the bodice we have this bust fitting dart so what you
need to do is measure what you have left up here and this much right here.
And you can do that with a tape measure if you wish or you can do this technique.
Simply take a piece of paper and make a marking indicating the underarm point.
Then make another marking indicating the top leg of your dart and then simply shift this
dot down to the lower leg of your dart as if you were sewing that dart out.
And then make a mark that indicates your waist level.
And I think that you would all agree with me that's her waist length minus her dart.
Now we'll take this and line up the underarm marking to the underarm dot and take the edge
of your paper and tilt it through your waist measurement number and then simply extend
your waistline on out.
So that's her waist level on the back of her bodice.
And just as we did on the front you want to shift the tracing vellum up.
That's for long-waisted people.
If you were short-waisted you'd shift the tracing vellum down.
So I'm shifting up until her waist level lines up with the waist guideline on the master
pattern and of course maintain straight grain marking and center back on their two straight
lines and then just reposition your tape.
Now we can mark off your waist measurement number, whatever the case may be, for your
body and then connect together the underarm point and the waist dot which blueprints once
again in the midriff area.
And it also is going to give you the appropriate center back waist length.
When you connect from this dot over to here this length will be end up being appropriate
for your body.
So we no longer have the problem of long and short back waistedness.
Now we have a dart to put in and that's the dart that's underneath the shoulder blades.
And for convenience only we are using your full bust measurement as a referencing number.
So I'll mark in her full bust measurement dot and I will use this dart template one
more time and that says bodice back dart.
So you take the tip of the template, put it up over top of the dot that you just made,
line up your blue waist guideline with the black waist guideline on the master pattern
and simply draw through the template.
That positions that dart underneath your shoulder blades.
And then finishing off the bodice waist edge is just a slightly curved line that looks
like that.
Now I'd like you to draw off your bodice backs please.
So if you would stop your tapes and do this particular step.
Now drawing off your skirt back is so similar to drawing off your skirt front that I've
already done a little bit of it for you.
You're going to put in your center back and your straight grain marking and whatever your
waist, your high hip and your full hip measurements are you'll just simply dot them in exactly
the same way.
And of course mark in your hem level and shift up or down however long you'd like your dresses
to be.
Now the one thing that I did want to make notice of was the hip fitting dart on the
back of the skirt.
At the tip of that dart there is a series of dots labeled full bust measurement.
You're likely wondering I don't have a bust back there and you're right you don't.
But because on the bodice back we used the full bust measurement dot to mark in the placement
for this dart I will also use her full bust measurement number here as a referencing number
only to draw in the position of that dart.
And then they will line up one underneath the other.
We will use this template, waist dart template for the fourth and last time and that says
skirt back dart.
So take the tip of the dart and aim it going down in the direction of the dart on your
skirt and put the tip of the dart over top of the dot and then just line up the blue
waist guideline on the template with the black waist guideline on the master pattern and
when you take that away you've positioned your hip fitting dart.
And then you just simply need to finish off the waist edge area.
I'm connecting from center back to the side of the dart and from side back to the other
side of the dart.
I'd like you to stop your tapes now please, draw in your skirt back and finish off by
adding the seam allowances.
Before we start drawing off the sleeve pattern I want to talk to you about your fabric choice.
I know some of you are likely wondering what kind of fabric do I use to sew this out of.
Well the good news is you can sew with either a knit or a woven fabric.
Now when you're sewing with a knit fabric or a stretchy fabric, knits do fall into one
of three categories, limited, moderate and very stretchy.
Whenever you're working with either the limited or the moderate stretch knit you can use your
pattern exactly as it is.
But when you're using the stretchy knit fabric, the very stretchy fabric, you will want to
size down one series of size dots all the way around because you need to take some of
the ease out of the pattern because the knit is so stretchy.
Now no matter what kind of knit fabric you use, we have provided a sleeve for the stretchy
or the knit fabric and that's what you will use.
This sleeve has reduced sleeve cap ease and it does not have an elbow dart because knits
conform to the bend in your body.
Now let's start drawing this sleeve pattern off.
The measurement that we're going to use is your bust measurement and you're likely wondering
why the bust measurement.
Well it's because the armholes were sized by your bust measurement and in order to get
the correct cap height and circumference on here and width, we do need to utilize your
bust measurement in that sleeve cap area one more time.
So this is Enid's bust measurement that I am utilizing.
Of course you would use whatever your bust measurement dot is.
Now we'll start connecting together.
We need to get in that straight grain marking and then we can connect our dots.
Now just remember the rule.
Find the curve on the master pattern and slip the stylus out and connect.
Find the curve, slip the stylus up and connect those dots.
I generally do the bottom two dots together and the top four dots together but if you
want to go two by two that's fine as well.
Our objective is to make a nice smooth flat sleeve cap.
Alright then we need to mark in your elbow level and wrist level.
So you measure down from your sleeve cap notch and mark in your elbow length and we'll mark
in your wrist length right there.
And you can see that Enid has a relatively long arm in relationship to the pattern but
that's fine.
It's real easy to work with this.
We need to have the elbow dart marking pointing to where your elbow is.
And so we're just simply going to release the tracing vellum and shift it up until the
dart marking on the pattern lines up with your actual elbow area.
So now it's pointed in the direction of your elbow.
Now you use your FauxBust measurement and mark off the dots that are in the dart area of the elbow.
Connect the top leg and the bottom leg of those dart dots together.
You will also notice that there are a series of dots running down at an angle and it does
say for short sleeves only.
When you're doing a long sleeve variation you simply bypass that series of dots.
And you'll connect from the underarm to that top leg of the elbow dart.
Now over on the right hand side of the sleeve pattern there is a series of matching dots
for when you are doing the long sleeve.
So I'll mark that dot off.
Again that was utilizing the FauxBust measurement.
And you'll connect from the underarm down to that matching dot.
Now we're going into the hem level and again you can see that we need to shift the tracing
vellum up just slightly.
So I'm just moving it up until her hem level lines up with the hem guideline on the master
pattern and I'm keeping the straight grain marking on the straight grain marking of the
master pattern.
You will utilize your FauxBust measurement at the wrist level and also please use the
straight edge on your designing stylus to draw in this one inch fitted hem that is 2.5
centimeters wide.
And then you'll connect from the bottom of the dart down to the hem level and finish
it off on the other side.
And the last step of course is putting in your seam allowances.
So I'd like you to stop your video now please and draw off your personalized sleeve pattern.
Now if I've done my job correctly and I certainly hope that I have, each and every one of you
should realize that you too can blueprint your unique body shape and size in exactly
the same procedure that I've done here.
With a pattern like this we can sew with the fabric of your choice, either it be a knit
or a woven, we can sew any style of top, we can sew any style of skirt, we can sew the
skirt together with the top to make a dress with a waistline seam or we can do what's
called a shifter, a chemise style dress.
That's a dress without a waistline seam and that's very easy to do with this system.
You'll notice that up at the top of the skirt patterns there is a marking and I call it
a sideways T, I'll just draw it off in green.
It looks like the letter T that kind of flopped over on its side.
And on the bodice waist edges you will also find that same sideways T marking so I just
marked it off there too.
Now what you need to do is shift the skirt beneath the bodice and line up those sideways
T markings and I'll just step away and as I've done that you'll realize that as the
sideways T's are lined up, center front lines up, the darts line up one underneath the other
just like they're supposed to and you get the correct amount of overlap on the side
seams.
And of course when you sew this together you're going to be blending here at the hip line
and the waist area that'll give you a nice fit in your hip and waist area and you're
still going to get that same good fit because it was your 11 measurements that drew this
pattern off.
Now I know some of you are sitting there and thinking golly that's great but I don't know
if I want to wear a basic dress for the rest of my life.
Well in defense of the basic dress let me show you one of mine.
So often times when we hear the word basic we think boring and it doesn't really have
to be.
But you can take that basic dress and make some very simple design changes.
Let me show you what I've done to mine.
Underneath the drape on the front I have just the basic bodice with that same side fitting
bust dart.
The slim skirt is still just that slim skirt pattern as is the sleeve pattern with the
elbow dart.
But what I have done is instead of putting in the hip and waist fitting darts I've added
a piece of elastic at the waist line creating just a little bit of soft blousing.
I've also added this very graceful and feminine drape on the front of the dress and of course
the third thing is the fabric choice.
Fabric choice really makes a difference in the end product of any of our garments.
So be creative and enjoy your basic dress.
But I know you won't want to be restricted to that style of dress forever so with the
tools that we have at hand which are the ingenious designing stylus and the Sure-Fit Designs Master
Patterns and the Sure-Fit Designs Technique let me show you how to open up the world of
fashion and have fashion at your fingertips.
I'd like to first of all start talking about necklines.
The neckline that's featured on the master pattern is the jewel neckline.
That's the neckline that I've got on this pink and white dress.
I'd like to show you how to turn that into a V-neck.
What you'll need to do is measure from the hollow in your neck down to where you want
your V to be and you'll mark that distance on your center front of the pattern and then
connect up into the neck point with a slightly curved line.
The next neckline that I'll show you is a square neck.
For this one you'll measure in between your bra or camisole straps and divide the distance
in half because you are working on half a pattern and you will bring that half distance
out from center front and take that line up into the shoulder point and shoulder area.
Now you never want to make your shoulder line any wider than about two inches which is about
five centimeters because if you do that whole shoulder will tend to fall off your shoulder.
And the next style is a U or a scoop shaped neck and I can also put this design on the
front and I think you'll recognize that as a basic sweetheart neckline.
So I now have a sweetheart, a square, a scoop to V and a jewel neckline for five different
neckline choices.
Center front right now is intended to be on the fold of the fabric.
If you want to turn this into a dress with a seam up the front, well you know that's
real easy to do.
Just draw through the slots that are provided on the designing stylus and that will add
on your seam allowance very, very quickly and easily.
If you'd like to do a dress that's called a shirtwaist style dress, that's one that
buttons all the way up the front.
Then just take your designing stylus and add on an extension that's approximately three
quarters of an inch which is about 1.9 centimeters and that's added on beyond center front.
And then the nice thing about this is you get to put the buttons where you need them.
You know that you should always have a button opposite your apex and then the others equally
distributed on either side because if you don't you get a button above and a button
below and in the middle you get that disease called bust line gapposis and that's one thing
we all want to avoid.
So we now have three different front options, one on a fold, one with a seam and one with
the button extension.
Now I can turn this basic dress into a blouse and that's very easily done by drawing a line
approximately eight inches which is about 20 centimeters down below your waist level
and that's a generous blouse tuck in length.
You know the reason to have your skirt beneath your bodice when you're doing a blouse?
It's so that when you connect those side edges together this blouse is going to do up over
top of your hips.
How many times have you worked with a pattern and when you've got it buttoned up you get
a button to here and the rest of the time it V's open because it didn't have your hips
designed into it.
These are your hips, this will fit you.
And jacket length we can also design.
That's about nine to ten inches down which is about 25 centimeters and we'll have jacket
level.
Again that jacket will hang very comfortably over top of your hips.
And if I take the tracing vellum all the way down to the floor I have evening length.
I've already got day length on there and if I do this particular curve on the front I
think you'll recognize that as being a vest.
So I've now got five different length options.
I've got a vest, a blouse, a jacket, day length and evening length.
The basic slim skirt can be turned into an A-line skirt very easily.
What you'll want to do is bring the hem point out approximately two to two and a half inches
which is about five to seven centimeters and then you'll just blend with a yardstick and
get a nice straight line coming up into your hip area.
So we now have an A-line and a side seam width for two side seam options.
Now this bust dart.
I know some of you don't like to wear bust darts and I'll address that issue as we continue
on.
But I would like to say this whenever you're wearing a garment with this minimal amount
of V's you should have a bust fitting dart whether you're an A or double V-cut bra size
because it's going to just look that much better on you.
But you are not restricted to having it just in this area.
This is called the side fitting dart.
You can also have a lower side seam dart.
You can have a dart going into your high hip area and it's often curved and that's called
a French dart.
You can also have a dart going into the armhole and you can have a dart going into the shoulder
line.
You can have a dart going into your neck line and a dart going into center front.
So I've now got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven different positions for that dart.
Let me show you how easy it is to move that dart around.
Now this dart here is called the dressmaker's dart.
That's the one you sew out for good fit on your body.
I need to draw a designer's dart.
And so I'll just show you how to do that.
And I'll do it in green so that you can see the difference here.
You begin at the beginning of your dart and you draw that line up to the tip of your apex
and then you start on the bottom leg of the dart and do the same thing up to the apex.
So that long green dart is now called the designer's dart.
Now I'm going to cut that out but before I can cut it out I want to reinforce the apex
just slightly.
So I'm putting a couple of pieces of tape over top of that.
And let me tape this in place.
Now I'm going to cut the designer's dart out.
So I'm cutting on the green line and I'm cutting right up to the apex.
Now I'll cut on the top of the green line and again I'll cut right up to the apex.
Now what I have in here, the pink dart was the dressmaker's dart and the green dart is
the designer's dart.
So you just cut it out and throw it away.
Then what we're going to do is move the dart around.
Now you can cut open in any position that you want.
I'm going to show you how to do a shoulder dart.
So I'll cut down through the shoulder line.
I'm going to cut up to the apex.
Now don't go quite all the way through.
Leave a little hair there so that you've got a pivotal point.
And then watch very carefully.
I'm going to put my finger on the apex and I'm going to release the upper shoulder and
I'm simply going to pivot that side dart shot.
It's almost like magic isn't it?
I had the dart here and now it's up in the shoulder line.
And the beauty of this is because I had a D cup dart here, I've got a D opening there.
If you were an A cup you'd get the A opening.
If you were a B you'd get a B. You always maintain that maximum good fit going around
your body because you started off with the correct bra cup size for you.
Now that's not quite our finished dart because remember you don't want to stitch right up
to the tip of your apex.
So what we need to do now is called backing the pattern with tracing vellum.
So I'm simply shifting a piece of tracing vellum down beneath the opening and I'll tape
it shut, tape it in place.
And now I can finish off the dart.
Remember you want your dart tip to end back about 2 to 3 centimeters which is about 1
to 1 1 half inches and then once you've got that dart tip you can now join up to the opening
edges.
And those new blue lines are now my dart stitching lines.
But you know you're not restricted just to having a dart in that area.
You know the dresses today that have the soft gathers coming from the shoulder?
You know all the designer has done is simply cut out the designer's dart, opened up in
the shoulder line, opened it up just as I've shown you and gathered in that area.
You didn't know gathering was so easy did you?
Well when you're gathering I would suggest that you do just a slightly curved line here
because that's going to help that front shoulder seam line sew into the back shoulder seam
line just a little bit more smoothly.
So you can gather, you can dart, you can pleat or tuck that area still maintaining that same
good fit going all the way around your body.
Now in the industry this basic dress is called a sloper.
I've got another name for it.
I like to call it a creative dress because you can see that we can mix and match all
of these different designs.
Do you know that's what the designers do?
And so let's take a look at how many different design options we can really create with our
creative dress.
We have seven different darts times five different lengths.
That's 35.
35 times two side seam widths is 70.
70 times three front options is 210 and 210 times five different neckline choices is 1,050
different combinations.
Now I still haven't even included my sleeve options.
We can have a long sleeve, we can have a short sleeve and there is a series of dots here
for sleeveless garments.
So I can multiply that by three and come up with 3,150 different combinations of designs.
Now don't you think that's going to keep you busy sewing for a little while and all
from a pattern that fits.
Because when your base pattern fits you as well as this one is going to, everything that
you do is going to fit you equally as well.
So let's take a look now at some of the multitude of different designs that you can do with
your dress pattern.
Kathleen is showing us this lovely shawl collar jacket.
Both the shawl collar and jacket designing instructions are found in the dress instruction
book.
With the addition of a small amount of extra ease the bodice pattern from the dress kit
pattern can become a jacket.
This is found on page 29.
The shawl collar designing technique is located on page 40.
The collar is embellished with one of the beautiful decorative stitches from my computer
sewing machine.
Isn't it attractive?
Terry is showing us this smart daytime blouse.
It has had the original side fitting bust dart transferred up into the shoulder area.
Dart transfer instructions are on page 18 and 19.
You'll also notice the blouse features a traditional shoulder yoke.
Those instructions are on page 20.
Page 16 shows how to add a button extension for any front opening garment you may wish
to have.
A comfortable afternoon or cocktail dress is shown on Kathleen.
The bust dart has been transferred down into the waist fitting dart which creates a substantial
amount of gathering at the waistline.
Notice the sleeve is featuring shearing or ruching down the center of the sleeve.
The basic skirt has been changed to reflect an asymmetrical yoke and flared skirt.
All directions can be found in the Sure-Fit Designs fashion design sheet that complements
the dress instruction book.
Kathleen is now in our princess line suit.
Page 42 of the dress book shows you complete directions for making this lovely princess
line suit.
It is very easy to add the peplum on the jacket or the go-day insets at the hemline on the
skirt.
The fashion design sheet gives you all necessary details for peplums and go-days.
Terry looks stunning in this double-breasted dress.
The dress is designed from the dress pattern and features a kimono sleeve.
You'll find those instructions on page 14 of the dress book.
The double-breasted detailing and design will be found on the blue insert inside the shirt
kit.
It's another exciting combination with your Sure-Fit Designs system.
This timeless suit is a wardrobe basic.
The skirt has had one dart designed into a pleat.
Instructions for pleats are on page 24.
The jacket features a lapel collar design.
Jacket designing details are on page 29 and fashion leaflet number four gives you the
lapel instructions.
All fashion leaflets coordinate with and complement the whole designing system.
This elegant dress features a blouse on bodice, jewel neckline, and shoulder dart stitched
as a release pleat.
Attached to the waistline is a very full flared skirt.
A flared asymmetrical flounce in contrasting fabric completes this very fashionable design.
All instructions begin on page 30.
Cindy and Kathleen are in their lovely evening dresses.
Strapless dresses require less ease in the bodice since they do not have shoulders or
straps to hold them up.
Additionally, boning is often added in all vertical bodice seams to give the entire bodice
stand up support.
Page 38 in the dress book gives all necessary details for your night on the town dress.
I'd like to show you the dress that I've been wearing.
If that had been the blueprint of my body, this is an example how I've turned that pattern
into a very fashionable dress.
The neckline first of all is just the jewel neckline which is exactly the same neckline
that's on the master pattern.
Secondly, the side fitting bust dart has been transferred up into the shoulder line just
as I did here, but I stitched it half way down and stopped the stitching and then let
it form the release pleat.
And I've done a blues on bodice waist edge.
For that I dropped the side seam straight down into the high hip area and that became
the bodice.
I added elastic at that area and then pulled it back up and that created the blousing effect.
For the skirt, I have done a gourd skirt.
It is an eight gourd skirt, meaning that there's four panels in the front and four in the back.
And at the bottom of each of the panels, I have put on a tulip flip.
And I did that with the hip curve on the designing stylist.
That makes each of the panels much fuller and of course when you release the skirt,
then it drapes so beautifully at the bottom.
So these are just some of the exciting fashions that you can fit and sew with your Sure-Fit
Designs patterns.
Be creative with your creative dress.
Sure-Fit Designs is by far the most outstanding, comprehensive and economical pattern fitting
and designing system available for today's home seamstresses.
The key to the system, the designing stylist, is combined with the dress kit, the pant kit,
the shirt kit, the children's kit and men's pants instructions to provide you with a truly
rewarding experience with your pattern fitting and sewing.
Several items that enhance the system are the four-page fashion design sheet, the eight
individual fashion leaflets and the indispensable tracing vellum.
For ordering Sure-Fit Designs products, refer to your Rush order card or for information,
write to this address.
Welcome back.
What's the most difficult item of clothing to fit on our bodies?
Well, you'd all likely agree it's pants.
Well, let's continue our journey now and let me show you how to make a pair of well-fitting
Sure-Fit Designs pants.
You'll notice here I have the basic pant pattern displayed and up the center of this grid,
there is a series of numbers.
Now this I call a waist or a crotch grid and these numbers actually represent your back
crotch length measurement number.
The smallest number is 12 inches which is 30.5 centimeters, every half inch is labeled
and it goes all the way on up to 20 inches or 50.8 centimeters.
That's a very short to a very long back crotch.
You will also notice that there's a series of dots on an angle and they are your waist
measurement dots.
Your waist can be as small as 18 inches or 45.7 centimeters all the way on up to 52 inches
or 132.1 centimeters and then beside every waist measurement number there are lines coming
up and beside your crotch length measurement numbers there are lines coming down but notice
that this line comes down at an angle and then bends even more dramatically.
I'll show you how to use this grid.
You'll take your crotch length measurement, whatever that number is, and let's use an
example.
Let's say your crotch length is 17 inches long which is 43.2 centimeters and your waist
is 36 inches around which is 91.4 centimeters so we'll find that waist measurement number.
There it is.
We'll follow the waist measurement line going up and then you'll follow your crotch length
measurement line coming down the angle and slope of the grid and where those two lines
intersect that will be the starting point for center back of your pants.
So now let me show you how to take a set of accurate measurements so that you can start
drawing off a pair of pants that fit you well.
Enid again is our measurement model.
Now when you're doing your pant measurements we want to make them really accurate so what
I'd like you to do for your waist measurement is cut yourself a strip of fabric approximately
one inch wide and then you're going to take that and just simply tie it around your waist.
And again please make sure you're doing your measurements over top of your appropriate
foundation garments if you wear pantyhose or a girdle make sure that you've got that
on.
So measurement number one is the waist measurement and you'll record that and again it's comfortable
around your body.
Measurement number two is a full hip measurement.
For this one you'll want to measure yourself two or three times just to make sure you're
getting your very fullest hip circumference.
Again please make sure that that tape measure is parallel to the floor.
Measurement number three is a pant length measurement so just stand and face me please
and I'll have you raise your arm just slightly and what we're going to do here is start the
tape measure at the bottom of the waistband not the middle nor the top but rather right
at the very bottom because that's where the side seam will actually sew into the waistband
and then you measure all the way down to the hem level that you'd like to have perhaps
a pair of existing pants that you already know you like the length of and just face
the camera please.
And the last measurement is the crotch or straddle measurement so now you need to separate
your legs just a little bit okay and we're going to take the tape measure through the
crotch I'm going to start the tape measure at the bottom of the waistband in the front
again not the middle nor the top but rather right at the very bottom edge because that's
where that crotch seam will meet with the waistband and then I'm going to measure up
to the bottom of the waistband in the back of her body now I'm just going to hold this
in place could you do just a little sit me down and back up again good does that feel
pretty comfortable?
Yes.
Great okay that's the four measurements thank you very much Enid.
I'd like to talk about that straddle or crotch measurement just a little bit because it's
a very important one first of all when you've got that tape measure through your crotch
and you're measuring up from the bottom of your waistband in the front to the bottom
of your waistband in the back when she did her little sit me down I did get a little
bit of slippage in the tape measure sometimes it will slide a lot and sometimes it will
slide a little down your backside and sometimes it won't even slide at all what you're doing
there is seeing if you're picking up any sitting ease in your pant measurement so when you
do that little crotch sit me down you must stand back up and ask yourself the question
does that feel comfortable in my crotch line if you have it pulling too tight then you
get the smile lines and if you have it too loose then you get the droopy crotch and you
don't want to have either situation happening so just make sure that that tape measure truly
is comfortable in your crotch line.
Then what you need to do is make a front and a back straddle crotch measurement now I use
the word straddle and crotch interchangeably so don't let that confuse you.
Now Enid's straddle measurement was 30 inches and what we're going to do is make a front
and a back measurement and the way you do that is by dividing whatever your crotch length
is in half and in this case the half measurement is 15 inches and to make a front measurement
length you take your half measurement number and subtract one inch to equal 14 inches and
for your back crotch length you take your half measurement number 15 inches and add
one inch to equal 16 so when I add together 14 and 16 what I come up with is still 30
and so I haven't gained or lost any fabric what I've done is given her two inches more
to the back of her body than the front of our bodies because if you think about it you
have more in the back than you do in the front but if you are one of those ladies who when
you put your pants on backwards they fit you better on backwards than they do on frontwards
well then what I want you to do is utilize this little device which is simply a tape
measure which I cut in half so that I could put the zero edges up together in the center
and then it counts evenly all the way on up and what I've done is hung a plumb line down
the center of that and you know what we're going to do with this now we're going to step
into this and you're going to let that plumb line hang right down the middle of your inseam
and then you're going to measure up to the bottom of your waist in the front and to the
bottom of your waist in the back of your body and because that plumb line is hanging right
down your center you're getting the accurate measurement in the front and in the back of
your body and you can see that if you had a little bit of tummy and you measured over
top of it you'd get that longer length and if you had lots of backside that's what you
measured if you hardly had any backside that's what you would measure so one way or the other
you are going to get accurate fit in that area and this handy dandy little device which
will help you do that is called a crotchometer it's kind of an adjunct to what the instruction
book already tells you to do so if you think that you've got an exceptionally long front
or an exceptionally large back please make yourself a crotchometer and just double check
your measurement now for those of you who would prefer to work in the metric system
here's what this would look like in the metric system now would you please go ahead and take
your own personalized pant measurements now the first thing that you'll want to do on
your pant back is drawing your straight grain marking so I'm just taking the straight edge
on the designing stylus and drawing it exactly the same length as the grain line on the master
pattern then if your vellum shifts off for whatever reason you'll always be able to reposition
it very quickly next I'll be working up in the grid area you want to utilize your back
straddle measurement in this case at 16 inches long which is 40.6 centimeters and you'll
find that number up the center of the grid and there it is right there and her waist
measurement along this series of dots is 30 inches which is 76.2 centimeters so I'm going
to follow the waist measurement line up and the crotch length measurement line down the
angle and slope of the grid and where the two lines intersect I am going to make a dot
and that's the starting point for the center back of her pants then we'll come over to
the side back again utilizing that same crotch length measurement 16 inches down and the
waist measurement of 30 inches up and where the two lines intersect that will be the starting
point for the side back now we need to connect those dots together you can join those dots
together in a straight or a curved line and your instruction book will guide you in choosing
the appropriate edge for your shape of waist then coming down the center of the dart you'll
notice that there's a series of letters A B C D E F G H and I now those letters correspond
to the length of your back crotch so we'll take a look at that 12 inches is letter A
13 inches is letter B 14 is letter C 15 is letter D and 16 has the letter E beside it
so that means that's her dart tip letter we'll come down the center of the dart and find
that letter A B C D and E and mark the tip of that dot in and that will be the tip of
her dart and you'll simply join that up to the width of the parallel lines which does
represent the width of the dart on the back of the pattern and then from here on in it
just simply couldn't be any easier you take whatever your full hip measurement is and
you simply mark it in all the way around the outer edge of the leg of the pant you will
notice that as you come down the leg of the pant there's a series of slope dots going
down at an angle there and they are for shorts you simply bypass them when you're doing the
long style now we'll go into the back crotch there's a series of dots in the middle labeled
back crotch point number one and a lower series labeled back crotch point number two now you'll
take your designing stylus and hold it with the words facing you and the two curves going
upward will come down the straight edge there's only one arrowhead in here and it does say
match to back crotch point number one so you'll take arrowhead one put it into dot number
one and pivot the stylus into your personalized waist point then connect down to dot number
one now there's dot number two that's a little bit lower than the edge of the stylus so I
will just pivot to meet that dot so we'll pivot this stylus downward until it does match
up with dot number two and then continue the curvature and when I take that away that will
give her one of the best fitting back crotch curves that she's ever worn now we'll do the
inseam we'll find the curve on the master pattern slip the stylus out and you can generally
connect your first three dots together in a very smooth curve then we'll come down you
find the curve or the straight edge in this case and slide the stylus out and connect
your dots the pant is basically a slim leg pant and I'll be showing you how to make some
variations on that as we progress today now the hip curve you find the curve with the
stylus slip it out to connect your dots and once again the instruction book will guide
you in choosing the best curvature if you're a heart a diamond or a straight shape figure
now the leg starts to turn inward so we'll flop the stylus over again find the curve
on the master pattern and slip the stylus out connecting those dots and then it's just
basically straight down and the next step is putting in your hem level now you do recall
that on Enid we measured from her waist over her hip down to her hem line well I can't
just measure straight down here because I would be bypassing that all-important hip
curvature so you do what's called walking the tape measure around the curve that's where
you actually take the tape measure and stand it on edge and you walk it around the curvature
being real accurate in how you measure and then when you come down into the straight
edge you can flatten it out and then you mark in whatever your hem length is and that's
hers and you can see that she's longer than the master pattern so I just slip the side
of the tracing Bellum out and there is a one and a half inch hem allowance that's allowed
at the bottom that's three point eight centimeters wide and of course you'll do that with the
straight edge on your design of the stylus and the last step is to add in your seam allowances
so I'd like you to pause your tape now please and draw off your pants back now to start
drawing off the pants front you'll want to first of all put in that straight grain marking
and do it exactly the same length as a grain line marking on the master pattern now I think
you'll agree with me that when you're sewing a pair of pants the out seam on the front
needs to be exactly the same length as the out seam on the back and the way that we make
this system do that for you is to utilize the back straddle measurement one more time
I've already used it at center back on side back and I will use that same number again
on the side front the one and only time when you ever use your front crotch length measurement
is in your front crotch curvature so going to the side of the pant we go up the center
of the grid till you come to your number and then you also go and find your waist measurement
number you find your waist measurement number and follow the line up and your crotch length
measurement and follow the line down where the two lines crisscross or intersect you
make a dot then going over to the front of the pant we will use your front crotch length
measurement for the first and only time going up the center of the grid you find your number
and follow that line coming down then you'll also find your waist measurement number and
follow the line going up again where the two lines crisscross or intersect you make your
dot and that's the starting point for center front of your pants then take the straight
edge on your stylus and draw in your waistline again you'll have the option of choosing a
curved waist edge and your instruction book will guide you there whatever your dart tip
letter was on the back of your pants that will be exactly the same letter on the front
of your pants so we use the letter E as I come down the center of the dart I will find
that letter A B C D and there's the letter E I'll simply mark that dot in and join that
dot up to the width of the parallel lines and that represents the width of the dart
on the front of the pattern then from here on in it just simply couldn't be any easier
you just mark in your full hip measurement dot all the way around the outer edge of the
leg of the pant and as we come up we'll go into the front crotch area there is a series
of dots in the middle of the crotch that's labeled front crotch point number one and
a lower series labeled front crotch point number two you'll now take your designing
stylus and hold it with the words facing you and the two curves going downward as we come
down this straight edge there's one arrowhead on there and that says match to front crotch
point number one so take arrowhead number one and put it into dot number one then pivot
the stylus into your personalized waist point and connect those dots now I can't quite see
my dot number two so at dot number one simply pivot the stylus up exposing dot number two
and then continue the curvature when I take that away that will give her one of the best
fitting front crotch curves that she's ever worn now do the inseam find the curve slip
the stylus out and connect your dots again you can do the top three dots together then
the pant leg straightens out so I'm just taking that straight line the rest of the way down
the pant leg find the hip curve slip your stylus out remember to best repeat the shape
of your particular body then the pant leg turns inward so flop the stylus over find
the curve and slip the stylus out and connect your dots together coming straight down finishes
off the straight leg of the pants front and then the next step is the hem level so you
need to measure down and remember the little rule you're going to take your tape measure
and walk it which means stand the tape measure on edge walking it around the outer curvature
then come down into the straight section and mark your hem level and then because in this
situation her hem level is lower than that of the master pattern I'll simply shift the
tracing vellum up keeping that straight of grain straight and mark in that one and a
half inch hem allowance which is three point eight centimeters wide and then the last step
is to put in your seam allowances so at this point I would like you to stop your tape and
draw off your personalized pants front these are the accessory pieces that sew your pants
together this is the waistband it is one inch or two point five centimeters wide and it
does have seam allowances on it so if you wanted a wider waistband make sure you add
that amount evenly to both sides of the waistband you have a square choice or a pointed choice
for the end of your waistband then this piece here is the fly front extension that's the
piece that you actually cut all in one with the front of your pants pattern and it would
look like this and that would accept the fly or the zipper when you're sewing in the fly
of your pants so it's cut all in one with the body of the pants and it does come in
seven eight and nine inch length so if you're short or very tall you have the correct length
there for yourself this is the zipper guard you cut it out once and you fold it in half
and bond it together and it becomes a protection between you and the zipper so you don't get
chewed up in your zipper this is the patch pocket it comes in square rounded in angular
and in small medium and large this is the inseam pocket and that's the pocket that actually
sets right in the seam allowance and your hand goes in from the side and you seldom
ever see the opening it's also an excellent pocket to adapt to your skirt pattern pieces
so you need to choose the pieces that you'd want to have for finishing off your pants
pattern now let's take a look at some of the possible designs that we can do with our pants
pattern first of all if you don't want to have a waistband at the top of your pants
you can do what is called a pull on pant and so here you'll see an extension added above
the waist edge and you know how wide to make that extension because you're going to do
it two times the width of your elastic plus seam allowances then approximately two inches
or five centimeters below the waist you could cut your pants off for a hip hugger style
of pant coming down even further we have the women's bikini line and here you'll notice
that your crotch extension has been straightened out and that's the kind of crotch curvature
that you get when you purchase or make leotards or swimwear or your underwear and you can
also do that at home of course and coming down below the crotch point is the short shorts
that's a very high cut short and coming down further on the leg you have the Bermuda shorts
and that's just a very comfortable walking level of short then you have the knee level
and that's very easy to establish all you'll do is measure from the bottom of your waist
down to the bend in your knee and you'll take that distance and mark it on the pattern and
then you'll know how to design above or below it depending on the style of pant you'd like
to make coming down below your knee you have the knicker level and that can be either a
really wide or a narrow leg and you can finish it off with little gathers or pleats at the
side it's up to you coming down into the calf area of our leg we have what is called the
capri length pant many years ago we called that a cropped leg pant you know the fashion
cycle just kind of keeps turning around and it just depends on the the mood of the designer
as to the name that it's going to get then down at the bottom you can also add on a cuff
when they're in fashion it's very easy to add that and here is the cuff extension formula
it is two times the desired cuff depth plus one inch and an example of that would be two
plus two plus one for a total of five inches you would hem up three inches and turn back
your remaining two and you'd be on your original hem level and two inches is a fairly standard
cuff depth width now then you can change the actual width of the leg of the pant if you
want to the only rule to remember is that if you take anything off the inseam you must
take that equal amount off the out seam so if you take off an inch here you must take
off an inch there if you add three centimeters here you must add three centimeters there
and then you do what is called truing you connect the new point with an old point in
the longest distance possible and on the inseam you always true up to the crotch point and
on the out seam you always true up to the hip line and the reason that you take fabric
off the inseam and the out seam equally is so that you maintain that straight grain going
straight up and down your leg and you don't get a twisted leg on your pants so you can
see that we've got lots of different designs here you can do the very narrow leg pant that
comes in very very skinny to your ankle and of course the tighter you bring that the more
likely you're going to have to leave it open a little bit to get your foot inside and then
we have the bell bottom that's a fashion we haven't seen in a while but it might come
back to that's where the pant narrows into your knee and then flares back out we also
have the stovepipe pant and that drops right off your buttocks and comes straight down
and we also have the hostess or palazzo pant that's a very wide leg pant and you know there's
always exceptions to every rule and there is with our pant leg width rule as well when
you're doing a very wide leg pant you never want your inseam to drop any wider than your
crotch point because if it does then it's liable to you know wrap around your ankles
and be very very uncomfortable so make sure it never drops any wider than the crotch point
but the out seam can keep on going and give you that real wide flared pant so there's
lots of different possibilities for designing with your pants pattern i'd like you to stop
your tape now and draw off your accessory pieces and start thinking about your design
possibilities i'd like to tell you about the pants i'm currently wearing they're a standard
pleated dress pant what i've done is taken the one fitting dart and converted it into
a pleat and i've added one additional pleat i've also got the fly front extension the
waistband and belt loops and i finished them off with the wedge angle pocket that particular
design detail is found in the men's instructional package and i will be talking about that as
the video progresses this fashionable style of pant is called a divided skirt or collat
they really are designed from the pant pattern since they have that all-important crotch
curve the crotch point is extended and dropped somewhat to allow for comfortable walking
room instructions are found on fashion leaflet number two kathleen is showing our newest
easy wrap pant styles are loose and comfortable yet reflect the fit you want we call this
the easy wrap pant instructions are on fashion leaflet number eight a wedge of fabric has
been added to the basic pant pattern from the waist down to nothing at the hem edge
the waistband then wraps close to the dimension of your waist with a velcro closure as you
expand or get smaller the pant waist will too without changing the pattern these are
truly fun pants to make and wear cindy is in these great harem pants page 16 in the
pant instruction book shows how to design these fashionable harem pants they are loose
and comfortable since they have no binding seams your pants pattern gives you flexibility
plus as you really can create any style whether it be formal or very very casual kathleen
features our stirrup pants as the fashion cycle turns we are seeing the revival of the
stirrup pant they are generally made from a stretch fabric and will feature the stirrup
that goes underneath your heel to keep them tight and sleek looking pockets pleats and
other design details can be added as you wish these instructions are found on fashion leaflet
number eight terry is back in basic pleated pants these classic pleated pants are quick
to design from your pants pattern pleat instructions are on page 10 of the pant book you notice
they also have the wedge angle pocket this particular designing detail can be found in
the men's pants designs package and easily adapted to your ladies pants these pants are
truly a classic wardrobe basic be creative with your pants pattern these yoked and pleated
pants are made out of leather like stretch knit fabric they have pleats coming from the
base of the yoke in both front and back of the pant the leg is tapered down and with
small ankle pleats sewn into the ankle band it completes the fashion look these instructions
are found on page 15 of the pant instruction book sure fit designs is by far the most outstanding
comprehensive and economical pattern fitting and designing system available for today's
home seamstresses the key to the system the designing stylus is combined with a dress
kit the pant kit the shirt kit the children's kit and men's pants instructions to provide
you with a truly rewarding experience with your pattern fitting and sewing additional
items that enhance the system are the four page fashion design sheet the eight individual
fashion leaflets and the indispensable tracing vellum for ordering sure fit designs products
refer to your rush order card or for information write to this address
let's continue our journey now into pattern fitting and designing with the sure fit designs
shirt kit these are all the pattern pieces that you will find in your shirt kit and you
will also notice that there is a series of dots going up and out in various locations
and once again they are the grading dots that will make this fit your unique body shape
and size the smallest dot is 28 inches or 71.1 centimeters and it goes all the way on
up to 56 inches or 142.2 centimeters so what I need to do now is show you how to take your
measurements accurately for a shirt pattern so Enid would you please come on and we'll
show everyone how to do that the very first measurement is a bust or chest measurement
and so put your arms straight out again please and we'll take the tape measure over the back
shoulder blades and once again go over the fullest part of the bust now Enid lower your
arms down please again when the arms were lowered down we got some expansion happening
in the front of that tape measure and that is the measurement you will want to record
now when you're doing this for a man realize that he's likely got a little bit better shoulder
development back there and you might get quite a substantial amount of expansion and that's
fine that's the larger measurement and you will use that measurement number two is a
waist measurement and I've talked quite a bit today about how to establish your waistline
now when you're measuring for a man's waist some of our men have what we call Dunlap's
disease that's when their belly Dunlap over their belt and if that happens to be your
situation please make sure you measure him around his fullest middle part so his shirts
will do up there as well and if your man is basically just straight just wrap that tape
measure around him and call that his waist all right measurement number three is a shoulder
width measurement so I need to have you face now with your back to the camera please and
we'll put the arm straight out again and what you want to do is find those hollows that
are your shoulder bones and then measure from shoulder bone to shoulder bone to establish
the full back shoulder width measurement all right that's fine Enid thank you and you can
lower your arms down and the next measurement is the center back waist length that's done
from the cervical bone at the base of the neck all the way down to the waist at the
back now just stand halfway around please and bend your arm comfortably towards the
front of your body the fifth and last measurement is to measure the arm length so you'll start
the tape measure at the shoulder bone you'll go over the elbow you don't need to stop here
because there isn't an elbow dart in this particular shirt sleeve pattern and then you
go right down to the hand side of the base of the wrist bone so that's the five measurements
that you need to take whether you're measuring a man or a woman for a shirt thank you very
much Enid now would you please stop the tape and take your own personalized measurements
now just before we start utilizing your personalized measurements I want to talk about personalizing
the next size for you perhaps you or your husband has a thick neck and you're concerned
about a collar or collar stand buttoning up properly well I'd like to refer you to page
four in the shirt instruction book in the center section there is a whole section here
on personalizing the next size and the very first thing that it tells you to do is take
your neck measurement and so basically what you'll want to do is just take your tape measure
and put it around the base of your neck where your collar stand would be now this is the
one and only time when I'm going to allow you to put a finger in between you and your
tape measure normally you should not be doing that but this is just going to give you some
comfort room and breathing and swallowing room so you take that measurement whatever
it might be and then you apply it to the chart on the bottom of page three in the shirt instruction
book now let's assume that your chest measurement is 36 inches around well as we read down the
chart you'll notice that the accompanying neck measurement is 15 inches but let's say
you just measured yourself and you know that your neck is 15 and a half inches so as we
read across on the chart to the 15 and a half inch column and I read up we'll see that the
accompanying chest size is 38 inches so how you'd use these numbers is this on the neck
pattern you would use or the neck area of your pattern you would use your 38 dots and
when you come down into the shoulder and armhole area you'd go back to your 36 inch dots because
that's what's going to fit you in the chest area so for those of you who would like to
work in the metric system that chart is provided at the bottom of that particular page so you
can work in whichever system you want this is going to give you the neck size that fits
and the chest size that fits you properly when you draw off your shirt pattern you will
begin on the shirt back and the measurement number that we're going to use is the chest
or full bust measurement in this case 42 inches or 106.7 centimeters starting at center back
go from the smallest dot up to whatever your chest or bust measurement dot is and mark
that in all the way around in the neck area the shoulder the middle of the armhole and
the underarm and then you simply start connecting these dots together use the straight edge
on your stylus and draw down center back and also make sure that you put in your straight
grain marking now you need to do the neck curvature on the back of the pattern now I'd
like you to hold your styluses with the words facing you and the two curves going downward
as we come down the straight edge in the seam allowance area you'll see a notation that
says front crotch curve we're actually going to use that curvature on the neckline of the
pattern you'll see as I hold it in place that it repeats it pretty well and we're going
to slip the stylus up and then connect those dots together and all day long you've been
wondering what BNC stood for on my stylus now you know it stands for back neck curve
and it is the curvature you'll use for either a man's or a woman's shirt pattern then you
will connect together the neck to the shoulder point and looking in the armhole there's a
series of dots labeled back arm side point one and a lower series labeled back arm side
point number two now you'll hold the stylus with the words facing you and the two curves
coming downward will come down the long curvy edge to the second arrowhead and that says
match to back arm side point number one shirt kit so I'll take that arrowhead and put it
into dot one and pivot into the shoulder point and I'm going to come about a quarter of the
way down and then I'd like to stop I'd like to mention to you that this pattern has seam
allowance already built on to it for you it's just a little bit different from the other
patterns insofar as you'll draw one line all the way around the outer edge and you'll be
done and ready to cut and sew but because it has a seam allowance built into it we do
need to verify that the back shoulder width is correct for you so in order to do that
I'm simply going to use the stylus and mark off the stitching line where your seam lines
would be when all of the seams are sewn and I'm going to measure now Enid's back shoulder
width was 17 and three quarter inches long from shoulder bone to shoulder bone that's
45 centimeters but because I'm working on half a pattern I need to divide that distance
in half and bring that half width out from center back and I will notice here that the
pattern is approximately a quarter of an inch too long for her so on the seam line I'm just
going to measure back a pardon me on the cutting line I'll measure back about a quarter of
an inch and I'm going to reconnect now to that narrower dot taking the designing stylus
line up arrowhead one two dot one pivot into the narrower shoulder point and then come
on down to dot number one now there's dot number two this is one time when you don't
want to pivot your stylus because if you then continued to draw you'd form a little bit
of a scalloped underarm so just remember the rule find the curve on the master pattern
slip the stylus up and connect your dots together when I take that away that will give her that
low flat underarm curvature that is unique to the shirt pattern and what do you do with
that little bit that's hanging off well at home you're going to be drawing this off in
pencil and it's such a durable tracing medium that all you're going to do is erase that
and you won't have any holes and of course if you're a broader shouldered person again
you would just simply erase what you do not require all right the next thing to do is
mark in your waist level and so just take your tape measure and remember that we do
have a seam allowance up at the top so I'll just mark that off and then measure down and
mark in her waist length which is 18 inches or 46 centimeters now her waist level is a
little bit above the waistline on the master pattern so at this point I'm going to release
the tracing vellum and I'm simply going to shift down until her waist level does line
up with that of the master pattern and of course keep the straight of grain and the
center back markings exactly on the straight lines from the master pattern and now you
can choose your appropriate waist width dot your waist can be as small as 24 inches or
61 centimeters and it can go all the way on up to 52 inches or 132.1 centimeters so you
mark off the dot that represents you and then all you do is connect that waist dot to your
center back and of course the next thing is the side seam while you find the curve and
connect your dots in this case I need to change the curvature just slightly to accommodate
for her narrow waist width so I'm coming down to the waist dot and we have some hem level
choices here to choose from when you're doing a man shirt you will choose his waist measurement
dot at the bottom edge here because a man is basically straight from his waist down
you can just choose that waist dot and drop the side seam straight down but for a woman
because we have a few more curves in that area you'll want to take your hip measurement
and add about one inch or 2.5 centimeters for ease and then divide that total measurement
in quarters since you're working on one quarter of the pattern and then you'll measure that
out mark it at your hem level and then continue connecting with your designing stylist to
form your actual hem edge and now you have a couple of options here you can do a straight
hem if you wish or you can do a slightly curved hem like this it's that standard shirt tail
tuck in him or if you want to wear your shirt out over top of your slacks or pants you can
do that outward curvature just because the curve isn't on the pattern doesn't mean that
you can't draw in whatever you want to have and there is one last step and that's an optional
backfitting dart at the top and the bottom of the dart there are a series of dots and
they are labeled as chest or bust measurement so you mark off the dot once again that represents
your chest or bust measurement and when you don't have a template it's very easy to draw
this dart all you do is shift the tracing vellum over top of the dart and use the straight
edge on your designing stylist and that will draw in the optional backfitting dart so that
does finish off the shirt back I'd like you to stop your tapes and please draw off your
shirt back pattern the shirt front is really easy to draw off I'm not going to draw it
here because the system is so similar to what I've already shown you but I will explain
it for you whatever chest or bust measurements you used in the shirt back you'll use the
same thing in the neckline in the shoulder in the middle of the armhole and at the under
arm if you raised or lowered the waist on the back any you raise or lower the waist
line on the front exactly the same amount you still have your same hem level choices
here and of course the pocket placement level is given for you and the center front the
button extension and the facing markings are already in place on the pattern so when you
draw off your shirt front and you incorporate these you're ready to cut and sew your first
shirt with a standard turn back facing now if you want to do a shirt that pulls over
your head you simply disregard the facing and the button extension line and the center
front becomes the place on the fold so you can do whatever kind of a style that you'd
like to have so I'd like you to stop now please and draw off your shirt front let's draw off
the shirt sleeve pattern now the same technique that applied to the dress pattern this morning
is the same as for the shirt you use your bust or chest measurement around on your sleeve
pattern but unlike the dress sleeve this shirt sleeve pattern does not have an elbow fitting
dart so you can start your dots down at the hem level and then take your dots all the
way around the cap of the sleeve and back down the other side and of course we don't
want to forget to put in that straight of grain marking so I'll make that in place
right now okay now we'll start drawing off the dots you find the curve slip the stylus
out and connect your dots together and here is a situation where I usually just do two
dots together at a time it will look like this then flip the stylus over to do the other
side what you're attempting to achieve here is a nice nice smooth sleeve cap and you'll
see how it's turning out to look different from the dress sleeve it's much wider and
shallower to do the side seam you find the curve and slip the stylus out and connect
your dots and then come straight down and we'll do the other side seam in the same fashion
you can connect the top three dots together and the last two now we have the hem level
to mark in this sleeve is designed to have a cuff in place and because we've done all
of our arm length measurements right down to the hand side of the base of the wrist
bone on our arms we can't just add a cuff to that length because if we did then the
whole thing would end up being too long on our arms so what we need to do is subtract
a little bit of length from your actual arm length and mark that on the pattern so what
the technique is is where your sleeve cap notch is you're going to measure down your
arm length minus three quarters of an inch which is 1.9 centimeters and you'll mark in
your actual arm length minus your three quarters of an inch or 1.9 centimeters in the case
of Enid her arm is longer than the hem level on the master pattern so now I need to release
the tracing down and shift it up slightly until her hem level does line up with the
hem guideline on the master pattern and then I can just finish off the hem at the bottom
there is a placket and slash opening and there are pleat lines and you can sew these into
formal pleats if you want to or you can use that space and gather it to make the look
a little bit more feminine and now these are the accessory pieces that will complete your
shirt pattern this is the cuff pattern piece it's two and a half inches wide which is six
point four centimeters this is the collar stand that's the stand that the collar actually
stands on to in a more formal shirt but if you take a look at the design of it it is
really an excellent mandarin collar so you can actually transfer these collar pattern
pieces onto your dress pattern the one thing that I will mention to you whenever you're
transferring collars from either your shirt kit or your children's kit onto your dress
kit please make sure that the stitching line of the collar piece is exactly the same length
as the stitching line of the neckline on your dress pattern and you remember the way to
do that because it's a curved edge you're going to stand your tape measure on edge this
is the short pointed collar this is the long pointed collar and there are four different
styles of pockets and flaps so you've got lots of mixing and matching to do with all
of the accessory pieces so please stop your tape now and draw off your shirt sleeve and
your accessory pieces.
This complimentary jacket that Terry is wearing is designed from the shirt basic pattern you
could recognize this by the fact that it does not have a bust fitting dart and it features
a deeper armhole and more bust ease even though the basic jacket is from the shirt kit bodice
the design feature of the shawl collar has been directly adapted from the dress instruction
book page 40.
Kathleen is in this lovely afternoon dress that is designed by using the shirt kit bodice
and the skirt pattern from the dress kit this will ensure your correct hip fit and hem length
when designing the shirt into a dress the beautiful and feminine draped front instructions
are found on Fashion Leaflet number three.
Fashion Leaflet number five shows exactly how to design your shirt kit into this oversized
sweatshirt top it features a drop shoulder and a tube neckline which is rolled and stuffed
with polyester polyfill applique work and piping finish off this comfortable shirt style
sweatshirt.
Terry is wearing a great multi colored shirt women's shirt designing is located on page
twelve of the shirt instruction book tucked in or worn on top of your pants this go anywhere
style is particularly fun to sew when mixing and matching fabric colors and patterns the
flat collar is a pattern piece taken directly from the children's kit pattern pieces.
The shirt kit pattern can easily make sporty and casual wear for your men and boys this
tracksuit top features color blocking with rain proof fabric the design is a dolmen shaped
sleeve on the shirt pattern the collar pattern pieces from the children's kit pattern pieces.
The shirt pattern can easily adapt into any asymmetrical style you'll find asymmetrical
designing instructions on the blue insert in your shirt kit this shirt style blouse
again is dartless and features a contrasting center front inset and a peplum at the waist
and hip area.
Kathleen smart jumpsuit is designed by using the shirt the pants the children's and the
men's pants instruction book the top is from the shirt kit bodice the bottom half is obviously
from your well fitting pant pattern the wedge angle pocket detailing comes from the men's
pants instruction book and details for designing a jumpsuit are found on page sixteen of the
children's instruction book the entire sure fit design system is truly versatile not only
for dressing your whole family but also in allowing you to interchange the kits to create
any design you wish.
Your men are not forgotten from the basic shirt pattern dress shirts or sports shirts
can be made just follow the basic measuring techniques already shown and follow the steps
for drawing off the pattern it's as simple as that to get him one of the best fitting
shirts he's ever worn.
Kathleen has on a great all purpose trench coat designed from the shirt pattern it is
really a long version of the safari jacket design on page sixteen it features the traditional
shoulder yoke and patch pockets instructions on page eleven show you how to do the center
back pleat the belt completes this trim fitting coat.
Cindy looks stunning in this green and black two piece outfit designed from the shirt kit
and dress kit patterns the dartless top is off the shirt pattern however the boat neck
and v-neck design instructions are on page thirteen in the dress book adding a button
extension is easy when you follow page sixteen instructions from the dress book it's a great
combination of the two kits.
I'd like to show you the outfit that I'm currently wearing the bottom half looks like a skirt
but it's really from my pants pattern it's called a divided skirt or a collat it does
feature very soft pleats at the waistline and a wedge angle pocket now the top that
I'm wearing is off of the shirt pattern it does have the dolman sleeve and instructions
for dolman sleeves are found on leaflet number two and I've also done an asymmetrical opening
with the turn back collar and those instructions are found on the blue insert that's inside
your shirt kit versatility plus really comes through when you're working and designing
with your sure fit designs kits begin imagining your wardrobe possibilities.
Sure fit designs is by far the most outstanding comprehensive and economical pattern fitting
and designing system available for today's home seamstresses the key to the system the
designing stylus is combined with the dress kit the pant kit the shirt kit the children's
kit and men's pants instructions to provide you with a truly rewarding experience with
your pattern fitting and sewing additional items that enhance the system are the four
page fashion design sheet the eight individual fashion leaflets and the indispensable tracing
vellum for ordering sure fit designs products refer to your rush order card or for information
right to this address.
Our journey takes us into the children's kit which is really a valuable addition to the
sure fit designs pattern line it is one of the most versatile kits you'll ever own it
not only sews all styles of clothing for your toddlers children and teens but also has accessory
pieces and instructions that coordinate with all the adult patterns the patterns include
pants shirts blouses and skirts and you can mix and match them in any way you desire there
is also an array of additional pattern pieces like collars hoods pockets and bib designs
that are totally interchangeable with the adult patterns so whether you have children
or not this kit completes the flexibility of the whole sure fit design system the kit
sews for both boys and girls when you want your child to look really special you can
make party clothes dress pants dress shirts vests jackets and dresses our party dress
featured in the four page insert in the kit looks especially pretty and feminine on Annie
Greg looks ready for Sunday brunch or any other special dress up occasion robes for
both boys and girls wrap skirts jumpsuits bib overalls and sport tab t-shirts are just
some of the many designs you'll find in the children's instruction book and when it's
playtime Annie is completely at ease in this jumpsuit instructions are featured on page
16 of the children's book Greg's tab front t-shirt is great for comfortable wear and
playtime tab front instructions are found on the four page children's kit insert but
you are not restricted to sewing only children's clothes the flexibility of the children's
kit allows you to use the accompanying patterns and instructions to sew for yourself the flat
lapel collar on this blouse is a children's kit pattern piece the sailor collar instructions
are on page 22 of the children's book the jumpsuit instructions on page 16 can be adapted
to adult size as well the hood pattern piece shown on this lady's jacket and the flat
collar pattern used on this tracksuit top are also ones located in the children's kit
these plus many other interchanges make the children's kit a valuable addition and truly
provides total flexibility with the entire sure fit design system the patterns are drawn
off much like that which has already been demonstrated in the shirt pant and skirt
presentations so developing these personalized patterns will be a breeze as well well we've
now dressed everybody in the family with the exception of your men from the waist downward
yes I'm talking about well fitting pants for him too the men cannot wear the ladies pants
nor can you wear his this is because the curvatures for him are completely different but we can
utilize the ladies pant kit front and back pattern pieces and adapt the necessary curves
to fit the man we do that by utilizing the instructions in the men's pants designs package
these instructions show you how to do this adaptation these two elements the ladies pant
pattern and the men's instructions go hand in hand to get him some of the best fitting
pants he's ever worn once his pattern is completed you can sew any style of dress pants or casual
pants you can also sew sportwear shorts rugby pants jogging pants track pants and even designer
jeans and ladies you can get your instructions for your wedge angle pockets and belt loop
application from the men's pants designs package you see we really can dress the entire family
in the best fitting clothes they've ever had sure fit designs is by far the most outstanding
comprehensive and economical pattern fitting and designing system available for today's
home seamstresses the key to the system the design and stylus is combined with the dress
kit the pant kit the shirt kit the children's kit and men's pants instructions to provide
you with a truly rewarding experience with your pattern fitting and sewing additional
items that enhance the system are the four page fashion design sheet the eight individual
fashion leaflets and the indispensable tracing vellum for ordering sure fit designs products
refer to your rush order card or for information write to this address
our journey is not complete until i've shown you how to fit all of your old commercial
patterns if you're like most home sewers you have a stockpile of old commercial patterns
well what i'd like to do is show you how to turn that stockpile into a virtual gold mine
by using the innovative sure fit design system inside the dress kit there are instructions
on the pink leaflet telling you how to fit your commercial patterns you basically will
use whichever piece you're working on and the subsequent pattern for instance i'm showing
you here the skirt back if you were testing a bodice front or a sleeve you'd use those
respective pieces now this is my skirt back with my correct waist hip width and hem length
what you want to do is take your old skirt pattern now and lay that on top now that you
have your commercial pattern laid over top of your blueprint what you want to do is line
up the specific and key areas in this situation you'd line up center back marking to the center
back of the sure fit pattern and you'd make sure that the waist points are exactly on
their waist points and as we look down center back we'll notice that the commercial pattern
has the seam allowance in place we will also notice that the commercial pattern has a bias
grain line marking whereas the sure fit designs pattern does not as i come down into the hem
level this is where i like to wear my normal day length dresses and the commercial pattern
is substantially longer so oftentimes when we are working with commercial patterns we're
afraid to cut them off in the patterning stage for fear that they're not going to be correct
when you've got them sewn but you know when you know your hem length why waste your fabric
dollars cutting out extra fabric that you're just going to turn up and cut away anyway
so that's one thing that i will be changing as we move on there is the width of the sure
fit pattern there's the width of the commercial pattern and i will be adapting that and as
i come up past my hem sorry as i come up past my hip level you'll notice my hip hasn't
changed a lot in the last few years but my waist my waist certainly has gotten off a
lot wider so i will definitely be incorporating that into the final version so now what you
want to do is lay a piece of tracing vellum over top creating a third layer and we will
make a composite pattern and truly blend the best of both worlds all right we've now got
the tracing vellum up over top it becomes our third layer and now we're going to draw
on our composite pattern and you're going to pretend that i haven't drawn this on yet
and we'll draw it off together first of all you're going to draw a straight down center
back and that's actually going to be your stitching line because then you will add the
necessary seam allowance because the center back will have a center back seam you'll also
put on the matching notches and the sew two dots to help you get the skirt constructed
you will also notice that i've put on the straight grain marking from the sure fit pattern
and the bias grain marking from the commercial pattern so now it allows me the option to
lay it on the bias or on the straight grain when i'm in the fabric layout stage and as
i come down to the hem line you'll notice that i have cut it off at the length of my
current day dresses there just isn't any point in cutting it so long and wasting all that
fabric in your finished garment so you buy what fabric you require and you cut it off
where you know your hems are going to end then i am going to bring it out to the width
of the commercial pattern because that is a style that i do want to have and then i
will blend up past my current hip width and out to my currently wider waist width so now
it's going to fit me in all the very necessary areas and this little bit of gathering right
here is actually sewn from the dart space that's provided in the sure fit design skirt
well i don't know about you ladies but in years past i used to spend hour after tedious
hours struggling to get those darn commercial patterns to fit me doesn't this just make
a whole heck of a lot more sense i know that when you try it you're truly going to see
how easy this is and how well all of your clothing are going to fit afterward so whether
you want to be your own original designer with the sure fit designs kits or whether
you'd like to use your stockpile of commercial patterns and turn them into a gold mine the
option is yours i know you're going to love fitting and designing working with the sure
fit design system we've come to the end of our journey to the fascinating new world of
pattern fitting and designing with sure fit designs i hope you've enjoyed the many new
ideas and possibilities that we have shared in this videotape today the importance of
having well fitting fashionable clothes is only as important as the money we can save
our families by sewing i hope i have been that inspiration to encourage you to design
and sew for yourself and your entire family i know that once you start using the ideas
expressed in this video that you will save money for your family and have well fitting
fashionable clothes and have fun doing it thank you and happy sewing