I did this adjustment tonight and I put the pattern up to my body and it worked. I watched this video about 5 million times to get the courage to do this. I went and photo copied my pattern and did the adjustment on the copy. Ty! Ty!
Brilliant - I was cutting a pie shaped wedge but the square is it! I have a 2” adjustment, long body. Do you know how to sew the BIBA (L shaped) dart? Thank you😊
Hi Aneka, thank you once again for your reply. Yes it looks like it must be ease where the notches don't match, it just makes it more difficult to work out where to lower the apex !!! I still need to lower it a bit more as the toile I made looks as though the apex is still a bit too high. I shall battle on to try and work it out. It is becoming more frustrating to do, I wish these pattern companies would accommodate for the fuller figure, and ladies who are low busted. Think I might have a go at drafting my own !!! Cheers Val.
@@MadetoSew I totally agree with you. It doesn't seem to make sense. Anyway, I have watched your tutorials again, and I am getting to grips with all the alterations that I may need to do, it's just taking me a little while but I am sure I will get there in the end. You are so clear and the explanations are easy to understand. Thank you. Val.x
I've always had a lower bust and have generally had to alter darts, although this has become more pronounced as I've got older and my bust has dropped a little more. I also have a much bigger difference now between the pattern and my bust in terms of size, which I didn't have when I was younger so have to also do a full bust adjustment, which I have watched your video for. Would I do this adjustment before the full bust adjustment? I much prefer dresses with princess seams which join under the bust as again, because of my age, my waist has almost disappeared! Many thanks.
Oh wow! I have been working on my dress form and the pattern had my apex 3/4" too high. I lowered it and it's in the right position but I lowered the length as well not knowing I didn't have to do this. I noticed this error when sewing the pattern for the dress form; my back pieces were too long! Thank you SO much for making this tutorial so I can now go back and make the adjustments. I just subscribed to your channel!
excellent and useful as usual .Thank you .I learn a lot with all your vidéos so clears and professionnels Your diction is perfect for a person like me.I'm french .❤❤
So interesting the bust point is always too high for me so this is excellent I can finally make princess line shift dresses that will fit perfectly thank you X
Hi Susan, I would probably lower it first and then do the FBA. It depends on how much you have to lower it by, but it's probably easier to get it in the right place first and then adjust for the FBA.
Unfortunately it will be hard to lower the apex on a completed garment. If there are darts or gathers pointing to the wrong place you could unpick them and move them to the new location. Is that what would help you?
Love your videos. At first I thought they were too complicated & thought I’d never be able to do that but the more I watched them over & over, I think I can. My question is on the apex to apex measurement. The front bodice pattern is showing approx 3.5” to the centre line but my busy to busy apex is almost 8.5”. I’m assuming then that I do move it over but does that mean that I widen the pattern? Then I think if I understood you correctly, I adjust the princess seam pattern in the same measurement as the moved over apex meaning I push the curve in towards the side seam?
Thank you for this! I have to shorten the bust point by 2.25" (!) on a princess seam bodice. The adjustment looks pretty normal on the center front, but I'm not sure how to manage it on the side front. There's no FBA involved; the wearer is just petite. Can you recommend a solution?
Hi Barb, it will just be a case of blending back in at the top and the bottom. There isn't really much else you can do if that is the adjustment you need to make. Unless the underarm of the pattern is also too low? In which case you could make some of the adjustment above the bust? Happy for you to email me a picture if that would help (info@madetosew.com). Aneka 😊
Hi again Aneka, my apex is 3" lower than the pattern apex, I have tried several ways of altering it to fit my apex, have you any idea how I should go about it. Also on the front pattern piece, the notches do not seem to match up with the side front not sure why. It is a Vogue pattern, supposed to be easy !!! Thanks Val.
Hi Val, I would still do the same process of lowering the apex. But I would make a sample to get the fit right above the below the bust. It might be because there is ease (one pattern piece is larger than the other) on the princess seam. Maybe that's why the notches don't match. If you work from the armhole down to the first notch, then waist up to the notch, do they fit? The bit in between would be eased. Does that help?
Hi Aneka, it's been a long time since I did any sewing, due to looking after my husband, who recently passed away. I am now getting into the sewing mood again, and have re-watched your excellent videos again. I would like to ask you, a pattern that I wish to make does not have anywhere on it that shows where the apex is. I need to lower my by quite an amount, and wondered if you could tell me how to find the apex on the pattern. It is a square neckline, with a yolk front. I understand now how to lower the apex, but as to how to find the one on the pattern sheet is difficult. There is nothing on the front side piece, or the front pattern. Quite unusual. It is a fairly new, New Look pattern. Hope you are able to guide me somehow, many thanks again. Val
Hi Valerie, lovely to hear from you. Sorry to hear about your husband. Sending lots of love to you through this difficult time. 🤗🤗🤗 I have now seen that you commented on my How to Find the Bust Apex video. Hopefully that has helped you measure your placement on the pattern? Unfortunately if they haven’t marked one we don’t know where they designed the bust apex to be; unless you have a dart pointing to it, or a curve of a princess seam. But you could at least plot yours on? You could even pin the pattern sheets together to put in on your shoulder and mark your apex on?
@@MadetoSew thank you Aneka I'll pin it on to myself and hope that it works😅 As my high bust is 39" and my full bust is 44" the difference is 5:5" divided by 2 =2:5 " to add to the full bust measurement adjustment sounds a lot to me. Does this sound correct to you? Thanks again for your help and replies.
@@valeriepoole1535 Hi Valerie, your high bust is 39". Usually you would start with this figure and add the cup size of the pattern so (normally 2" B Cup) = 41". This is the size of the pattern you choose. Then you would measure your Full Bust 44" and look at the difference between your Full Bust and the pattern size 41". There is 3" difference, this is the FBA you need to do and you need to divide that by 2, so 1 1/2" on each side.
Thank you for your clear videos Ive already used this one and the FBA too! My troubles continue because now I find I need to do a rounded back adjustment too! Any videos for that? I have to do a total of about 1.5" in the upper part of my back. I worry about how to do that since it seems like a big adjustment. But onward I go trying to perfect the fit. BTW, you were absolutely right an FBA was needed. No idea why but my "D" cup did not fit their "D" cup. :-(
Hi Deb, Glad that you worked out you needed a FBA. I don't have a video for a rounded upper back, I must do one as it has been on my list for years. You might end up with a dart in the back neck, for this amount (to work with the curve in your back), but you can usually move this to the shoulder if you want, which can look nicer. The basic gist of the adjustment is that you will cut horizontally across the back from CB to armhole (centre). Pivot at the armhole and use another cut line from the neck to the horizontal line, where a dart will end up. I will do a video. Aneka x
Hi anika. Since I wound up with 3/4" too much width at the back underarm ( on each side) after I did the FBA followed by the rounded back adjustment it makes me wonder what would have been the right order I which to make these many changes. Given that extra width matches the FBA change I did, was the rounded back issue causing the tightness in the front, ugh. What is the standard for order to alterations?
@@debdamico9973 Hi Deb, I usually recommend the following order. 1. Length and Shorten, 2. Adjust Curves (like FBA etc.), 3. Width adjustments. In step 2 I would usually start at the shoulders as this is where the garment hangs, so we could aim to adjust the rounded back first and then do the FBA. Depending on how high up the adjustment was. The rounded back could have been causing the issue in the front, if it is in a similar line to the full bust? Aneka x
I made this adjustment for a bodice with an empire waist. My adjustment was 1 3/4" and when I was done there was not enough fabric to quite reach the empire waist line over the breast. Ideas for how to fix that? The back length is fine and did not change so I don't want to lower that, thanks in advance
Did you check whether you needed a Full Bust Adjustment? Or was it simply length / shape of the bust? Did you measurement your back length and compare that to the pattern? Was it the same or do you need to add some length above the waist too?
@@MadetoSew When I made the pattern as is, it felt too tight and I noticed that the apex for me was too high, causing the tightness, everthing else was in great shape including the back length. I felt that the D cup pattern pieces fit fine so I don't think a FBA was needed. On the original muslin I simple let the shoulder seams loose so the bodice could drop down and the apex on the pattern could line up with my apex. That distance was about 1.5 to 1.75 inches. I then found your channel and saw how easy it was to do the lowering adjustment. I have messed with the reshaping a little now and will try another muslin, thanks for responding.
@@debdamico9973 Happy to help, it might be worth just checking whether the D Cup size is right. Simply measure your high bust, above bust and high into armpit. And then around the fullest part of your bust. A D Cup is suggesting that your Full Bust is 4" larger than your High Bust (there is 1" for every cup size). You might be fine in the D Cup, but the reason I wanted you to check is that a FBA would add more length, so if the problem is the cup size the pattern would seem too short over the bust. Let me know how you get on. Aneka
@@debdamico9973 Yes I would for the princess seam, as you want the curve in the right place. For the normal FBA with darts, it depends on how much you have to move your darts by as the FBA does move them too. Hope that helps? Aneka
Thank you this has been incredibly helpful! I transitioned to a man and adjusting the princess seams on my garments has been an absolute beast! None the less making my own binder pattern was something I have been tackling this year. This was tremendously helpful! (Because as you can imagine I still have quite the bust 😅, but it changes quite a bit with hormones and still needs the support garments)
I did this adjustment tonight and I put the pattern up to my body and it worked. I watched this video about 5 million times to get the courage to do this. I went and photo copied my pattern and did the adjustment on the copy. Ty! Ty!
Yay! So pleased I could help.
Brilliant - I was cutting a pie shaped wedge but the square is it! I have a 2” adjustment, long body.
Do you know how to sew the BIBA (L shaped) dart? Thank you😊
Hi Aneka, thank you once again for your reply. Yes it looks like it must be ease where the notches don't match, it just makes it more difficult to work out where to lower the apex !!! I still need to lower it a bit more as the toile I made looks as though the apex is still a bit too high. I shall battle on to try and work it out. It is becoming more frustrating to do, I wish these pattern companies would accommodate for the fuller figure, and ladies who are low busted. Think I might have a go at drafting my own !!! Cheers Val.
You can also remove the ease, I don't draft my princess seam patterns with ease. I don't know why they do! 😊
@@MadetoSew I totally agree with you. It doesn't seem to make sense. Anyway, I have watched your tutorials again, and I am getting to grips with all the alterations that I may need to do, it's just taking me a little while but I am sure I will get there in the end. You are so clear and the explanations are easy to understand. Thank you. Val.x
@@valeriepoole1535 So pleased I could help Val. Let me know how you get on. Aneka x
@@MadetoSew will do. Xx
Please do a tutorial on how to draft a basic bodice pattern and modify the pattern for different garment or design.
This is coming as a online class on my website www.madetosew.com ❤️
i realize I am pretty off topic but do anyone know of a good website to stream newly released tv shows online ?
@Terrell Kristopher try FlixZone. Just google for it :)
@Terrell Kristopher I use Flixzone. Just search on google for it :)
I've always had a lower bust and have generally had to alter darts, although this has become more pronounced as I've got older and my bust has dropped a little more. I also have a much bigger difference now between the pattern and my bust in terms of size, which I didn't have when I was younger so have to also do a full bust adjustment, which I have watched your video for. Would I do this adjustment before the full bust adjustment? I much prefer dresses with princess seams which join under the bust as again, because of my age, my waist has almost disappeared! Many thanks.
Hi Sharon, I think you’ll find it easier to do the height adjustment first, and then the FBA. Let me know how you get on.
Aneka
Oh wow! I have been working on my dress form and the pattern had my apex 3/4" too high. I lowered it and it's in the right position but I lowered the length as well not knowing I didn't have to do this. I noticed this error when sewing the pattern for the dress form; my back pieces were too long! Thank you SO much for making this tutorial so I can now go back and make the adjustments. I just subscribed to your channel!
Brilliant! Best description of this type of pattern adjustment I've seen. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Greatly appreciated.
Great instructions! I really appreciate your time on all these tutorials.
You are so welcome! Glad you find them helpful
excellent and useful as usual .Thank you .I learn a lot with all your vidéos so clears and professionnels Your diction is perfect for a person like me.I'm french .❤❤
So nice of you. Thank you.
This is great thank you, I have been wanting to know how to do this adjustment for a long time, but I couldn't find one. Very much appreciated 🙏 ❤
Thank you! Glad it was helpful!
Excellent tutorial. Very well explained with simple clear instructions.
I’ve never needed to do this before, damn that old age and gravity! 😜
Thanks Linda. I know... if we didn't sew or want to fit clothes correctly I guess body changes wouldn't be as frustrating!
OMG this works for FBA's as well! So much easier than other methods. Many thanks!!
So interesting the bust point is always too high for me so this is excellent I can finally make princess line shift dresses that will fit perfectly thank you X
Glad I could help Claire. Good luck with the adjustment x
Thank you for this excellent tutorial. If you also need an FBA, do you do it before or after this adjustment?
Hi Susan, I would probably lower it first and then do the FBA. It depends on how much you have to lower it by, but it's probably easier to get it in the right place first and then adjust for the FBA.
I can see, I am going to have to watch THIS tutorial quite a few times...... lol 😁 Thank you ! 😘❤️️
It is a bit complicated. But with a few watches and a pattern in front of you, hopefully it will become clear. Good luck!
Thanks so smart way to do a very complicated change! God Bless you!
Thanks Rina. 💖
Thanks for the instructions!
If you have to move the apex and do a FBA, which would you do first?
If you have a big change in the placement of the FBA I would move it first and then adjust.
@@MadetoSew Okay, thank you.
@@christinebeate8969 Let me know how you get on.
This is fabulous! I was so stressed when I realized I had to do this but you made it easy!!
Very informative tutorial! This really helped me!😊
Glad it was helpful!
I’m not working with a pattern. It’s a completed dress that is bunched at the top. Any videos on that please?! Ty
Unfortunately it will be hard to lower the apex on a completed garment. If there are darts or gathers pointing to the wrong place you could unpick them and move them to the new location. Is that what would help you?
Love your videos. At first I thought they were too complicated & thought I’d never be able to do that but the more I watched them over & over, I think I can. My question is on the apex to apex measurement. The front bodice pattern is showing approx 3.5” to the centre line but my busy to busy apex is almost 8.5”. I’m assuming then that I do move it over but does that mean that I widen the pattern? Then I think if I understood you correctly, I adjust the princess seam pattern in the same measurement as the moved over apex meaning I push the curve in towards the side seam?
Thank you for this! I have to shorten the bust point by 2.25" (!) on a princess seam bodice. The adjustment looks pretty normal on the center front, but I'm not sure how to manage it on the side front. There's no FBA involved; the wearer is just petite. Can you recommend a solution?
Hi Barb, it will just be a case of blending back in at the top and the bottom. There isn't really much else you can do if that is the adjustment you need to make. Unless the underarm of the pattern is also too low? In which case you could make some of the adjustment above the bust? Happy for you to email me a picture if that would help (info@madetosew.com). Aneka 😊
Hi again Aneka, my apex is 3" lower than the pattern apex, I have tried several ways of altering it to fit my apex, have you any idea how I should go about it. Also on the front pattern piece, the notches do not seem to match up with the side front not sure why. It is a Vogue pattern, supposed to be easy !!! Thanks Val.
Hi Val, I would still do the same process of lowering the apex. But I would make a sample to get the fit right above the below the bust. It might be because there is ease (one pattern piece is larger than the other) on the princess seam. Maybe that's why the notches don't match. If you work from the armhole down to the first notch, then waist up to the notch, do they fit? The bit in between would be eased. Does that help?
Thank you it’s so clearly explained.
Thanks Tracy.
This is fantastically helpful. Thank you!
Thanks Johanna.
If you need to move the bust apex, but also do a FBA, which would you do first?
Hi Aneka, it's been a long time since I did any sewing, due to looking after my husband, who recently passed away. I am now getting into the sewing mood again, and have re-watched your excellent videos again. I would like to ask you, a pattern that I wish to make does not have anywhere on it that shows where the apex is. I need to lower my by quite an amount, and wondered if you could tell me how to find the apex on the pattern. It is a square neckline, with a yolk front. I understand now how to lower the apex, but as to how to find the one on the pattern sheet is difficult. There is nothing on the front side piece, or the front pattern. Quite unusual. It is a fairly new, New Look pattern. Hope you are able to guide me somehow, many thanks again. Val
Hi Valerie, lovely to hear from you. Sorry to hear about your husband. Sending lots of love to you through this difficult time. 🤗🤗🤗
I have now seen that you commented on my How to Find the Bust Apex video. Hopefully that has helped you measure your placement on the pattern? Unfortunately if they haven’t marked one we don’t know where they designed the bust apex to be; unless you have a dart pointing to it, or a curve of a princess seam.
But you could at least plot yours on?
You could even pin the pattern sheets together to put in on your shoulder and mark your apex on?
@@MadetoSew thank you Aneka I'll pin it on to myself and hope that it works😅 As my high bust is 39" and my full bust is 44" the difference is 5:5" divided by 2 =2:5 " to add to the full bust measurement adjustment sounds a lot to me. Does this sound correct to you? Thanks again for your help and replies.
@@valeriepoole1535 Hi Valerie, your high bust is 39". Usually you would start with this figure and add the cup size of the pattern so (normally 2" B Cup) = 41". This is the size of the pattern you choose.
Then you would measure your Full Bust 44" and look at the difference between your Full Bust and the pattern size 41". There is 3" difference, this is the FBA you need to do and you need to divide that by 2, so 1 1/2" on each side.
Great tut! Link to other tuts not working.
Thank you for letting me know. I have sorted it now. 💖
Thank you for your clear videos Ive already used this one and the FBA too! My troubles continue because now I find I need to do a rounded back adjustment too! Any videos for that? I have to do a total of about 1.5" in the upper part of my back. I worry about how to do that since it seems like a big adjustment. But onward I go trying to perfect the fit. BTW, you were absolutely right an FBA was needed. No idea why but my "D" cup did not fit their "D" cup. :-(
Hi Deb, Glad that you worked out you needed a FBA. I don't have a video for a rounded upper back, I must do one as it has been on my list for years. You might end up with a dart in the back neck, for this amount (to work with the curve in your back), but you can usually move this to the shoulder if you want, which can look nicer. The basic gist of the adjustment is that you will cut horizontally across the back from CB to armhole (centre). Pivot at the armhole and use another cut line from the neck to the horizontal line, where a dart will end up. I will do a video. Aneka x
Hi anika. Since I wound up with 3/4" too much width at the back underarm ( on each side) after I did the FBA followed by the rounded back adjustment it makes me wonder what would have been the right order I which to make these many changes. Given that extra width matches the FBA change I did, was the rounded back issue causing the tightness in the front, ugh. What is the standard for order to alterations?
@@debdamico9973 Hi Deb, I usually recommend the following order. 1. Length and Shorten, 2. Adjust Curves (like FBA etc.), 3. Width adjustments. In step 2 I would usually start at the shoulders as this is where the garment hangs, so we could aim to adjust the rounded back first and then do the FBA. Depending on how high up the adjustment was. The rounded back could have been causing the issue in the front, if it is in a similar line to the full bust? Aneka x
This is so detailed! Wowwww! I’d definitely apply
Glad I could help.
Thank you so much for this valuable video .
Glad it was helpful!
Great method, but I dont understand: why there would be a dip in the new curve at the top ?
I made this adjustment for a bodice with an empire waist. My adjustment was 1 3/4" and when I was done there was not enough fabric to quite reach the empire waist line over the breast. Ideas for how to fix that? The back length is fine and did not change so I don't want to lower that, thanks in advance
Did you check whether you needed a Full Bust Adjustment? Or was it simply length / shape of the bust?
Did you measurement your back length and compare that to the pattern? Was it the same or do you need to add some length above the waist too?
@@MadetoSew When I made the pattern as is, it felt too tight and I noticed that the apex for me was too high, causing the tightness, everthing else was in great shape including the back length. I felt that the D cup pattern pieces fit fine so I don't think a FBA was needed. On the original muslin I simple let the shoulder seams loose so the bodice could drop down and the apex on the pattern could line up with my apex. That distance was about 1.5 to 1.75 inches. I then found your channel and saw how easy it was to do the lowering adjustment. I have messed with the reshaping a little now and will try another muslin, thanks for responding.
@@debdamico9973 Happy to help, it might be worth just checking whether the D Cup size is right. Simply measure your high bust, above bust and high into armpit. And then around the fullest part of your bust. A D Cup is suggesting that your Full Bust is 4" larger than your High Bust (there is 1" for every cup size). You might be fine in the D Cup, but the reason I wanted you to check is that a FBA would add more length, so if the problem is the cup size the pattern would seem too short over the bust. Let me know how you get on. Aneka
@@MadetoSew I am guessing I move the apex first and then do the fba correct?
@@debdamico9973 Yes I would for the princess seam, as you want the curve in the right place. For the normal FBA with darts, it depends on how much you have to move your darts by as the FBA does move them too. Hope that helps? Aneka
Good job. Thank you for the lesson.💙
Thanks for watching!
Excellent video. Thanks.
Thank you
Fabulous video, thank you
Thank you this has been incredibly helpful! I transitioned to a man and adjusting the princess seams on my garments has been an absolute beast! None the less making my own binder pattern was something I have been tackling this year. This was tremendously helpful! (Because as you can imagine I still have quite the bust 😅, but it changes quite a bit with hormones and still needs the support garments)
Im making pjs and with no bra apex gone south lol
🙂 it happens to us all! 🥰