At the moment*, I wear a size 10 in RTW (about a 14 in sewing patterns). I say “I wear a size 10,” but a size 10 rarely fits me in the following areas:
- Bust. To put it bluntly, my bust is busting out of all my tops and dresses. I wear a D/DD cup bra, and, as you probably already know, most ready to wear clothing and sewing patterns are designed for a B cup wearer. (I do have one ridiculously expensive Bravissimo knit top that fits correctly, but that’s about it.) In addition to being somewhat larger than average, “The Girls” have also moved south a bit, so shirts that do have darts usually have them pointing somewhere above my bust point.
- Waist. I believe the term used to describe my figure is “thick-waisted”. I don’t think anyone would call me fat, but I do have a little extra “baby belly” still hanging around. Even before I had kids, I had a somewhat boyish figure from the waist down. As a result, pants and skirts that fit through the waist are enormous in the hip area; and those that fit in the hips/seat are likely to kill me before dessert arrives, if you get my meaning.
- Arms/legs. I have long legs and arms. Really long. While my knuckles aren’t exactly dragging on the ground, finding long sleeve shirts and slacks in RTW that fit is often problematic. (I wear my long sleeve shirt sleeves rolled up most of the time.) Fortunately, this is probably the easiest alteration to make when I’m sewing – I routinely add 2″ to my sleeve and pants patterns.
[Other than that, I can't complain. I used to have uneven hips, due to scoliosis, but I had surgery when I was 16 to straighten my spine somewhat. My hips are still slightly uneven, but it's a huge improvement from before, when I could actually place a ruler along my left side and have it touch my waist, hip and thigh without any gaps. And my right side needed a major high hip adjustment to compensate. As you can guess, making pants was way more hassle than it was worth for an impatient teenager. I have a slightly lower shoulder (1/8") on one side according to the Unique Patterns Bodyscan I had done a couple years ago (more on that experience to come in a future post), but, given the severity of my other figure "flaws," it's not something I've ever really noticed.]
As a result, I tend to buy and wear loose-fitting tops, shirts and sweaters, and pants and skirts with fully or partially elasticized waistbands. And jeans. Which further results in me looking frumpy and slob-like.
The good news is that I’m somewhat experienced making pattern alterations. I took a pattern design course in college as an elective, which I really enjoyed.
*Three years post-partum, and I’m still working on getting rid of the last of the baby weight I gained and regaining the muscle mass I lost. Before I got pregnant with my second child, I worked out regularly (weight lifting) at the gym, and looked better at 40 than I did when I was in my teens and 20′s. I’m slowly but surely working my way back towards my pre-pregnancy (size 6) body. Which means I’ll probably want to make things that I can take in a bit later.
