In my previous post, I discussed the A-line dress issues. In this post I will go through my pattern modifications. I have to take this pattern from Junior size 9 to a Misses 16-18.
Step 1: Body measurements
In my vintage pattern stash that I bought last spring, the woman included a wonderful booklet from Singer published in 1960 "How to Measure, Alter and Fit." This booklet is chock full of great sewing advice and has a page dedicated to logging measurements. With the assistance of my teen daughter, we measured!
Step 2: Copying and grading the pattern
With this pattern, I copied it onto freezer paper - as-is with no alterations. This will preserve the original pattern. From here, I copied that pattern onto wax paper. I don't have tracing paper and my sewing stash and notions had wax paper from my MIL and her mother. It was sitting around in a drawer so I figure I could use it up.
The grading of this pattern called for an additional 7.5" in the bustline, 8.5" in the waist, and 6.5" in the hips. Since I was using a knit, I split the difference and just added 1.5" overall to the pattern using "the shift method." There are no darts or other fitted areas so this technique seemed to be the best and because I am new to this!
Additionally, since this is a Junior size, the original pattern had a location for "natural waistline." Based on the measurements I had taken of my waistline, I will need to lower the waistline 2".
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