Damned printed patterns.

[Surest1tch]

Not sure if this should be in the rant thread or here!
I hate printed patterns but do use them when I either don't have time or can't be bothered to draft my own but please can anyone tell me why most pattern company's insist on printing 7" shoulders when the average width of most women's shoulders in the UK are 4"!
I only wanted to make a couple of quick cool tops for this upcoming 40° we're supposed to be getting next week, I dug an unused pattern and some cool fabric out of my pattern box and stash, start measuring and anticipated the darts, waist and hips being in the wrong place for my height.  That's OK, easily sorted measured the shoulders, low and behold 2.5" too wide, abandoned that one and dug another pattern out, same story and found the same with 4 others.
This is only the 2nd time I've been able to make time to sew properly this year, now I'm too flipping mad to set about drafting one of my own or faffing about reducing the shoulders on the printed pattern .

[Ohsewsimple]

Oh I so agree @Surest1tch.  By the time I’ve worked out all the alterations on a bought pattern I could have drafted one and cut it out.  But sometimes you just want to make something because you like the pattern you’ve seen without having to draft it yourself.

[Ouryve]

It's an issue I have with big 4 patterns, rarer with indie patterns.


I'm rather sceptical about the growing trend for so called unisex patterns, mind, as that simply means that no way on this earth will it fit me without substantial alteration. My bust, waist and hip aren't much different to husband's equivalents but we are far from the same shape and his arms and legs are about 6" longer than mine!

[Puzzler]

I spend ages ditzing around with tracing onto tissue, cutting out, slashing, spreading and taping so yes, I could draft my own in the same time it takes me to do all that. However, I have tried several times to draft a bodice for myself but never managed to achieve a good fit. I’ve also tried the fitting bodice from McCalls in a Palmer Pletsch type class. That wasn’t fruitful either. Alas I plod on with a mixture of the big 4 and indies. 

P.S. I secretly enjoy playing around with tissue paper.

P.P.S. I guess my secret’s out now. 

[Iminei]

I hate printed patterns but do use them when I either don't have time or can't be bothered to draft my own but please can anyone tell me why most pattern company's insist on printing 7" shoulders when the average width of most women's shoulders in the UK are 4"!

Can you not just lop off fold the pattern in by the correct amount if you know your shoulders are XX" ???

Scurrys back to the Darkside holding a tin tray over her head....

[LeilaMay]

I hate printed patterns but do use them when I either don't have time or can't be bothered to draft my own but please can anyone tell me why most pattern company's insist on printing 7" shoulders when the average width of most women's shoulders in the UK are 4"!

Can you not just lop off fold the pattern in by the correct amount if you know your shoulders are XX" ???

Scurrys back to the Darkside holding a tin tray over her head....

I wondered that too - I am a beginner.

[BrendaP]

Do you need to cut it off at the neck  edge, the arm edge or both?  It's not that simple!

[Ouryve]

If you fold it, you make the whole thing too small!

[LeilaMay]

If you fold it, you make the whole thing too small!

Aah!

[sewmuchmore]

I spend ages ditzing around with tracing onto tissue, cutting out, slashing, spreading and taping so yes, I could draft my own in the same time it takes me to do all that. However, I have tried several times to draft a bodice for myself but never managed to achieve a good fit. I’ve also tried the fitting bodice from McCalls in a Palmer Pletsch type class. That wasn’t fruitful either. Alas I plod on with a mixture of the big 4 and indies. 

P.S. I secretly enjoy playing around with tissue paper.

P.P.S. I guess my secret’s out now. 

@Puzzler I have used this site to draft a basic bodice. Although i kept getting messages to say "your measurements don't fit the profile are you sure you want to continue" i did continue and paid for the sloper, although it was a lot cheaper 3 years ago. I had to make a slight adjustment to the neckline (lower it at the front by 1/2 inch) but apart from that it fits perfectly so can highly recommend.

[SeamBean]

@sewmuchmore that site looks extremely promising! I’ve tried to draft my own block before and it did not work out well. Thanks for linking it!

[Puzzler]

@Puzzler i kept getting messages to say "your measurements don't fit the profile are you sure you want to continue"

Thank you. I will have a look at that option. I would really need someone to measure me though. I think if I put in my measurements I would get a similar message. “The computer says ‘no, no, no!’”

[sewmuchmore]

@Puzzler i got the messages because i don't fit the standard "waist is 10 inch smaller than bust/hips" (who's does!!!) and it is just the way the programme checks you are putting in the right figures. The idea of the programme is that you get a block that is based on your measurements and not the bog standard industry one's that the fitting shells from the big 4 use.

[Acorn]

Wow.  What a very, very odd thing for a website that is based on recognising that people don't fit standard sizes... 

[Surest1tch]

When you compare prices to a shop bought pattern that's really cheap and considering the time and frustration spent creating a sloper the're quite a bargain  :thinking: