As my Lekala patterns are made for my measurements, would I still need to think about doing an FBA?
(Or it is "built-in" to the pattern.)
@annieeg, re Lekala using custom measurements and whether you need to do fitting adjustments , including FBA -
It depends on how much design ease is included in the actual pattern.
I like using Lekala patterns with custom measurements because they're inexpensive, and a pretty good starting point for many things especially if I want something quickly and I've used several different designs for both wovens and knits.
The patterns for knits usually have a high factor of negative ease so if you want to use something other than a very stretch knit for them, be prepared to add to the pattern.
With wovens, it all depends on how much design ease is added to the snug wearing ease included in the pattern. It is important to check how much design ease is in the pattern. I've had some that are form fitting which are very snug and others that seem to have much more ease than I expected
For the ones that are 'fitted' designs, I have discovered that I usually add around 2.5cm (1") to the front and back.
For the ones that have more ease than I want, well I just adjust and take out what I don't want.
For both wovens and knit patterns, I recommend very strongly that you check two things on the shoulders before doing anything else.
1. Check the shoulder width and position then adjust it to your shoulder width if necessary
and
2. Check the angle of the shoulder seam especially if you have sloped or square shoulders.
Lekala patterns, even based on your personal measurements do not take into account - the width of your shoulders, the slope of your shoulders and whether you need a forward shoulder adjustment for the position of the shoulder seam.
The next thing to do on a Lekala pattern is to mark the position of your bust apex and then adjust the angle of any darts as necessary.
Lekala's custom measurements cannot accurately place your bust apex and for those who have a high or low bust point, moving the angle and shaping of front darts may be needed.
Finally - the advantage of customised Lekala patterns is that the fitting adjustments you need to make tend to be fewer and smaller than they do with other pattern brands.
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