fit, sew, scream, repeat

Not only is this the current state of my bedroom floor, but also a fairly accurate reflection of my poor brain.

Yet again I have fallen down the dark pit of bodice fitting doom. The bodice in question is a Prima dress pattern from July 2014, the same one I used for my bearded dudes dress.

When I sew a dress pattern straight from the packet I end up with a bodice which slips backwards off my shoulders leaving me with a baggy back pouch, tilted side seams, bust darts riding upwards and a bit of an armpit wedgie. If I attach sleeves I feel like I'm in a straight jacket and the whole bodice rides up when I raise my arms. Basically, my upper body is a disaster when it comes to fitting bodices in a non stretch fabric unless the pattern features a low scoop back.

I think what frustrates me most is that my bodice magically fits better if I hunch my shoulders forward. WHY IS MY BODICE ENCOURAGING ME TO HAVE TERRIBLE POSTURE?!

So what's causing all the problems? Disproportionately massive shoulders with prominent shoulder blades and.... a weird neck?

Following Fit For Real People's fitting principle that "the bigger the bump, the more length and width it needs and the deeper the darts must be" I have been slashing, spreading and generally butchering the shit out of my paper pattern. There have been multiple back toiles and I have experimented with the following adjustments:

Wide shoulder adjustment - Somehow it has only just hit home that shoulder seams are supposed to end at the pivot point of your shoulder. I guess it never occurred to me because none of my clothes fit like that. Now I know why I subconsciously gravitate towards stretchy jersey clothing and can never find well fitting cotton shirts or blouses in shops. I needed to add a whole inch (per shoulder) on my pattern to get the seam sitting at the pivot point.

Broad upper back/prominent shoulder blades adjustment - My back is surprisingly narrow despite my large shoulders so I applied a broad upper back adjustment rather than broadening the whole back to give my shoulder blades more room. I decided how much space was needed by cutting vertical slashes at the shoulder blades of my toile and eyeballing the extra width in the mirror when I reached my arms foward.

I have now added 1 1/4 inches overall and eased in the extra back shoulder fabric when sewing the shoulder seams. I originally tried a shoulder dart but it didn't create such a good fit. Ideally I'd probably still like a tiny bit more room, but 5/8 inch is the most I can get away with easing into the shoulder seam without needing a dart. It might be worth widening the whole back and deepening my existing darts, but ultimately I think it's ok as it is.

High round back adjustment - This is the adjustment to correct bodices which want to fall backwards off your shoulders. Holy moly I have farted about with this adjustment! I applied a 1/4 inch adjustment to my Emery dress last year on the guideline that (young) folk rarely need to make much more of an increase than that, unless they're the Hunchback of Notre Dame, but since making and wearing this dress I know the fit still isn't quite right (although that could also be down to lack of shoulder width.) After some experimentation I have settled on 1/2 inch and restored the straight edge of the centre back by slashing and adding a neck dart.

Despite this adjustment my bodice still wanted to slide backwards so I looked at forward shoulder adjustments as they're often seen in conjunction with high round backs.

Forward shoulder adjustment - OH MY GOD I BECAME OBSESSED WITH SHOULDER SEAM PLACEMENT. As well as scrutinising all the seams on my tops/dresses/cardigans I found myself sneakily analysing people in cafes and supermarkets or squinting at clothing on tv. Are they forward? Are they sloping? Are they square? I lost the plot.

First I tried removing 1/2 inch from the front shoulder and adding the same amount to the back but it didn't help the fit. I then tried adding length to just the outer edge of the back shoulder (keeping the inner neckline the same) and removing the same from the front, but that didn't help either.

AND THEN...... I had a eureka moment. I discovered that if I pinch out 1/2 inch from the neckline on both sides tapering to nothing at the shoulder all the pulling backwards and tilting disappears! IT WAS THAT SIMPLE?! I don't even know if this is a "correct" adjustment but damn it I'm rolling with it. Somewhere in the distance there was a choir bursting out into a triumphant rendition of "Hallelujah" on my behalf.

Dare I say it, I think I have almost achieved a relatively good fit. On my last toile I could see I also need a 1/2 inch sway back adjustment as the bodice is finally hanging correctly from my shoulders. I've now retraced my back bodice piece and made all my corrections again since the first one was hacked beyond any comprehension.

Fingers crossed I'll be cutting into my proper dress fabric this weekend. But first I need to tidy up and hoover my bedroom floor!