If you care about fit in the garments you sew, you’ve probably learned ways to adjust patterns for your figure. For many sewers, the resulting pattern can look unconvincing: Shapes and proportions you’re used to seeing in a commercial pattern have changed enough to make you wonder if the garment you plan to sew will work at all. You’re not alone: Even with many years of fitting experience, I still sometimes hesitate to believe in the pattern pieces I have adjusted.

To keep on track with your fitting, remind yourself that a commercial pattern is a standard size and shape. It is meant to fit a body that looks something like a dress form, with perfect symmetry, erect posture, square shoulders, and few curves. Unless your body has this shape, your personalized patterns won’t be shaped like a commercial pattern. I view the pattern as simply a general starting point. You have the power to make it into something that works for your figure. 

I’’ll share how I adjust patterns for common fitting issues, so you can follow the process and—most important—see how the final patterns come out. We’ll look at a way to accommodate a full bust if you have narrow shoulders and/or a narrow chest. This can help a small-framed individual keep tops, dresses, and jackets from overwhelming the upper torso. Then I’ll show how to add circumference for a full or rounded abdomen. Simply widening a garment at the side seams doesn’t help when you need space only in the front. My approach adds princess seams; I don’t hesitate to add seams if it solves a fitting issue. These enable you to increase circumference and build in shaping where needed and keep a bodice from looking tentlike.