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Fit closer to RTW
Deb Fox Intermediate FL USA Member since 2005 Posts: 1113	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 1/26/12 10:48 AM I know this has been covered before, but why oh why can't patterns be drafted closer to RTW sizes? I take a size 10 in RTW, in just about every department and discount store brand including most of the designers....without alterations, except for a little length, because I am petite. But when I try to get a pattern to fit, the alterations are just nightmarish.....I just went to Ross last night and bought several dresses, all size 10 that will require no alterations and look wonderful. I know I shouldn't complain, but I love to sew, and would just love to find a pattern company that mimics this sizing....I think I am going to take several of those dresses and make a rub off of them and find similar styles in several of the pattern companies and see if I can figure out the closest sizing without all those crazy alterations! ------ Deb: www.thinkingcouture.blogspot.com
skae   Advanced MN USA Member since 2007 Posts: 2255	Login to reply to this post In reply to Deb Fox Like this post Date: 1/26/12 11:03 AM Some of the pr people here like the burda, burda patterns and the vogue. Mostly the pattern are made our sizes in mind. RTW are made to make us feel good in size. Now when i was growing up i wore a size 12. I made my clothes in a pattern a size 10-12 depends where it was needed. Now I wear a 14 in RTW and in a pattern A size 16-18-20 , what happen here! I like the kwick sew, burda, burda patterns vogue those seem to fit me pretty good with minior adjustments. I can't forget trudy jensen.trudy web page for all her patterns ------ ý1 Corinthians 13:4-7 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
woggy   Advanced Beginner PA USA Member since 2004 Posts: 513	Login to reply to this post In reply to Deb Fox Like this post Date: 1/26/12 11:03 AM Deb, Maybe this is why so many folks are having such good luck with Style Arc patterns. Many posters have said the fit resembles RTW. Perhaps RTW does not use the "Wolf" dress form deminsions to produce the patterns for clothes. Whenever I see a Wolf dress form I can't help but wonder why this body shape was ever invented. I feel your pain. Woggy
ChristinePDX Advanced Beginner OR USA Member since 2008 Posts: 474	Login to reply to this post In reply to Deb Fox Like this post Date: 1/26/12 1:10 PM It's been said here before, and it struck a chord with me, that RTW NEEDS to fit, they can't have thousands of women reject clothes because of bad fit, so they make fit a priority and spend the time and money to do so. Pattern makers for the home sewer simply do not have the time or capital to do that, being such a small business. -- Edited on 1/26/12 1:11 PM --
Elona   Advanced CA USA Member since 2002 Posts: 6479	Login to reply to this post In reply to ChristinePDX Like this post Date: 1/26/12 3:12 PM That's a good point, and the patterns that fit me the best and most reliably, without a lot of futzing, are those of Loes Hinse--who also maintains a retail store where she sells garments made from her own patterns (or perhaps it's the other way around and the patterns are the result of good designs that have sold well). She has seen her designs on a lot of different body types, and it seems she has taken this opportunity to make her patterns work in a more general way and still be flattering to the wearer. In any case, it's a valid observation that RTW generally seems to fit a lot of people fairly well right off the hanger (well, pants are a different story, for me at least). Perhaps it is time for the Big 4 pattern companies to do another re-draft of their basic blocks and reproportion them to better match the current feminine body shape and size. They have not done this since 1972, I believe. For obvious reasons, this process would be tremendously expensive, though! Can you imagine re-tooling the whole patternmaking industry?
sarah in nyc Intermediate NY USA Member since 2005 Posts: 1415	Login to reply to this post In reply to Deb Fox Like this post Date: 1/26/12 7:42 PM Can you copy the dresses that fit you? Think about it, is the point to follow a pattern, or is it to make garments that fit you? Take apart a dress and turn it into your pattern. ------ sarah in nyc www.sewnewyork.blogspot.com
Debbie Cook   USA Member since 2002 Posts: 9569	Login to reply to this post In reply to Elona Like this post Date: 1/26/12 7:52 PM Quote: Elona In any case, it's a valid observation that RTW generally seems to fit a lot of people fairly well right off the hanger (well, pants are a different story, for me at least). I disagree. I think RTW does NOT fit a lot of people *well* right off the hanger. I see that every day. But those people have no choice and many of them have no experience with what really fits well so they are basically ignorant and accepting. And, really, non-sewers don't notice the same things we do about fit anyway so in this case, ignorance can be and usually is bliss. My first thought about Deb was that maybe she was being more forgiving of RTW since it *is* ready, and too hard on her own sewing/fitting because she has higher expectations of it. I've not really found Big 3/4 pattern sizing to be any more inconsistent than RTW. I win some, I lose some - just like in shopping/trying on. Except it's a much faster process trying on RTW. ------ -- "I base my fashion sense on what doesn't itch." — Gilda Radner http://stitchesandseams.blogspot.com
Debbie Cook   USA Member since 2002 Posts: 9569	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 1/26/12 7:54 PM Also, my suggestion is to forget the number. MEASURE the RTW that fits you and cut your patterns to mimic those *finished* measurements. ------ -- "I base my fashion sense on what doesn't itch." — Gilda Radner http://stitchesandseams.blogspot.com
Lena Merrin Expert/Couture AUSTRALIA Member since 2009 Posts: 307	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 1/26/12 8:11 PM I don't even know my RTW size. On those rare occasions when I buy clothes I just eyeball them, try them on and then look at the tag out of curiosity. My size appears to be anything between 8 and 14 ------ www.thesewingspace.com
Vintage Joan Intermediate ON CANADA Member since 2007 Posts: 7969	Login to reply to this post In reply to Debbie Cook Like this post Date: 1/26/12 8:19 PM Quote: I think RTW does NOT fit a lot of people *well* right off the hanger. I agree. Of course it depends what the garment is and what the person's body type is, but still. Before I discovered Burda and Ottobre Woman, I would have said the same thing as the OP about typical patterns and their fit -- you never know what you're going to get from one time to the next. Mind you, that's been my experience with trying on RTW as well -- the fit is all over the map. ------ my shield and my very great reward (Gen. 15:1) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. ~Albert Einstein ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Image: Berthe Morisot, Young Woman Leaning on Her Elbows, 1894

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