Hands on Fit with Today's Fit Patterns (Sewing Class Review) 
Massachusetts, UNITED STATES |
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Review rated Very Helpful by 4 people |
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Ann B. |
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About Ann B.
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| MA USA |
| Member since: 4/20/02 |
| Reviews written: 58 |
| Sewing skills:Advanced Beginner |
| Favored by: 8 people |
| classes reviewed: 4 |
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| Posted on: |
5/22/04 7:40 PM |
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Hands on Fit with Today’s Fit Patterns
This class with Sandra Betzina was held at the Needlearts Institute in Stoneham, MA. Needlearts is the brick and mortar sewing school owned by our own Colleen and Lisa.
The class was limited to 25 women. Sandra came in, gave a brief talk on common pattern alterations, and proceeded to fit each student into a Today’s
Fit jacket and one bottom garment. We had the cardigan blazer, and the jean pattern, a trouser pattern or a straight skirt pattern. There was one of each of these garments made up in each size for the students to put on.
Sandra said that all her jackets are made on the same block; all her skirts are made on the same skirt block, but that she has three pant blocks. She uses a jean, a pant and a trouser block.
We pretty much spanned the whole size range; from ultra slim to full figured. It was amazing to see how nice each woman looked in the jacket. It is a very flattering cut. Sandra showed us how even just changing the length of the jacket changed the appearance of not only the garment, but of how it flattered the wearer.
Because I am taking a trouser fitting class at NAI, I chose to be fit in the jean. I am the exact height patterns are drafted for and I have to add at least 2 inches to the leg. This pattern runs short! I have surprisingly few alterations to make to this pattern. For the jacket, all Sandra suggested I do is “petite” the armhole ˝ inch.
Colleen and Lisa critiqued the fit of the straight skirt for me. These girls have a VERY precise eye for fit! I thought it was pretty good, but with a couple of simple alterations the skirt will be great.
I have to say it was tiring just watching Sandra fit all those women. I can’t imagine how she felt by 10:00 pm. I learned a lot about fit watching her nip and tuck all the garments, and now know how to make the few (opposite of mine) alterations for my DD#1.
Although almost all of the presentation was on Today’s Fit, Sandra did say that if she made certain alterations, such as a sloping shoulder or one high hip that the student would have to transfer this alteration to every pattern from any company.
I would recommend this class to anyone who wants to sew with Today’s Fit patterns. They are made with a different set of measurements than the traditional Big Four companies. In the upper body the bust fullness is distributed lower, and the cup size increases with pattern size. There is also a bit more fullness in the upper back, I think. For the lower body, the waist is quite a bit more generous, and she leaves us room for a tummy. I suspect that Sandra had a more mature woman’s figure in mind compared to the willowy Vogue models we all love to admire.
Sandra is the vibrant and engaging woman many remember from her TV show Sew Perfect. She had 2 more fashion oriented classes planned for the next day. I hope someone reviews them here, as I was unable to attend, and would love to find out how they went.
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I was wondering if we were going to see a review on this, since you had mentioned that you were going! Sounds like it worked out well for you. Are the patterns that you used in the class ones that are generally available?
5/23/04 7:05 AM
Yes, all of the available Today's Fit patterns are found in the Vogue pattern catalog. I have the sort of figure that Sandra has in mind when designing, so my alterations to her patterns are much less than using the straight Vogue sizing.
5/23/04 5:41 PM
Good scoop on the pants blocks and length.
5/24/04 12:40 PM