Another fitting question for Kate!

Yes, have a go at that. I do this quite a bit for narrow shouldered customers. In future you might like to look at patterns that are princess line with the seam going into the shoulder. They may make adjusting in this area easier. :)

Have you thought about drafting your own patterns from a personal block? Or pattern drafting software?

I have no problem when using princess line patterns. But this time I did not want to use one as it didn't really suit with the skirt I made - very light stretch net with six godets and quite full at the hem. I needed a straight top and I had to use a non-stretch fabric - because of the colour-match. I will take out some of the material from the shoulder down to the bust point side dart on my toile, and have another go - I am experimenting with some cheap material that is of the same type as the one I want to make.

I have a couple of pattern drafting books and I have some pattern-drafting software somewhere - I think it is called Wild Ginger. I haven't installed it yet. I have also made my own croquis. Even so, I still have some problems as you see. Do you have any recommendations for good software that won't break the bank? And do you think CAD is better than the other methods?

I find that even with stretch fabrics I still get that pleat and have to take in the shoulders. Is it better to take in the pattern by the method I use rather than cutting in at the shoulder from the armhole and risking making the armhole too large?

Thanks for your invaluable help.

Cheers

DON'T fold it out to the point of that side dart! Fold it out to the actual bust point, marked with a cross in a circle. The point of the dart is NOT at the bust point - it stops and inch or so short so that you don't get 'pointy-tit-syndrome'! ;)

I love my Wild Gonger! Install it and play! :)

Yes - but even better to draft your own! :) Dust off that Wild Ginger stuff and play. Which one do you have?

You're very welcome.

For Heaven's sake, girlfriend, if you have the software, install it and USE it. I have the Wild Ginger Pattern Master Boutique, and I love it. Mind you, there is still a learning curve, and you still have to make a few adjustments at first until you have perfected your sloper, but after that it is pretty simple. I have always had a heavy bust, but this last few years I have also put on a lot of fat from various medications - particularly the steroids - but my shoulders remain size

1. My Wild Ginger patterns come out a lot closer first time than anything else I have tried, and if any more alterations are needed they are very minor. This year, I am going nuts over armhole princess tops. I haven't been able to make those in years, because between the heavy bust, the normal shoulders, and the fact that now I am a grandmother, the, ah, mammary glands are just not as perky as they once were (I wonder why?????????) the commercial patterns just were not suitable.

Install your software and use it. The company has great customer service and will walk you through making your first sloper if necessary, plus there are lots of us on here who use it and can also help you.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans

(snip)

I have Click and Sew 9732 (Martha's favourites) and I can't even remember what it was now! I

I WILL try to give it a go over Easter when I will have a bit more time.

Cheers and thanks.

Thank you Olwyn Mary in New Orleans. I find I can get a free upgrade for the particular software I bought 2-3 years ago. But my computer defeaults to the Mozilla internet server and I think the Wild Ginger upgrades must only be available through Microsoft Explorer. I have had this experience before (with hotel bookings in the USA) so I may send WG an email to get the upgrade.

I have been persevering with other fitting books and have also drafted patterns from good fitting store-bought clothes (I unpick where necessary and resew up again).

I came up against a real problem when I wanted to make a top using woven (not stretch) fabric, with a side (underarm) dart. However, I managed the alteration using the Betzina book instructions but then the top hung down from the bust and I wanted it a little more fitting. So I am in the process of putting in front darts.

Since you recommend the Wild Ginger Pattern Master Boutique I might buy that. The US$ is now very good for me in New Zealand as our dollar is quite high currently, but there is talk that it may drop soon. So perhaps it had better be sooner rather than later!

I have had success with princess-line patterns. Do Wild Ginger provide good software for this type of pattern?

Cheers

I now find my Wild Ginger software is 5 years old (bought in 2002) and I recall installing it when it first arrived (on another computer that has now been completely upgraded) and finding that what I thought I had ordered and was pictured on the first opening page bore absolutely no relation to the pattern instructions included in the software. For instance, the Martha's Favourites I ordered (No.9732) was, I thought a cowl-neck blouse, a fitted-waist dress, and a round or jewel-neck plain top with short sleeves.

What the software contained was a button-to-neck long-sleeved jacket and a straight skirt!

I don't now know whether it was my mistake or theirs. But I do remember reading on this newsgroup about that time that many people were having problems with the software and even more problems getting them attended to by the company. This now seems to have been resolved, and the company says it has corrected or upgraded many things due to customer's feedback.

I'm afraid I simply gave up on it (because I am in New Zealand (and a new CD would take ages to get to me and a long and complicated international call would have been very expensive then) and I never bothered to reinstall it until yesterday, when it all came back to me what was wrong with the original. I tried the upgrade link, but got a no listing message from the browser!

I then revisited the Wild Ginger website (the upgrade link message there was the same - no listing it said) and anyway I found that many of the old patterns are still on offer! Fashion has changed in the last five years and I would not make any of those old styles for myself now.

However, if the idea is to get a basic foundation sloper to use for up-to-date patterns, using CAD for the purpose, this will suit many many people and I commend it. For myself: I have a personal dress-form padded out (never in!) to fit me, and I use Sandra Betzina's FAST FIT to very good effect. I now have very good slopers for both woven and stretch type tops, skirts and slacks. Betzina offers easy to follow instructions to adjust patterns for just about every figure fault.

I struck a problem that was not in her instructions because I had a figure problem that it appears was not too common. Kate Dicey kindly supported an idea of mine to correct this problem and it seems to have worked.

I made all my slopers from the instructions in the FAST FIT book. I have other pattern-drafting and pattern-altering books and other material printed from relevant websites, but Betzina's book is by far the best. I can recommend it without reservation.

Another trick I find that works for me sometimes is to draft a pattern from a really well-fitting garment. The garment has to be reasonably new (so there is no stretch from laundering or whatever). I unpick bits where necessary and then resew. I have a large soft pattern-drafting board (about 3/8ths thick) that will take pins as it is soft inside. If you are tempted to do this, remember to add the seam allowance after you have made the pattern.

That is not true. What exactly are you looking for an update for, what exactly are you doing, and where does it go wrong? I have PMB v.3 and it downloads from Firefox perfectly fine.

If you can't get the program to download from Mozilla but the first web site comes up, copy the URL, open Internet Exploder, and paste the URL into there. Then you are basically home free, if incompatibility is your only problem.

Sounds like it.

Yup.

Sounds like it was a very embarrasing mistake.

Have you tried going to their web message board and asking there?

The C&S patterns are supposed to be basic patterns, and if you want something more, you can take the paper patterns and create something different if all the options in the program don't provide you with what you want.

OTOH, the full drafting program is *nothing* like buying one pattern. Go download the demo version and see how infinitely flexible they are, and if you can't get exactly what you want with the program options, you can pull the program into the pattern editor (a CAD program) and make the changes you need there.

I now realise it may not be any mistake at all, but my inability to comprehend the full extent of what the CD contains. I have now sent an email to Wild Ginger technical support to enquire what links I will need for upgrades. I have a feeling that this 5-year-old software will have website links that no longer operate because the company will undoubtedly have updated their website many times.

I have now registered for their online forum (probably this was the Knowledge Base that seems no longer available to me via my CD) and when I get confirmation, I will certainly go there with my questions. Meanwhile I will work more with the software to see what I can do with it. (snip)

I realise this but I was looking to draft patterns that incorporate more modern fashion features like pieced skirts with some pieces cut on the cross and so on. I wanted to draft a skirt incorporating 6 godets but there didn't seem anything like that there. I would think I am asking for a more sophisticated fashion-design type of CAD - and they are available but are terribly expensive!

I'll give that a go during the next week when I have more time.

Thanks for your helpful advice.