[Kerrilyn]

I went with a size 2 as per my daughters bust measurements (and didn’t make a muslin) but the fit is too big. The neck and arms are good. The bust isn’t nor is the mid back, they are too big in relation to the waist. She is thicker waisted. The waist sits firm but not tight at all. Hips are fine. How should I redeem the dress as she does really like it and has already cut out one to make herself.

I am going to attempt to add the photos I took last night. Sorry they aren’t the best.

Ps she is 5’5″

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[Deb]

I haven’t made this dress. However when I’ve made a dress that needs some fine tuning, I turn it inside out, put it on the wearer and then pin like crazy making new darts, or wider side seams or raising shoulder seams – whatever the dress needs to make it fit better by using pins.
After the pinning process, mark those areas with wash out marker,remove pins and then unpick/restitch to make the adjustments. My method may not be what professionals do,or even what you’re supposed to do, but it’s worked for me just about every time!

Your dress looks very nice, such a lovely colour fabric.

Good luck!

[Kerrilyn]

Thanks for taking the time to reply Deb. I have been at a loss as to where to start. I won’t get a chance to work on it until next week now but I will report back.

Should I remove the body/waist darts first?

[Deb]

Perhaps get the dress on your daughter (inside out) before unpicking anything so you can play around by pinching dart and other areas first to see exactly where some re-construction is needed. That’s what I would do.
Then unpick the darts you mentioned if necessary, re-try on and pin to fit.

Hopefully in the meantime someone who has made this dress will chime in with their solution as they would know the pattern pieces and construction steps.

Good luck!

[Nicole]

I do a similar method to Deb but I pin the darts on the outside, then mark the lines on the inside with tailors chalk and transfer the adjustments to the inside.

The same as Deb, this is my method, not necessarily a correct method.

I have not done enough fitting to help you with your particular problem.
I have not made the dress either.

@Kerrilyn, this is a very busy time of year when the forum does get a bit quiet.

[meleliza]

I think this is totally salvageable, though for a better analysis, it’s good to have photos from the front, side and back, standing naturally.

It looks as if she might need a smidge more room in the bust, based on the diagonal wrinkles pointing from the sides to the bust apex. That you can’t fix at this late stage, however, you can most certainly take in the dress at the center back seam and the back darts to get a better fit there. Don’t worry if your darts end up a funny shape, it only matters that they look nice on the body. I agree you can pin the darts right on her until they look right, then mark and sew them. It may be worth basting them first to be sure.

Finally, this is a semi- fitted dress rather than a wiggle dress, so it doesn’t need to be like a glove to look nice. I think a belt could help too.

[Nicole]

@meleliza, you are such an asset to this forum with your fitting know how!

[meleliza]

Thanks Nicole, that’s kind of you to say. I like having your feedback too.

[Kerrilyn]

Well I decided to remove the front darts as she has a slightly protruding abdomen that it looked like the dress was getting caught up on so to speak. This changed the bust area and it is no longer baggy but now is nice. The hip area has the room it needs and the back is no longer looking so baggy. I am taking a smidgen out of the center back and it will be the perfect skimmy not huggy look/feel she wanted. Ah one headache solved. Now to sort her raincoat fitting issue (on a muslin this time)!

[Nicole]

I often leave the darts out of the front of my skirts and trousers as I have a round tummy.