April Henry

Do you have the Fit for Real People book? There are quite a few pages dedicated to sway back in the book. To be honest, I usually just pin the back curve more: darts, side seam, back seam, whatever it takes to get a nice shape. My sway back is pretty extreme, and I don’t always fit everything to entirely because it’s so pronounced. I feel like my…[Read more]

Checking to see if you’ve seen this?

Ok, I’ve never heard it referred to as such. If you look at the photos on the pattern listing you can see how much space is designed in the front. One of the photos shows the shirt buttoned up to the very top. I don’t have a shirt to check the space and don’t recall off the top of my head, but it could be as much as an inch.…[Read more]

Of course! Any changes like this will be best made in muslin first, of course. You could certainly add room and then use a pleat to close it back up.

I’m not sure what you mean by tie space?

No, I’m sorry, we don’t offer that. But it’s relatively easy to measure the pattern pieces as you need and subtract the seam allowances in order to determine the measurements you want to check.

Yes, they are moderately dropped because of the sleeve style and the less fitted structure of the dress. I hope that helps!

Apologies for the delay in replying! I finally had a chance to look at this, and it appears that we replaced the dots with notches at the top edge of the front and back skirt pieces. I’ll make a note to fix this on the instructions, and I apologize for the confusion!

Ooh, tough one! Have you asked on the FB group? That’s where most of the discussion is these days, and I’m sure you’d get lots of suggestions if it’s not too late for you to start yet…

I think it should be fine. You might want to interface the neckline just to help it keep its shape, but a drapey fabric might be nice! I hope you’ll show us how it turns out.

Sure, you can always copy the armhole and sleeve from another pattern. It’s not an easy process, but it’s certainly possible. I hope that helps!

You can lengthen and shorten the rise and the lengthen/shorten line on the pattern piece. Tough to say how much to add–you could either measure another pair of trousers or measure your rise and add 1″ and see how that goes. You can also sew the rise longer by scooping it more in the rise as you sew, and that would be a way to alter the pair you…[Read more]

There’s another discussion here to help you: https://oliverands.com/community/forums/topic/wide-neck-adjustment

Or you could just measure the length that you want the armholes to be and cut the bias to that length and sew it into a loop…

I’m glad it worked out, and my apologies again for the silence! Thanks so much for your kind words. I’m glad you’re happy with the book and you might be interested in our first tween/teen pattern, the Girl on the Go Dress and Top for your 12-year-old daughter? Very happy you found us, and welcome to our little community!

Ok, sorry for the delay. I’m finally getting a chance to look at this. I recall changing the width of this piece several times during the development of the book, and it’s been so long now I forget exactly why I changed it. But it does indeed seem like the facing should be a little wider or the seam allowances should be trimmed a bit narrower. I…[Read more]

Sorry, not ignoring you. I’ll reply just as soon as I get a chance to look into this, ok? Wearing too many hats right now…

If you’re not taking in at the armholes this should be fine. You could also consider adding waist darts similar to the Fairy Tale Dress for a closer fit. But yes, tapering to the waist is perfectly fine!

Glad it worked out! I’ve adjusted the neckline for friends by lowering as well and it’s worked out just fine. Happy New Year!