{"id":78042,"date":"2021-11-22T07:01:53","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T12:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/?p=78042"},"modified":"2021-11-21T19:26:36","modified_gmt":"2021-11-22T00:26:36","slug":"the-fitting-room-lyndseys-fira-dress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2021\/11\/the-fitting-room-lyndseys-fira-dress.html","title":{"rendered":"the fitting room: lyndsey’s fira dress"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love the simple silhouette of the Fira Dress, and I\u2019m always on the lookout for dress patterns
\nthat have a one-piece dress front. With a one-piece front, I can showcase amazing prints
\nwithout interrupting the printed design with seams. I\u2019m going to share how I got to the perfect\u00a0fit for the Fira Dress.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

My measurements are high bust 37\u201d, full bust 41\u201d, waist 35.5\u201d and hips 44\u201d. A 4″\u00a0difference between my high bust and full bust put me at the D cup sizing. With a 37\u201d high bust,\u00a0I would typically select a 10D, but since my hip measurement put me at a size 16, I thought the\u00a0difference would be too extreme.<\/p>\n

The Fira dress has a relaxed silhouette so I didn\u2019t need a very\u00a0fitted bodice. I looked at the silhouette in the line drawings and pictures of Liesl in the dress\u00a0and noticed that the lines were only slightly flared on the side seam. I decided to start with my\u00a0hip measurement (my widest measurement) and work backwards a size or two for the bodice. I\u00a0started by making a size 14 muslin without any adjustments to decide what changes I would\u00a0need to make.<\/p>\n

First, as is typical for my shape, I needed a 1\/2\u201d forward shoulder adjustment. The shoulder seam\u00a0should hit in the middle of your shoulder joint, but in my muslin the shoulder seam fell behind\u00a0the midpoint of my shoulder. To make the forward shoulder adjustment I added 1\/2\u201d to the back\u00a0yoke shoulder seam and subtracted 1\/2\u201d from the front yoke shoulder seam.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Second, I saw that the bust darts were too high for my shape. The darts should point towards\u00a0the fullness of your breast, but the darts on the muslin pointed above the fullness on my breast.<\/p>\n

\"Before
On the left, muslin #1. On the right, muslin #2 post-adjustments.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the adjustment, I lowered the bust darts 1\u201d and pulled the bust point back (towards the\u00a0side seam) 1\/2\u201d. Notice what lowering the bust dart did to the side seam. To true up the side\u00a0seam, I needed to \u201cstraighten\u201d the curve at my waist.<\/p>\n

\"How
Adjustment to lower bust dart and true up side seam.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Third, I already knew that that the hips were likely to need a width adjustment and the muslin\u00a0showed that to be the case. The horizontal pull lines across my abdomen are a tell-tale sign that\u00a0more width is needed. I checked the finished measurements on the size 16 pattern and found\u00a0that it allowed 4 3\/4\u201d of ease at the hips (49 1\/4\u201d – 44 1\/2\u201d = 4 3\/4\u201d). My hips measured 44\u201d, so to get\u00a0the intended ease I would need a finished hip measurement of 48 3\/4\u201d. The size 14 pattern had\u00a0a finished measurement of 47 1\/4\u201d, indicating that I needed at least 1 1\/2\u201d additional inches. I\u00a0decided to make it easy on myself and just added 1\/2\u201d to the side seams on both the front and back\u00a0pattern pieces.<\/p>\n

\"Widening<\/p>\n

Fourth, I decided the armholes were too low for my taste. In the muslin I could see a peek of\u00a0my bra when my arm was raised. This was not a \u201cnecessary\u201d change, just something I knew\u00a0would make me happier when I wore the dress. I raised the curve on the arm hole by 1\u201d on\u00a0both the front and back pattern pieces. It wasn\u2019t exact; I just eyeballed it!<\/p>\n

\"Raising
On the left, muslin #1. On the right, muslin #2 post-adjustments.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fifth, I noticed a lot of fullness in the back of the dress. I usually take a sway back adjustment,\u00a0but I was indecisive about whether to do that on this pattern. The silhouette of the dress is relaxed\u00a0and does have gathers on the center back, so I knew there would be some fullness in my back.\u00a0However, I noticed that my back hemline did not fall parallel to the ground and was longer at\u00a0the center back than it was at the side seam. When I pinned up about an inch of fabric at my\u00a0waist, the hemline straightened and the dress laid better. I decided to do a 1\u201d sway back which I\u00a0split into two 1\/2\u201d sway back tucks on the dress back pattern piece.<\/p>\n

\"Sway
Muslin #1 on the left, muslin #2 on the right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With these five adjustments completed on my size 14 pattern, I sewed a second muslin. I don\u2019t\u00a0always sew a second muslin, but I had selected an investment fabric for this dress and wanted\u00a0to be really sure I would be happy with the fit before I cut my fashion fabric.<\/p>\n

\"Photos
Muslin #1 on the left, muslin #2 on the right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The adjustments\u00a0really made an impact. The dress hung better from my shoulders with the forward shoulder\u00a0adjustment.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

The bust darts pointed to the right place and created better shaping.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

The ease in\u00a0the hips was much better. (It’s funny how adding width actually makes you look slimmer.)<\/p>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

The\u00a0armhole was at a good height for my preference.<\/p>\n

\"Lyndsey<\/p>\n

And I liked the amount of ease in the back of\u00a0the dress after taking the sway back adjustment.<\/p>\n

\"Lyndsey<\/p>\n

The dress fit perfectly!<\/p>\n

If you are new to pattern fitting, it may seem like I had to make a lot of adjustments. But four of\u00a0the five adjustments I made on this dress (forward shoulder, bust dart height, hip ease and sway\u00a0back) are typical adjustments I make on nearly every pattern I sew. I\u2019ve done them so many\u00a0times I can make the adjustments quickly.<\/p>\n

\"Lyndsey<\/p>\n

Fitting gets better with practice, and even a tiny bit\u00a0of adjustment will often make the garment fit better than a ready-to-wear piece. With a few adjustments and fantastic fabric, the Fira is my new favorite dress!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even simple silhouettes like the Fira Dress can benefit from a bit of custom fitting. Lyndsey walks us through the adjustments she made to create a special dress In this installment of our Fitting Room blog series. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6023,"featured_media":78066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20687],"tags":[20783,20850,20820],"class_list":["post-78042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-advisors-circle","tag-fira","tag-fitting-room"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/fittingroomfirahero.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5jZS5-kiK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":77909,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2021\/10\/the-advisors-circle-sews-the-fira-dress-top.html","url_meta":{"origin":78042,"position":0},"title":"the advisors circle sews the fira dress + top","author":"Masha Richart","date":"October 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Our Advisors Circle has sewn up some beautiful versions of the Fira Dress + Top. Check them out in this post.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/firaAChero.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":77578,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2021\/10\/introducing-the-new-fira-dress-top-pattern.html","url_meta":{"origin":78042,"position":1},"title":"introducing the new fira dress + top pattern","author":"Liesl Gibson","date":"October 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Liesl is here to introduce you to her new Fira Dress + Top pattern.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/fira-feature-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":78340,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2022\/02\/color-blocking-with-the-advisors-circle.html","url_meta":{"origin":78042,"position":2},"title":"color-blocking with the advisors circle","author":"Masha Richart","date":"February 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Color-blocking is a spring 2022 trend. Two of our advisors stopped by to show their unique takes on this technique using the Fira Dress + Top pattern.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/color-block-hero.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":79058,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2022\/05\/sharons-fira-top.html","url_meta":{"origin":78042,"position":3},"title":"sharon’s fira top","author":"Lyndsey Stanfill","date":"May 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Sharon has created a light and airy piece for her summer wardrobe with the Fira Top. She's sharing why she thinks this is a clever pattern and why the feminine touch makes it perfect for her.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Liesl-Co-Hero-Sharon-Fira.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":77797,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2021\/10\/fira-tester-round-up.html","url_meta":{"origin":78042,"position":4},"title":"fira dress + top tester round-up","author":"Masha Richart","date":"October 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"If you've fallen in love with the elegant lines of the Fira Dress + Top and you'd like to see more examples, you're going to want to read this post featuring some of the versions our testers made.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/fira-hero.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":72480,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2019\/07\/double-scoop-of-gelato-regular-and-extended-sizing.html","url_meta":{"origin":78042,"position":5},"title":"double scoop of gelato: regular and extended sizing","author":"Rachel Le Grand","date":"July 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Claire from the Advisors Circle joins us to share her two Liesl + Co. Gelato Dresses. She made the same dress in regular and extended sizes.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/GelatoF.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6023"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78042"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78069,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78042\/revisions\/78069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}