How to Sew Clothes to Fit

To sew clothes to fit, first you must measure your body for dimensions and buy a pattern. Learn to pin a pattern onto yourself a or dummy to make clothes that fit with help from a seamstress in the free video on sewing basics.

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Video transcription

Hello, I'm Linda DiSimone, seamstress and designer. Today, we are going to talk about how to sew clothes to fit. Things that you'll need is a pattern that comes in multiple sizes, pins, a scissor and a tape measure. Step one, is to take your tape measure and measure your body for the dimensions that you are going to need to go to the store and buy your pattern. I'm talking about a skirt today so you would take your waist measurement and your hip measurement and when you go to the store you could look on the back of the patterns and they give the sizes of the dimensions and tell you what size that you will need to pick up the closest to what you need. And now they have patterns in multiple sizes so you will be able to make them a little bit bigger or a little bit smaller to whatever fits your body shape. Okay step two, is when you get your fabric and your pattern back from the store I would suggest if you have a body dummy that fits, you make it to your size measurements. Or you can do it on yourself. I am going to use the dummy right now. But pin the pattern onto yourself or the dummy with a 5/8th inch seam. So you can get a general idea of where, if it's going to fit. This is the middle, it's going to be a double piece over here. So you can see if it's ending up approximately where your body is. Middle the seam is going to be on the side. And then in the back. So, you can get a good idea of how you are going work for you. A step three, is that now if you've decided that this pattern pretty much fits your body shape. Then when you are going to be cutting out your fabric using the pattern, you know a little bigger is better is because you can always take it in. If you cut it too small your stuck. So error on the big size, you know adding more to it. You'll be able to take it in with darts, also I suggest when you are sewing up your seams that do them first in a big basting stitch so that if you needed to take it out because it doesn't fit. You try it on and it doesn't fit you could make it smaller, make it bigger you know let out more of the seams. Or take in more of the seams so you'll have different options and basting it the first time makes it easy to do that. So, you just have to work with it, try it on here and there and just be able to take it in more with the seams or let out and using the darts. And that's how you can get something to fit you properly. My name is Linda DiSimone and thanks for watching this video.