Sewing Tip

Hi Sewing Friends:

Are your having problems with your waistline seams?

See if this might help.

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Sewing Solution To Waistline Seam Problem

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On waistline seams, whether it is a skirt or a dress with a waistline seam, the skirt is eased to the band or bodice.  The skirt must be larger than the band or bodice because your body just below your waistline measures larger than your waistline measurement.  Most people “bump” out just below the waist line. Thus, you need more fabric there in order to lay smoothly over the curve. 

Otherwise, the garment looks pulled and will push up creating a fold of fabric right around your middle almost like a trough or a “crumb catcher”.  That’s because the skirt will push up until it finds enough room to accommodate your bulge below your waist line.

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Sewing Rule

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More shape requires more ease.

Less shape requires less ease. 

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Sewing patterns usually allow between one to two inches of ease at the waistline of a fitted dress or skirt.  That is the standard amount of ease for a standard figure. 

However, the sewing pattern company doesn’t know how much shape you have at your waistline.  So, here are some guidelines to help you determine how much ease you might need in your skirt.

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Ease Guidelines For Your Skirt Waist Line

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1.  The standard or so called “ideal” figure whose waistline is 10 inches smaller than her bust and hips needs 1-1/2 inches of ease.

2.  If your waistline is more than 10 inches smaller than your bust and hips, you need at least 2 inches of ease.

3.  If your waistline is less than 10 inches smaller than your bust and hips, you need about 1 inch of ease.

4.  In some cases, you might find your waistline and hips close to the same measurement, then only use about 1/2 inch of ease.

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Check Your Sewing Pattern

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Check your sewing pattern for ease by measuring the waistline seamline (that is the stitching line, not the cutting line) on the back and front pattern pieces.  Do not include the seam allowances or any darts.

Check the waistline size indicated on the back of the sewing pattern envelope.

Subtract the pattern waistline size indicated on the sewing pattern envelope from what the pattern pieces actually measure.  The difference is how much ease the sewing pattern company allowed for this particular garment.

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Compare Your Numbers With The Sewing Pattern Numbers

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Determine what you personally need for your figure. Write down how much you need to add or take in to accommodate your shape.   

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How To Alter Your Waistline To Get More Or Less Ease

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If you need more or less ease, simply stitch the darts narrower or deeper to gain or substract width at the waistline.   Now, think about that.

Darts are used in a garment to help create shape.  Right?  If you have more shape, more curve, more difference, then you need deeper darts to create more shape.

If you have less shape, you need skinny darts to give less shape.

If you stitch one dart 1/8 of an inch more or less than the original dart, you have just created 1/4 more or less fabric at the waistline because you are stitching through 2 layers of fabric.

Multiple that by the number of darts you have front and back. . .let’s say that you have a total of 8 darts. . .2 on each side of the front and 2 on each side of the back (4 front and 4 back = 8 darts). 

So that means that if you just stitch 1/8 of an inch more or less deep on each dart, (1/4 inch gain or loss on each dart) you have just gained or lost a full 2 inches of ease.

Do you see how the math works? 

Isn’t it amazing?  Now you see why accurate stitching is so important for all the pieces to fit together.

Work with the darts before you add anywhere else.  If you still need more, then add equal amounts at the side seams at the waistline and taper back to your hipline.

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Where To Put The Ease

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If your flesh is evenly distributed, divide and pin the ease evenly in each quarter of the garment.

If you have extra flesh, a love handle, or a bulging tummy below the waistline at the front, back or sides, place and pin the ease there.  Put more ease where you have more curves.

It just makes sense.

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Hope this helps to “ease” your waistline problems.

To Your Sewing Success,

Marian

Sewing Tips

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This entry was posted on Friday, November 17th, 2006 at 4:40 pm and is filed under Sewing Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.