Am I *THAT* Daring?

I think I might be :)

For most of us home sewers (not sewer...sew-er!), it's unlikely that you will always be able to cut out a pattern (Especially the Big 4 patterns) straight from the envelope, and have it be a nicely fitting garment. Now, of course, the idea of "nicely fitted" is highly subjective. For me, I prefer most garments to have near minimal ease. I don't wear a lot of loose fitting, flowy tops - it turns me into a square. I don't wear a lot of loosely fitting bottoms because it turns me into a stump. I look best in clothes that skim my body.

I've had relatively good luck sewing tops in that I've often just needed to adjust for a narrow/small neckline - never knew I had this...but have often had problems with RTW clothes gaping at the neck, and now I know why!

I've learned why I don't like wearing skirts -- my waist to hip to thigh ratio is all skewed. I don't hate my body, but my proportions apparently aren't what they *should* be :) If it fits in the waist and thighs, it's baggy through the hips. If it fits my hips, I am squeezed in at the waist and the thighs are tight. I've had utter confusion from non-sewers when I've said I need a bigger waist size than hips.

Your waist is bigger than your hips!?!? Well, no. But the ratio isn't as small as the 'ideal' body. I think my actual waist is something like 34" and my hips a scant 42" and my hips don't sit where they're *supposed* to, and this make skirt (and pants) fitting silly and fiddly. Hmmph!

I think I'd do well with circle skirts even though I've totally avoided them. I always viewed them as completely retro and figured they were supposed to be long. But you can make a 1/4 or 1/2 or even full circle skirt above the knee! I think that that style does a good job at balancing out my disproportionate hips. I love pencil skirts but really...they aren't best for my body type. And hemlines...I have to (MUST!!) have skirts hit *just* about the knee. I have big, muscular legs and too short just makes me look squat where too far below the knee turns me into a stump - UNLESS it's full length. Whew. So many rules. I can rock full, ankle length dresses but have never tried a skirt. I'm sure it'd be fine.

I was pleasantly surprised by how flattering this full skirt was.

See how my hips are NOT where the hip line for the skirt is? Do you see my very slopey left shoulder??

 

Super slopey left shoulder...Do you also see how this length of skirt is NOT right for me?

 

Ok, this skirt is short but the peplum gives me AWESOME waist definition to balance it!

So, now that I've gotten a whole bunch of random, 'I'm so exited' sewing out of the way, I'm ready to focus on my fit issues and get some good, solid, as-professional-as-my-skills-will-allow garments done. For me, this means pants (I have 2 pair of slacks and 2 pair of jeans that are work appropriate), blazers/cardigans (I LOVE BLAZERS and CARDIS! In an unnatural way!) and pretty tops that will help me to feel feminine without making me look too dainty/delicate. I also want dresses and going out tops for dates with Mr. Smith.

The Palmer/Alto book, Fit For Real People, is like mini-gospel in the world of garment making home-sewists. Tons of great information that WORKS from what I've read. So, where does my title of the post factor in? Well, Lauren of Rosie Wednesday, posted HERE about her Body Graph.

It's basically a life-sized tracing of your body, with all it's lovely "differences" on display! This will help you to really visualize your fit issues and know where you need to make adjustments.

I think doing this will help me get Lilly to my actual proportions and make her an essential tool in my quest for good fit!