Fashion Design Drawing

ALTERATIONS FOR A ROUND OR PROMINENT ABDOMEN OR HIPS On women of this type, the skirt, if unaltered, will stand out in front and at the sides. These women, as a rule, have flat backs. A small pad worn under the corset at the back will fill in the hollow of the figure below the waistline. For these three types of figures it is advisable to experiment with one-half of the skirt cut of cheap lining cambric. Then, after finding just what changes are necessary to fit the figure, the good material may be cut. For the women with the round abdomen, take the side-front gore of the pattern and mark the hipline on it seven inches below the waistline. At the hipline on the back edge of the gore, take up a dart-shaped plait one-quarter of an inch deep and tapering away to nothing three-eighths of an inch from the front edge of the gore. (Fig. 205.) This quarter of an inch will change the entire balance of the gore. If it is necessary, in a skirt of many gores, do the same thing to the next side gore, but do not go back of the hip. You can keep increasing the size of the dart-shaped plait until the back edge of the gore above the hip forms a straight line with the back edge below the hip.

(Fig. 205.) Stop at that point, for the back edge must never become hollow or concave.

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Figure 207 shows the allowance at the top of the front and side gores when the abdomen is prominent. Each gore must also be extended an inch or more at the top, gradually decreasing to nothing at a point over the hips. Extending the gores up an inch will make the waistline smaller, so the side edges of the gores must be increased to keep the waistline exactly the original size of the pattern. It is a good plan to outline the original pattern on your material as a guide in fitting, but leave sufficient material around it to fit the prominent abdomen. If the figure is full in front, all garments should have this allowance left at the top of the front when cutting. For the woman with the prominent hips, select from the pattern the gore with its front edge coming over the fullest part of the hips, pinning the pattern together to find the right one. This gore must be altered in same way as for the round abdomen. (Fig. 206.) If necessary, in a many-gored skirt, the next gore toward the back may be altered in the same way, but the shape of the back gore should never be changed in altering a skirt to fit a prominent hip. These principles apply to any gored skirt pattern.

FOR A CIRCULAR SKIRT PATTERN, it is best to order the pattern by hip measure,

as the alterations may easily be made at the waist when the hip measure is correct. A well-cut circular skirt pattern without darts allows from one to two inches extra size, more than the waist measure, on each half of the pattern. This fulness should be eased into the belt over the hips, and the fulness shrunk away after the skirt is finished. When fitting the skirt, mark on the waistline where the fulness should be distributed, and gather this portion to the required size with fine stitches on a strong thread. Dampen the material, or place the wet sponge cloth over it and press it over a tailor's cushion

until the cloth has shrunk to the correct size. (Fig. 208.) This must be done very carefully in order not to leave any "bubbles" in the cloth.

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If the waist needs to be made very much smaller than the pattern,

it may be necessary to make one or two small darts, but if only a small reduction is required, it may often be shrunk in. If the waist size is to be increased, no alteration is necessary. There will simply be less material to ease into the belt. In a circular skirt with darts, the waist size can be made smaller or larger. It can be done by taking in or letting out the darts. If the waist size is to be increased, the darts may be let out. In a circular skirt pattern of the correct hip measure it should not be necessary to make an alteration of more than one inch at the hips on the whole skirt. This alteration may be made at the center back.

To Alter the Length of a circular skirt, it is best to make the change at the lower edge. For a woman having a slightly rounded or decidedly prominent abdomen, an alteration is required to provide for extra length at the top. (Fig. 209.) If this provision is not made in cutting, the skirt will draw up in front and stand out in a very ugly manner.

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It will be found, in making the alteration, that according to the prominence of the abdomen, from one-half to one and one-half inches will have to be added to the top of the pattern in front, gradually decreasing to nothing at a point over the hips, to make the skirt drop in