Monday, July 2, 2012

Fitting, an Endless Journey



It often seems like that, doesn't it?  Learning to fit is a journey and along the way I've collected what seems to be every fitting book on the market and I still have issues figuring out  how to solve some of my fitting problems.  Enter a new fitting book, The Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting by Sarah Veblen.  It already has a large number of favorable reviews over on Amazon.com.  however, one of the reviews complains about it's lack of specific answers to her fitting problems.  But, to me that is the uniqueness of this book. There is no table of contents of fitting flaws, rather Veblen treats fitting in a much more organic fashion.  Every action we take to fit cloth affects the rest of the garment.  She teaches us to see the whole garment. To this end she introduces the HBL, or horizontal balance line.  It is drawn in perpendicular to the center front or the grain line.  It is always parallel to the floor.  This is not a new concept to me, but not something I've used.  But, after reading through her book, it's something I intend to start using.   I have found that fitting can be very hit or miss because there is often no frame of reference outside of the change being made.  Veblen's asserts that the HBL gives that reference and makes fitting that much easier.

This is a book that uses muslins for fitting.  More than one in fact.  Fitting is work and a process of training the eye first to see and recognize the problem. second, how to alter the cloth to get a good fit and third how to transfer the changes to your pattern.  To facilitate that Veblen gives us lots of wonderful, large format photographs that do a great job of showing  problems and how to fix them.  The text is well written and easy to understand.  She explains how she alters a muslin but more importantly, she explains why. Understanding  why should make it easier to learn how to fit anything or anybody. I am hoping that  her method will finally let  me work out some nagging problems I've had in my fitting.  Sleeves in particular come to mind and she covers this in detail.


 I really like that she doesn't approach fitting as a list, because inevitably that list is lacking in the one thing I need, which is probably why I have so many fitting books.    

18 comments:

  1. I recently got this book, too, Nancy. I am anxious to utilize the HBL as well. I have a dress to be made and it needs a muslin so the book will come in handy.

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  2. Thank you for your excellent review.

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  3. I now have this book, but more importantly, I took Sarah's muslin fitting class for straight skirts and princess seam shirts. Between the class and the book, I feel much more capable and observant about the whole process. And the Horizontal Balance Line! Wow, using that as a point of reference was a huge epiphany. The class worked in pairs with Sarah lending insights as needed. Just having the experience of fitting someone else and seeing what others in the room were doing, was a huge help. And the book is great--it makes a lot of sense to utilitize the HBL. Very logical approach. I need to write about it on my blog, but haven't had time.... Hope you enjoy the book as much as I have!

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  4. Does she cover pants, Nancy? This approach is particularly useful for pants, where altering one thing affects everything else.

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    1. She does cover pants, but it's brief. However, she has a unique way to fit the crotch, one of the single most difficult areas to fit for women in my opinion. I agree that the HBL is very useful for pants. Keeping cross grain and grainlines perpendicular to the floor is essential and the longer a garment is the more it's magnified when it's off grain.

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  5. You've expressed my sentiments exactly. I have this book on my wishlist on Amazon - guess I'd better order it. Thanks for a good review.

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  6. I have a big problem with fitting with muslins. It's so much work and I'm so lazy!

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  7. I have this book since two weeks too! Only browsed it briefly till now, but the horizontal balance line was new to me in a fitting book.

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  8. This sounds promising. I'm looking forward to hearing how you apply this on your next project, and what you think of it.

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  9. Interesting review of the book - I'll have to check it out

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  10. I will definitely have to check this one out, your title is very accurate. Fitting is an endless journey.

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  11. Keep meaning to get this book. I just hate the whole fit thing...

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  12. I like that book, too. The photographs are excellent, and I think easier to see the problem than in drawings. I know my aging body is more difficult to fit than it used to be. My parts seem to have taken on their own peculiar shapes!

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  13. I recently purchased this book. My mom was a Home Ec teacher and helped always helped me with my fitting. But she's gone now and my aging body has new fitting problems that I hope this book will help me deal with.

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  14. Happy Birthday sister Nancy!
    I hope you had a nice day. I was happy to be inside with my sewing machine.
    Yours, Anna Rich

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  15. Oh yes, I just got this book too. (early B-day present). I'm also a sucker for fitting books and pattern drafting books. I have found that if not careful, I'll mash up different approaches and get totally lost.

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  16. The title of your post made me laugh--IT'S SO TRUE! The journey continues on...

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  17. I saw this and I was wondering whether it was worth it. Now I know it is. Oh goody another sewing book to buy! 8-)

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