Sewing Tips Series #2 - How to Let Out a Blouse

One of the most common complaints amongst my friends when it comes to finding clothes that fit in stores is a lack of accommodation for women who are anything over an A cup. Well, if you're one of these women, and if you've got a sewing machine and a basic understanding of sewing, then I've got a solution that's relatively easy and minimally invasive.

In my posts on the Medieval Gown (Part I, Part II, Part III), I mention a popular feature of clothing in this period: the gusset.

For those of you that didn't read the Medieval Gown articles, a gusset is a piece of fabric cut on the bias that is usually shaped as a triangle or a variation thereof. This piece of fabric is then inserted into a seam wherever extra breadth is necessary. In modern times, gussets are most commonly used in the crotch of a pair of pants.

The gusset should not be confused with the godet. Though they are cousins, two major differences separate them:

1. Gussets serve a fitting purpose, whereas godets only add flare and are more decorative.
2. Gussets are cut as a variation of a triangle, whereas godets are always a circular sector.

On with the show. My aunt had a similar complaint to ones I mentioned at the beginning of the article. A blouse she loved was too tight in the arm and the bust and when she saw how I solved the problem for the Medieval Gown, she wondered if I might do the same for her blouse. The first thing I needed to do was to find extra fabric to use for the gussets. Here are some ideas:

Use a duplicate. For instance, if the blouses were on clearance for dirt cheap. Then you can convert one of the tops into something else.

Buy some fabric. It can either match the rest of the garment or act as an accent for it.

Use part of the existing garment. This is what I did with my aunt's blouse.

The first thing I did was to take out the side seam and the underarm seam, while keeping the sleeve attached to the bodice. Luckily, most manufacturers attach the sleeve before closing the side-seam, so this shouldn't be too much of a problem. You might have to take out the hem of the sleeve, as I did, and you may have to mess with the hem on the bottom of the garment. Remember, if you're doing this to a dress, especially at the waist, you don't necessarily need to take out the entire side-seam.

Next, I cut out the section of the sleeve I was going to use for the gusset. I used my grid ruler to cut out the shape, and to ensure both gussets were the same size:

Just make sure you true everything before you finish, to avoid having to rip seams:

That's it, really. Once you've cut out the gusset, it's simply a matter of placing it correctly and sewing it in. I give more specific instructions for insertion in my Medieval Gown Post.

Also, just a quick tip: when using kite gussets it's important, though not imperative, to make sure every corner touches or meets a seam. This avoids bunching and gaping that can occur if you put a corner into a smooth seam. If you have to put a gusset where it does not intersect a seam, then use a softer oblong shape instead:

Hope this helps!

Nostalgically Yours

Sewing Tips Series #1 - DIY Markers!

No, not a marker for drawing, a marker for sewing.

"What is a marker?" you ask? Simple: it's a cutting guide used by professionals in the fashion industry to plan the layout of their pattern pieces before they cut to avoid wasting fabric. I found this is much simpler and saves time, as opposed to going in blindly and finding out too late that you're out of fabric. This is especially helpful when you have a very limited amount of fabric like I did in my Medieval Dress, where I had to use remnants which I couldn't buy more of. Here you go!

1. After blocking, measure the width and length of your fabric.


2. Open a paint document or any other sort of simple drawing program. Things like Photoshop can work, but might be too complicated a program for this task.


3. Using the scale of your choice (for example: 1 pixel = 1 inch), create a scale diagram of your fabric. Remember to include important information such as border width, etc.


4. Take each individual pattern piece and take important measurements such as length, width, and any others you might need, depending on each pattern piece. For instance, the sleeve pattern below required four measurements: length, width at wrist, width at elbow, and width at bicep. As long as you can create a rough block of the pattern's shape on your diagram, what measurements you choose aren't important.


5. Draw each pattern piece into the fabric diagram - don't forget, some pieces might need to be cut multiple times or be cut on the fold. Be sure you allow for these and make sure to mirror anything cut on a fold.


6. Once you've toyed around with different layouts and you've found one that suits you, you can start cutting. Since your diagram is to scale, you can accurately place your pattern pieces on the actual fabric by measuring the depths of folds or the distance of one piece from the selvage.

Here is the marker I made for the Medieval Dress I created. Each blue square equals one inch.

There you have it! Now you, too can create your very own markers for all your future sewing projects. This will eliminate waste and prevent mistakes in cutting that are too late to fix. This concept can also be applied to finding out how much fabric you'll need before you go shopping. For this you simply need to create two templates: one measuring 42" wide, the other 60". Place your pattern pieces as you would normally, and when you're done you can count how many yards you'll need!

Hope this helps!

Nostalgically Yours