It all starts with the Girls

I decided on my fabric...well, all of you girls helped me decide:

And here we go! Time to sew! Probably one of the better overall full bust adjustment articles I have found on the web:

http://repository.tamu.edu/bitstream/handle/1969.1/87748/pdf_689.pdf?sequence=1

And why, do you ask, must I give you yet another FBA tutorial? Because most of us are scared the first time we do one! Or we spend ages frustrated with the fit of our sewn garments and then give up. My world changed once I learned how to do a full bust adjustment. And it took lots of research and then lots of guts to cut up that pattern. And that's where many of us get stuck. We see a tutorial, take a glance and think it's too technical or it has too many drawings or not enough drawings,  or whatever. But the fact is, there are a hundred different tutorials and since we all learn differently (some by example, some of us are visual, some of us like to read and process) you need to research. There are even excellent You-tube videos on the subject! And then be willing to cut up or trace one of those 99 cent patterns that you got at Joann's or Hobby Lobby, then actually try it out on about $2.00 worth of muslin...or $1 worth, if you used a 50% off coupon.

Trust me. It will, most certainly, with absolute definity... Change. Your. Sewing. Life. Remember this: It cannot be stated enough:

COMMERCIAL PATTERN COMPANIES ARE DRAFTED FOR A B-CUP BREAST SIZE.
Imagine your boobs. Imagine that in all the world of available bras to buy, there were only B-cups. No A's, no C's, no DD's, no G's. Now, imagine getting your boobs into that B-Cup bra. Now ask the sales lady to bring you a larger band size, but it's still only a B-cup. Does that help? Are you getting the picture? (Trust me, I am laughing at the thought of myself in that dressing room full of B-Cup bras!)

That's why you may need to do a bust adjustment. Changing the band size won't make a difference. You need to add space where your actual girls are attached to your body.
Your boobs will thank you. Your budget will thank you. You will look more slender when your clothes fit correctly. And I would pretty much do anything but give up ice cream every night to look more slender.

I've done them with princess seams, kimono sleeves, no darts, and even those funky twisty oragami style bodices (see my example here) but I had never done an adjustment by adding a dart. And I am about to try.

My Sew-Along pattern, Simplicity 1880, does not have a bust dart. Being a shirt waist dress, it could use one...especially for the more bosomous of us. I was thinking and thinking about how to do that silly adjustment and it hit me while I was browsing at Macy's during my lunch hour yesterday. I checkout out shirt after tailored shirt...many with a slightly gathered front yoke, and there it was...The Horizontal Bust Dart. And that was my answer.

Tonight, I did my research, I took my measurements and proceeded to slash up my pattern ( I'm not a big tracer OR measurer...I really do make many of my adjustments by instinct and intuition).

The muslin is cut out and ready to sew tomorrow morning since I can't bear to work in my sewing room any more tonight with no AC.

Oh, see there? I actually DREW my bust dart with marker onto my muslin! And that particular muslin? It was a muslin in it's previous life...two muslins for the price of one! Now, if this project of mine doesn't work out, I'd be happy to buy another pattern and spare another yard of something to try again. Because I want this to work.

And it will.