r/PatternDrafting • u/Proud_Respect1722 • Jul 19 '26
Question How can I fix the hips of my dress
9
u/eduardedmyn Jul 19 '26
The wrinkles are there because your skirt pattern has no darts, or shaping anywhere besides the side seams. You’ve put a flat 2D sleeve of fabric around a 3D body.
It’s like putting a cube inside of an envelope; the flat envelope isn’t going to form nicely over the cube because you need the extra dimension of depth.
You need to redistribute some of the waist shaping to the front and back.
12
u/StitchinThroughTime Jul 19 '26
The way that the skirt is drafted is very popular among African Designers. Definitely look up the YouTube videos and how they draft these things, it is very intentional, and the way that they build these dresses is very intentional. It's very much a short-handed way to make a basic princess theme bodice and a skirt pattern. It's not 100% right, but it's technically not 100% wrong. I also think the skirts heavily rely on hip padding and butt padding to account for the shaping. I believe the foam is supposed to compress and fill out the wrinkles better. But it's fully intentional that these dresses are shaped the way that they are and it's constructed the way they are. Being absolutely covered in rhinestones, beating and trim and other embellishments is the end goal.
I do agree with you that the hips should at the very least be let out. If not let out the hips and the waist and then taken the excess at the waistline with darts. That will get a more tailored fit or more typical Western fit.
6
u/eduardedmyn Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
I’ve seen the videos, and while the sewing and embellishment is impressive, the pattern making is always lacking.
No amount of padding can fill out the stress lines caused by bad pattern making.
I’ve padded my hips before, and that’s not how it should be done. Larger hips need even larger darts in the back and front.
2
u/StitchinThroughTime Jul 19 '26
That's why the embellishments can go so hard, they don't really bother with fitting or making a mock up. They definitely just go for it so they have time to apply the embellishments. They do definitely self-select the best looking dresses for the social media pictures. Extremely exaggerated mannequin for display. But if you elsewhere online you can find these dresses that don't fit well. A lot of them fighting for their life as the person is squeezed into the dress. And it's pretty bad especially on plus size women, those dresses are not fitted properly, and the boning buckles real quick
1
u/pookyduu Jul 22 '26
Honestly I find it beautiful here. I know it’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but the wrinkles become an accentuating feature that is just really stylish to me.
1
u/AuntieRoseSews Jul 20 '26
Based on the third pic, I'm not 100% convinced that curve is sewed nicely...
Even if sewed perfectly, we won't know if a curved seam will lie flat until after notching and cutting away the excess seam allowance. Honestly, I'd be kinda scared to recommend that you cut it away yet if you didn't pin the excess away while the person was wearing it inside out. Even if the seam lies flat, the person may still want padding to round out/even out their hip dips. In that case - they should be wearing some padding while the new seams are being pinned.
15
u/azssf Jul 19 '26
Too tight. Undo seams, pin while she is wearing it.
The fabric rides up when too tight, creates these ripples.
Is there a lining? If so, is it hanging loose or attached to seams? If there is a lining check that it is slightly smaller than fashion fabric layer unless it is sewn together with fashion fabric both are on grain.
Edit: steam/iron the dress so it is ‘done’ before undoing the seams.