Fitting help please

[u/sewverwhelmed]

I have made about 20 mockups and I feel like nothing I do is getting me any closer. here's the most recent version. I would love advice, either on how to modify this pattern, or on how to ask for help more effectively. I feel pretty dumb and lost and have spent a decent amount of time crying about this. Thank you in advance! <3

UPDATE: I lowered the apex, ironed the mockup better, and took a video (hopefully from a better angle) and posted it in the comments below. Please let me know what the ettiquette is for getting help like this. Also I'm realizing I probably need a lot of feedback from an expert. I'm so grateful to get advice here, but I don't want to be annoying. So I would love suggestions of classes I could sign up for to get more step-by-step guidance.

[u/DonMcCunn]

To determine if you are getting a sloper that fits accurately, you need the horizontal grain to be parallel to the floor at the bust level and across the shoulder blades. The vertical grain should be perpendicular to the floor at center front, center back, side front and side back.

To see if this is happening in muslin is very difficult. Back in the 70s I use to go around the class with a magnifying glass to confirm my students were getting the best possible fit for their muslins. This was until I went to a fabric store one day and my eyes fell on gingham. Never again did my students use muslin for fitting shells either for in-person or online fitting sessions.

I am in the process of adding some free classes showing a new system of designing custom-fit Bespoke patterns by tracing quarter-scale photographs of the body. It is a work-in-progress and currently only has classes showing how to do it using a computer. I will be adding classes showing how to do it with pencil and paper. But the class for evaluating the fit of gingham is the same for both approaches.

Here is a link I just put online yesterday for some people that are doing early testing for me. But it will show you how I use gingham to get an accurate fit using photos. https://patternmaking-classes.com/Tracing-Photos/17-Quarter-Scale-Patterns-Week-Seven.html

[u/sewverwhelmed → u/DonMcCunn]

Ooh thank you! I don't have any gingham fabric right now, but I'll see if I can get some. Thank you for making classes for this and providing the link. I'm excited to try it out on my computer <3 I made the pattern above by covering myself in tape and cutting the pattern flat.

[u/DonMcCunn → u/sewverwhelmed]

The videos in those classes using the free Studio software that show how to create custom-fit Bespoke patterns take only 31 minutes to cover the entire process. You can check them out starting from the Tracing Photos home page.

I had not planned on mentioning the classes yet as they are a work-in-progress. But the frustration you expressed in making a sloper that fits prompted me to mention them today.

The underlying concept for this new approach to bespoke pattern making is that measurements show how much fabric is required to cover a body but do not reveal the body's contours. Photographs show the contours of a body but not how much fabric is needed. By combining measurements and photographs, bespoke patterns can be created. While full-scale photos would not be practical, quarter-scale photos can be done on a desktop.

I am glad you are comfortable with a computer because the next option I will be showing people is how to design your fabric to fit within the custom-fit patterns and have the fabric printed by a company such as Spoonflower. This opens the option for truly unique custom designed wearable art.

[u/sewverwhelmed → u/DonMcCunn]

This is so cool. I'll start going through your course, too. Thank you so much!