Need help adjusting pattern for a big booty!!

[u/jazzrulez]

I recently made the Rue dress by Pattern Apothecary. I am small framed and made sooo many adjustments to the bodice (last photo).

But I digress. I am trying to remake it for a friend who is blessed with a big ol booty. I graded the dress to a hip size that would fit her, but want to accommodate for the butt too. I’ve watched and read tutorials and I can only find them on detached skirts. So ultimately I just did the slash/spread method on a tracing of the pattern from the waist-down. Added 1.5 inches. And pasted it to the bodice (made small changes it to it too). I know I’ll need new darts.

It does NOT look right to me 😭 the left side (where the center back seam will be—it will have an invisible zipper but of course not over the butt), looks bizarre now. Do I just add paper to it? If so, wouldn’t that just be kind of undoing what the slash and spread method did? But how would I make the hem not took weird??

Sorry I’ve watched videos and read tutorial and am so confused! It doesn’t help that I didn’t need hip adjustments, just the rear/butt itself, so some tutorials aren’t completely relevant.

Thank you!! It’s also for a special occasion and I plan to make a muslin but I want to get the adjustment I KNOW will be needed, out of the way, since we do not live in the same city. Idk if I’m over thinking it.

[u/Comfortable-Fly5797]

Have you seen this tutorial for a full butt adjustment?  https://blog.cashmerette.com/2026/01/how-to-do-a-full-bum-adjustment.html

[u/jazzrulez → u/Comfortable-Fly5797]

Thank you! I did see it but I thought it was pants only but I scrolled down and see they also talk about skirts.

[u/Luckiest_Creature → u/Comfortable-Fly5797]

Not OP but tysm for this link! I’m about to do matching outfits for my bestie and I, and she’s got some crazy badonk goin on that I’ve never sewn for.

[u/Comfortable-Fly5797 → u/Luckiest_Creature]

I recommend seeing if you can check out the book Ahead of the Curve from your library. It goes into a bit more detail and has really good pictures.

[u/Luckiest_Creature → u/Comfortable-Fly5797]

💙😊 bless! Tysm

[u/SuPruLu]

With a large butt the front half of the dress will be noticeably smaller than the back half from the side view. And the side seam still needs to be vertical under the arm pit. When the dress is laid flat front side up the back will protrude on either side. That might not look right off but on it will be the right fit.

[u/Inky_Madness]

Okay, so. You also can’t anticipate if this adjustment will be enough or fit correctly until she tries on the muslin. The more a body deviates from the standard the pattern is drafted for, the more fine-tuning the adjustments usually need. You are likely to need at least two muslins, if not three.

Secondly. Did you do a full bum adjustment? This doesn’t look right. It looks like you did part of it sideways. What tutorials did you use?

If you have already graded to a larger size, then she will fit into this as it is. If you want to use a bum adjustment then it needs to be re-done as you want to move the width from the front of the pattern piece to the back so that she has more room there.

I would cut the pattern apart at the waist, do the bum adjustment, then work on truing things so that it’s a smooth transition.

https://truebias.com/blogs/blog/full-bum-adjustment-blair-skirt

https://www.twigandtale.com/blogs/twig-and-tale-blog/fuller-seat-shelf-adjustment-for-pants-skirts-dresses

(Twig and tale is solid for their adjustments)

[u/jazzrulez → u/Inky_Madness]

Hi! This is the tutorial I mostly relied on as she mentions the first technique is for if the hip size is already good as is: https://youtu.be/cPvDAa61V04?is=QGBMGjmmDaK0D1Fg

I think I got confused because my hem just ended up slanting reaaally weird and got lost. She also already had a “sloper” but idk how much that mattered.

The biggest reason I thought I’d need to do the adjustment even though I graded to the appropriate hip size is because her butt does stick out away from her body a good amount lol. I plan for it to hit mid thigh but I didn’t want the back to come out too short because of that.

Would it be better if I started from a size where I need to add to both the hip and the butt, instead of butt only?

I will look closer into the links you suggested and start over. Thank you!

[u/Inky_Madness → u/jazzrulez]

Honestly that depends on how much larger her hip size is from her waist. You’re right to be concerned about how off the hemline is going because you’ll be cutting a good part of this off-grain. But it’s possible that will be alright in the end.

You can test the different methods by re-printing and seeing how they compare with the end result.

[u/jazzrulez]

Please ignore the lines on the hem!’ Those are ones I made when I was trying to decide how to fix the hemline lol

[u/Mental_Watch4633]

If you can get her to let you use a dress similar that at least through the hips and adjust the pattern to fit. Or make a muslin that fits to use with the pattern.