Common Fit Adjustments for the Simone Slip Dress & Camisole

Hello! Today our pattern drafter Celine will be sharing some fitting adjustments for one of our latest patterns from the Chez Moi Collection, our Simone Camisole and Slip dress. Cut and sewn completely on the bias, this garment should mold and cling to your curves in all the right places somewhat naturally (one of the many cool things about bias which you can read more about in this blog post here.) That said, you might want to tweak a few things to achieve the perfect shape for your make! Celine will show you how to approach some common fit challenges and create the top, slip or dress you're dreaming about. Take it away, Celine!

Roomier Skirt

If you want more room in the skirt part of the dress you will begin with the skirt pieces. Slash and spread the skirt adding some excess at Center Front and then Center Back to even this out. Once you have more room in the skirt part you can straighten the side seam to avoid having a bumpy hip line. After you have your new front and back skirt pieces, you will have to retrace the 45 degree angle grainline now that it has moved. Rotate your pieces so that the new Center Front is your guide to trace the new grainline.

Grading from a Smaller Bust to a Bigger Hip

To grade between sizes you could shape the waist to hip skirt but you might need extra room as the bodice is low in the back area. Usually to do this you would let out the side seam. As Simone doesn't have a side seam at the bodice, you can create one! Slash and open at the side bodice, where your side seam would be. Open as needed. Say you have a size 12 bodice and a size 16 skirt to fit at the hip, you could, slash and open your bodice the missing amount to fit the bodice with the skirt. You could also grade to a 14 at the waist to not distort the bodice too much. If you like the fit of the bodice you could also slash and spread the skirt as shown before.

More Room (or Definition) at the Bust 

Needless to say a dartless bodice is not for everybody, and some of you would like to be able to add a dart here or there or even do a full FBA. Simone's front bodice can be adjusted to fit the bust in a lot of different ways. You could add a dart (or few) or even turn that excess into gathers. First try on your bodice with the skirt attached to it to have the real fit (bias makes the fabric hang more and that is why we can have a bodice without darts). If the bodice is gaping at the neckline, slash and rotate pieces as shown, creating a dart underbust. To slash and open your bodice, don't cut through your bust point, rotate your pieces from that point. If your bodice needs to be a bigger size than the rest of the skirt, you can easily size up the front bodice and add a dart under the bust to fit the bodice with the skirt. If you need an FBA, grade up one or two sizes ON THE FRONT ONLY, from the side seam notches. 

Neckline too Wide (or Gaping)

If the neckline is feeling too wide (narrow shoulders), the straps will feel too far apart and the neckline might gape. You can reshape the neckline and under arm area to close it (shallower curve). You can also trim some fabric at the bottom of the front bodice (as in the last drawing here.)

Reshaping the Bodice 

The Simone bodice can be adjusted to fit your needs:

1. The underarm area is too high- scoop out the curve a bit
2. The underarm area is too low- make the curve more shallow
3. You can change the look of the straps too, wider, crossed, knotted... 

Changing the Neckline with Lace

If the neckline is feeling a bit low or you would like a bit more coverage in that area, there is always the opportunity to change the neckline of Simone with a pretty piece of lace. Depending on the thickness of the lace inset you can dramatically change the look of either the camisole or slip dress with this addition. We recommend using rigid or stretch lace with a scalloped edge that is at least 4" wide.

Sometimes the tendency with fitting is to try and remove any excess and this can result in an overly fitted garment. This slip should be comfortable enough to sleep in and be able to move and shift around the body. That said, there are lots of ways of making this pattern to achieve all kinds of different shapes. Have fun playing with draping on the bias. Nothing makes you feel more like a real fashion designer!

Happy Sewing!