Fashions and Furbelows.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18629, 5 December 1928, Page 13

Fashions and Furbelows.

Notes by Special Contributors

A FEW SECRETS ABOUT FITTING

Many women hesitate to make their own frocks because they do not understand just how to fit them. “Fitting is the easiest thing in the world.” declares the expert, “once you know' the fundamental rule. That is: the cross threads of the material should run straight around the figure. If they dip down in some places and run up in others, something is decidedly wrong. The whole fitting problem lies in discovering where the lines of the garment need to be changed to bring the cross threads of the cloth into the correct position.” Often a slight alteration at the shoulder seam will accomplish this. If the shoulders are unusually sloping, the garment will wrinkle from the neck to the underarm seam, both back and front, when it is tried on for fitting. This is because the cross threads of the material sag at the sides. The remedy is effected by repinning the shoulder seams so they conform to the lines of the shoulders. This process may take up the armhole so it will be necessary to slash it slightly at the curve to make it fit nicely and not bind the arm. Remove the garment, trim out the armhole and reshape the shoulder seam. Using as a guide the pieces cut off, make similar alterations on the pattern so the next time it is used the same trouble will not recur. Consider the Cross Threads.

The thin, hollow-chested woman often finds that high-necked Crocks draw and wrinkle at the base of her neck. Even her low-necked gowns frequently have baggy, sagging lines in the front, a trouble that is not always eliminated by the amateur’s method of taking the sag out at the bottom by raising the bem line.

The body of the dress cannot look trim unless the centre front is lifted to bring the cross threads of tlie material into their proper position ■ so they run straight around the figure. The alteration is made at the shoulder seams by taking the front up considerably near the neck and tapering the alteration toward the armhole. This

will make it necessary to slash the neck and make a new neckline.

Unusually square shoulders may make a bodice wrinkle from the shoulders in one or more slanting lines. Even a slight irregularity in the shoulder line often causes frocks to wrinkle badly If the shoulder* take the material up so the cross threads of the cloth run down toward the centre, a shoulder seam alteration must be made to lift the centre of the garment to its proper position. By drawing up the end of the shoulder seam at the neck, one eliminates such wrinkles. Of course, this demands a new neck line.

Correct the Pattern Also. Shoulders unusually straight and a flat back make gowns drag down in the back and fit in ugly baggy lines above the waist and low in the back. This ca.se demands a lifting of the back of the dress at the shoulders. This may make necessary a new neckline and a slight slashing of the material back of the armholes under the arms. This alteration will correct the fit of the waist of the dress, and it may help the hang of the skirt. If the skirt still bags in the back after the alteration at the shoulders, lift the back of the skirt slightly at the belt line and fasten it there under the girdle that is now so popular as a finish.

All these alterations made in the dress should be duplicated on the pattern before that is put away. It takes time, it is true, and just when one is most interested in getting ahead with the work, but minutes spent then will save hours later when the pattern is used again.