Sewing for a Changing Body Shape

"Waisted Effort" (1950) by Gil Elvgren

As someone who sews my own clothes I am very aware of my own body measurements. I have a little handy chart on which every useful length and angle on my body is recorded. I look at these figures with the eyes of a mathematician. They are only numbers. Well, that is, until they change....

Recently, I sewed a skirt using my trusty chart of measurements and, behold, the skirt did not fit. I measured every possible length on the skirt, compared it to my chart. Where did I make a mistake? Where did I go wrong? Did I forget to add seam allowance? No, I didn't. I didn't make a mistake. My trusty meaurements changed.

Again, it doesn't really bother me. They are only numbers - but not when I open my closet and see a whole wardrobe full of clothes based on precisely one set of measurements, which my body does no longer want to fit into. Disaster! It's not a good experience for anyone not to fit into their favourite clothes anymore but when you have made them yourself, it's just that little more painful. Over the years I have had to sort out a number of clothes that I made simply because they didn't fit me anymore.

Aren't our favourite items supposed to stay with us for many, many years. Why do I bother spending hours on perfectly fitted clothes made out of the finest materials if one year down the road I can barely even squeeze into them. How can I make my clothes last me longer despite natural changes in body weight and size? I have thought about this problem and come up with some ideas to think about for future sewing projects that might reduce the number of unwanted wardrobe culls. Here is what I came up with:

1) Leave generous seam outlets. One way of making sure that my garments will fit me for a long time is to leave generous seam outlets in the areas where my body is most likely to change in shape. This way I can make a garment smaller or bigger when necessary and keep my favourite home-sewn garments for longer.  Tailored garments often have seam outlets to allow the wearer to have the garment changed in size when necessary. This is rarely the case in RTW, where all seam allowances are serged, saving fabric in the making and forcing the customer to buy new clothes sooner.

2) Have a seasonal wardrobe. I don't really have a seasonal wardrobe but in terms of weight fluctuation it may be clever to have a summer and winter wardrobe. My summer skirts and blouses always feel a little tight when I put them on around this time of the year but if I wait till the warmer months come around I will have no problem fitting into them. So, to avoid disppointment when getting dressed in the morning it may be wise to stash my summer pieces away for the winter.

3) Don't overfit. I have a tendency to overfit my clothes when I'm sewing, pinning away every little centimeter of farbic that doesn't hug my body to perfection. Most of the pieces I have sewn and overfit were worn very little because they inevitably ended up being uncomfortable very quickly. I'm trying to learn from these mistakes and accept that a generous amount of wearing ease is a good thing.

4) Use fabrics that stretch in tight-fitting clothes. I'm beginning to think that it may be a wise idea to sew all clothes that are meant to be body-hugging in fabrics that have at least a minimum amount of stretch. This would make close-fitting garments more comfortable and last longer despite some minor weight fluctuation here or there. After all, our generation is used to the comfort of jeans and t-shirts and the feeling of wearing a fitted dress in a non-stretch woven fabric can sometimes be too much. Gertie has been praising the usefulness and comfort of double knits for a long time and gives a little introduction on how to sew with double knits on her blog. I might give double knits and other stretchy fabrics a try as they may make tight-fitting clothes just that tad more comfortable and easy to wear. 

That's all the ideas I came up with and that I'm going to try to stick to in my future sewing projects. Do any of you have the same problem when making your own clothes? Do you have any more ideas on how to deal with weight and body change as a dedicated home-sewer? Please share...