How to Balance Your Plus Size Sewing Pattern

[@debbiedaniels2390]

Oh my goodness, Thank you! It makes perfect sense the way you explained it!

[@KatrinaKay45]

You're welcome. I'm glad it was easy to understand.

[@gwen-m8r]

Outstanding demo. Thank you so much! Going straight to your website from here.

[@KatrinaKay45]

Gwen Lewis You're welcome. Thanks for watching.

[@arlenecampbell3851]

Wow this is exactly what I needed. I need to do many alternations to commercial pattern and have had similar problems that you describe at the beginning. Thank you so much. Do you have a similar video for balancing skirts?

[@KatrinaKay45]

Arlene Campbell No I don't. I'll have to do one. On a skirt, your side seams should match below the hip line, (when your center front & center back are parallel.)

[@salttothesea]

This is an amazingly clear video. Thank you so much! I do wonder though: 1. How do I check patterns for balance if they consist of more than one pattern piece? E.g. a princess seam bodice or a bodice with side panels. 2. How do I check patterns for balance if they contain design elements such as gathering, pleats, etc.? Does the same method still work? 🤔 Thank you! 😊

[@KatrinaKay45]

These are very good questions. For a princess dream you can draw in your seam allowances and pin the pieces together from the bottom to a couple inches before you get to the curved areas of the pattern pieces. For gathers and pleats, it really depends on where they are and the overall style of the pattern. Checking balance on patterns with gathers and pleats is really only possible if only a small section of the side seam, center front or center back had them. Then you could check the area that doesn't- from the bottom up. Gathers/pleats in the shoulder area, for example, wouldn't affect checking for pattern balance at all. If you are making your own patterns you should make sure your sloper was balanced before creating princess seams, gathers or pleats. I hope this helps. Thanks for watching. I

[@phyllis26red]

Thank you for sharing the video.

[@KatrinaKay45]

+Phyllis Chambliss You're welcome, Phyllis. Thank you for watching.

[@annwyjack4641]

Hi, I am really enjoying your videos and although I've sewn forever, fitting has always been the challenge. I have learned some new things from you, so than you! you are showing a sloper with a shoulder dart, but I am trying to balance a pattern with a bust dart and waist dart and am having a hard time trying to balance the sides as you say. is there an easy way to do this? I don't have a sloper with a shoulder dart and really don't want to make one. Thanks

[@KatrinaKay45]

Ann, if you're using a commercial pattern, either the company made the pattern from a balanced sloper which means it should already be balanced. But if you made alterations to the pattern that involved the side seams and want to check the balance, then keep reading. The easiest way I can tell you is to move the bust to the shoulder so you can check the balance of your pattern. (Only move the waist dart if your back piece doesn't have a waist dart.) Make a copy of your pattern piece, don't do this to your original. I show how to move darts in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKKcd2R7o5tka68. Once you do that, then follow the instructions on balancing your pattern and make any changes you need to the on the copy of your front pattern. Then trace those changes to the side seam of your original pattern, remembering to close your bust dart to draw your new side seam. I hope this helps and I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the videos.

[@gwensmale7675]

Hi Katrina thank you your videos are really helpful. I am not a beginner but I recently started struggling with gaping neckline and armhole. I have trued mu shoulder lines they were matching. What bothered me more is how I make this mistake and why. I redraw the neckline everything and still the front was gaping. But what I can tell you is that I had a lot of excess fabric on my chest. So I watched this video and my center front is not parallel and I don't understand why. My patterns are self drafted. Please help

[@KatrinaKay45]

Look at the shape of your front and back side seams. When you lay them on top of each other, starting from the bottom. Do they have the same shape?

[@gwensmale7675]

@@KatrinaKay45 yes the side seams have the same shape I fixed it when I trued them

[@gwensmale7675]

@@KatrinaKay45 so when I lay them on top of each other my centre front and centre back is not parallel to each other. And remember I did a swayback on my centre back to eliminate bulk at mu zipper

[@KatrinaKay45]

@@gwensmale7675 If you did a swagback adjustment, they won't be parallel. Balance is assuming the center front and back have straight lines. If you drafted your pattern from a sloper, just make sure the sloper is balanced. Then, any pattern you create from it will be balanced.

[@bevintx]

Thanks Katrina.

[@KatrinaKay45]

bevintx You're welcome. Thanks for watching.

[@MrsStepford]

Thank you so very, very much for this video! I have searched and searched for any information that addresses this issue. I just have a question.... I have a pattern and the back armhole is a whopping 2 and a half inches bigger than the front! So I figure if I lengthen the front by 1 inch and shorten the back by one inch it should be ok... but what, if anything, do I do to the sleeve? Thanks again for your great videos! :)

[@KatrinaKay45]

You're so welcome. Wow, 2 1/2" is a lot. I would do a muslin before doing any adjustments to the armholes, just to see what's going on with the fit. Sometimes seeing the fit will help you determine what changes need to be made.

[@MrsStepford]

Thanks! :)

[@KatrinaKay45]

MrsStepford You're so welcome.

[@theskirtlady7890]

Hi, thanks for your video's.

[@KatrinaKay45]

The Skirt Lady You're welcome. Thanks for watching.

[@marymary5494]

Thank you so much 😊

[@KatrinaKay45]

Mary Mc You're welcome. Thanks for watching, Mary.

[@saeidehrad5070]

I like the way you teach ^___^ Do you use an extra large printer to get the pattern out of the software or you get a smaller A4 scale and reshape it on the large paper by yourself? Thanks a million

[@KatrinaKay45]

I use a regular printer. Is A4 the same as 8 1/2" x 11"? I use letter or legal sized paper, then tape each piece together to get one whole pattern piece. I do all of the reshaping on the computer before the pattern is printed.

[@KatrinaKay45]

The program is PatternMaster Boutique, version 5 by Wildginger. Their link is in the description.

[@richheadmanigro4698]

Pattern Master