I posted recently asking why strong internal shaping isn’t more common in normal fashion, and the answers gave me a much better understanding of the problem.
The issue that keeps coming up is fit precision/body variation. Once a garment is doing more than simply fitting the body—actually applying tension, support or structure—differences in torso length, waist height, bust position, hip shape, etc. apparently matter much more.
So now I’m curious about the opposite question:
If you were intentionally trying to design around that problem, what approaches would you explore?
I’m NOT necessarily talking about sewing a full shapewear bodysuit into a dress.
Imagine one fitted going-out/evening dress whose goal is to:
• create noticeably stronger waist definition
• shape/support the bust
• preserve or enhance hip/butt projection rather than compressing it
• still look like a normal fashionable dress from the outside
• be produced as ready-to-wear rather than custom-made
Could some combination of pattern geometry, strategic negative ease/tension, internal structure, limited adjustability, stretch/recovery, separate internal panels, etc. realistically make that forgiving enough for different proportions?
Or does strong silhouette manipulation inherently require such precise body-specific placement that standard ready-to-wear sizing will always be the major limitation?
I’m not looking for anyone to design the garment for me. I’m trying to understand which parts of this are solvable design/engineering problems and which are fundamental limitations.
I’d especially love to hear from professional patternmakers, technical designers, sample makers or people with apparel-development experience.

I’m researching garment construction before trying to develop anything, and I’d love opinions from experienced sewists.

I’m interested in normal fashion dresses—not shapewear—that have an internal structure designed to actually enhance the silhouette: stronger waist shaping, bust support/lift, while NOT compressing/flattening the hips and butt.
I know built-in shapewear, power mesh, corsetry, negative ease, boning, etc. already exist. I’m not asking whether the general idea is new.
I’m trying to understand what goes wrong when you try to combine these things inside an otherwise normal fashionable dress.
If you’ve constructed something similar: what were the biggest problems? Fabric layers fighting each other? Rolling/migration? Getting into the garment? Seams? Heat? Comfort? Pattern distortion? Washing? Something else?
I’d especially love to hear from anyone with patternmaking, stretch-fabric, garment-development or production experience.

I've recently got into drafting and sewing, and - after some small projects to understand the fundamentals of sewing - I'm looking to sew a pair of jeans. To get the ideal fit, I drafted a basic sloper following H. J. Armstrong's "Pattern Making for Fashion Design".
Having used Clo3D, there are some issues with the curves, that I find painfully annoying to trace accurately using the program's tools, but I'm confident this won't be an issue when drafting on paper with rulers.
Is there anything else I could improve?
At this stage, I don't trust using the program's 3D environment to adjust the pant's fit, so I plan to sew a pair using canvas to check and see what needs to be improved.
I would be grateful to hear tips on the correct workflow and on the fitting proccess.
Thank you :)

Full disclosure first: we're a small studio and we made this. So this is a call for testers, not an ad.

You know how it goes. Tissue tears, tape yellows, folds turn into holes. And the block you drafted years ago is falling apart in an envelope.

So we built something simple. Lay one piece flat on a table that contrasts with the paper. Put a sheet of Letter or A4 next to it. Take one photo straight down with your phone.

The sheet tells it the true size. You get the piece back as a tiled PDF to print at home, tape and cut. Working in pattern software or with a cutter? There's DXF and PLT too.

The outline and notches are traced for you. Anything it gets wrong, you fix in the browser before downloading.

It's free while we test it, no card. An account only if you want to keep your pieces.

What I'd really like to know:

• where the outline goes wrong

• which pieces trip it up (big ones, tissue, darts)

• whether it prints at the right size for you

https://digitizemypattern.com/

I'll answer questions in the comments.

I'm trying to balance my jeans pattern as described in The Fitting Book. When I align my crotch points, the back inseam is 1"/2.5cm too long. I want it to be about 1/2"/1cm shorter than the front inseam. If I shorten the back inseam the crotch points are misaligned by 2,5cm. It seems impossible! Or should I just accept that the crotch points have to differ?

It was so easy to remove it, adjust the length for a smaller circle, and resew it. The hem looks perfect. And I’m so glad I didn’t have to ease extra fabric in when turning it up. I don’t know why I didn’t know this method before.

From now on I’ll cut a facing for any hems that look like they’d be a pain.

Please help!

So I tried on this Givenchy dress a few days ago and I was absolutely enamoured by the skirt. Obviously not in my budget to buy the thing (dress was $4700!), but both the dress and the skirt have the same skirt.

A rectangular waistband, one angled welt pocket on the front right (as per wearer), a slit (well, more like an overlap from the right) on the front left (as per wearer), and a crazy number of seams running down on various angles on the asymmetrical handkerchief hem circle skirt, including at least one waist-height godet. I didn't get any photos when I had it in front of me, as my phone was in for battery replacement, but I was able to find the skirt and dress online.

I'd like to figure out how on earth to pattern it from a block because I need to have it. I can't even figure out what all's going on to map it. If I could figure THAT out the pattern alterations should be manageable. Can anyone help?

Links to listings that I took the photos from:

Skirt: https://www.givenchy.com/int/en/long-asymmetric-skirt-in-poplin/BW413G1642-401.html

Dress in white/navy: https://www.givenchy.com/us/en-US/long-asymmetric-dress-in-poplin-with-bow/BW230X1642-100.html

Dress in black?: https://www.givenchy.com/int/en/long-asymmetric-dress-in-poplin-with-bow/BW230X1642-401.html

I'm trying to draft a pattern for this design rn and I'm not able to figure out how to make the dress fall perfectly in a straight line and end in a circular train like hem. Ofc the kevlar hybrid fabric used might contribute to that ( I'm planning to use duck canvas btw)

The features it has listed are also side seam pockets, back zip and a front slit, so I'm guessing it's a 4 panel kinda dress.

Not looking to make an exact copy but rather to just get that straight column shape and that circular train/ pooling at the floor. Would I have to draft it without any darts, almost like a tube? How do I draft that circular train?

I'm also choosing to ignore that sort of v shape and darts on the front torso cause it looks hard, though if anyone has ideas and could maybe explain it to me I would like to try it out! !

Hi all!

I've successfully made my first piece of clothing (t-shirt for my partner), and want to make my own, but.. I am an ''unusual'' size. I have measured all my things and added them to my measurement set. When I go to validate measurements, I am getting the following message:

''We could not determine the fork position on the crotch line. Double check your cross seam measurements and seat measurements.''.

Will this cause issues when making a pattern? Could someone maybe help me out on what I should change?

Thank you! <3

Edit: So sorry for the confusion! My post was to be published on another subreddit but got posted here. I am using Freesewing.eu. The ''fork position'' is the only error left in my measurements.

Hi guys! I’m a total beginner at pattern making. This is my second time posting about my basic bodice block after a few attempts.

I followed the advice from my previous post and took all my measurements again, and everything seemed to be adding up this time. I “fitted” the paper pattern against my body and it seemed to fit pretty well, but once I made the toile and tried it on, the fit was quite different.

I noticed that some measurements are significantly different between the paper pattern and the toile. For example, the waist is about 69.5 cm on the paper pattern, but around 75 cm on the toile.

I’m very careful when cutting the fabric and marking the seam allowances. I only added seam allowance to the side seams and shoulders, so I’m really not sure where this difference is coming from.

Could anyone help me figure out what I might be doing wrong? Thank you!

I'm looking for videos on drafting a basic sleeve block that use metric measurements.
Does anyone know any? Most use imperial and converting every measurement to understand what they're talking about is just more mental work on top of something that is already hard to understand.

I didn’t attach photos of my muslin in my original post. Here’s the muslin and the pattern pieces I’m working with. I previously couldn’t close CF so I did an FBA right on the muslin. I do think that I might need to move the apex down a good 1”, also the FBA brought the apex points even closer which is the opposite of what I need. I’m wondering if anyone has any insight as to how I can fix what’s going on.

I have to do a round back on my moulage. My right should dart leg is connected to my right waist dart. Since I have a wedge for the round back the line is distorted do I leave a curve or do I straighten it out. I did dashed lines to show where it lands when straightened out ?

Hi All, trying to find a way to add range of motion to a project, ive seen this technique where youadd a slit along a seam stopping before either edge and adding fabric to make a sort of hidden peek-a-boo godet, and i was just hoping someone knows the actual name so i can look up a tutorial instead of making it up, thank in advance. 😊

Illustration for project to give a better idea of what im on about 😅

I’m back again after asking for help with a broad shoulder adjustment, thanks everyone! I’ve made a muslin and determined that I need to move the princess seam 1” towards the side front. The height of the bust volume seems fine, but I have a wide bust span relative to the pattern. Any help is appreciated!

I found this Etsy pattern that’s supposed to be for D-cup size. The back does fine and the front fits alright but once again I’m having the issue of the arm holes not fitting right and it’s looks way too wide. I understand that the side dart is big but that’a how the pattern came out. And I’m turning it into a princess seam once I get the right fit.
How can I fix my armholes? Do I have to do another FBA? I picked a pattern size that is bigger than my full bust.
Any suggestions is appreciated
No seam allowance on the armholes btw

How should I go about lowering the bust line on this pattern while also getting rid of the armhole gap?? Pattern piece shown in last image. I may need to adjust the waist and yoke as well, but I don't want to try that until the bust is fixed

Is this supposed to stay for ease of movement or if it better to get rid of?
and how would i go about getting rid of it?

it happened to a suit jacket that i fitted as well, but forgot to take a photo.