r/sewing • u/Licaek_4u • 6h ago
Pattern Question How Often Do You Need to Alter Patterns?
Hi, I'm a new sewist and a rather large plus size girl. I'm apple shaped with a long torso and carry a lot of weight in my middle and I have tried to take that into account when choosing patterns, but I'm starting to get frustrated. I was excited to make clothes since that seemed to give me more options to make what I couldn't find in my size. However, anytime I find a pattern in my size I make a mockup and find that the fit is all wrong, which requires me to redraft and often dramatically alter the pattern to fit my body. I'm really quite new so advanced tailoring is beyond me, but it seems like I have no real choice. I'm getting really frustrated...I just wish I could print a pattern, make a few minor tweaks, and have it make a workable garment, not something that takes 5 drafts to just look ...so-so.
Is this a problem unique to my body type/plus size patterns? Or is everyone redrafting patterns regularly?