Welcome to a the first in a series of posts about sewing for changing bodies! A few months back, someone suggested we write about sewing for a changing body shape. That could mean gaining or losing weight, fluctuating body size because of health, or pregnancy. Today, we are going to focus on tips for sewing when you are gaining weight, because that is my own personal expertise. I’ve gotten fatter and happier over the 8 years I’ve been sewing my wardrobe, and learned some things in the process!
Caveats: My body is mine and I chose to use the words fat and curvy. You can use whatever words you are comfortable with. Please remember that size is not a measure of worth, health, or anything else. It is numbers, and numbers are neutral. Stay nice, as you Sewcialists always do!
I’m a “small fat” person, which means that I can buy clothes in most stores and sew most patterns, but I’m always on the cusp of too big, and sometimes I’m sized out of things I’d like to have. Let me tell you, that feeling sucks, and it is why I was an Editor of the Curvy Sewing Collective before I restarted Sewcialists! I was a size 14 in indie patterns when I joined CSC, but back when sizes usually ended at 16, I already felt large. Cut to 2020, and I’ve gone from a 40/35/45″ in 2012 to 46/41/52″. I now sew a size 20 in indie patterns, and I feel more confident and happy with my body than ever!
Essentially, I’ve gained about 1″ circumference a year, which my doctor says is extremely common. That means that most semi-fitted woven or stable knit garments will fit me for two or maybe three years. Over time, I’ve developed some strategies for making sure that I get the longest wear out of garments before I outgrow them. That’s what I’m going to share with you today!
1. Sew Stretch!
Did you know that fat spreads more than muscle when we move? When I asked Instagram for input on this post, almost everyone suggested elastic waistbands, stretch wovens and knits! Stretch means your clothes are comfortable throughout the day, and also allows leeway as your size changes.
2. Add extra length or width to knit garments when possible.
Have you ever noticed that as you gain weight, your underwear don’t come up as high, your t-shirt seems shorter, or your leggings crop up at the ankles? When you are bigger, the fabric stretches horizontally, making it shorter vertically. (Picture what happens when you pull sideways on a rectangle of knit fabric.) I like to add an inch of extra length for insurance so that I can keep wearing the garment at different sizes.
3. Leave large seam allowances and consider your construction order.
One obvious strategy is to leave yourself generous seam allowances so that you can go back and alter the garment later. To make that easier, try this tip from a Brooke, a professional costumer: finish the edges of each pattern piece separately, and sew with the seam allowances open. That makes it easy to go back and refit! Megan suggests adding side seams in the waist band so that you can open up the side seams of the leg and waistband together to adjust.
4. Add ease where you gain weight.
Many people I asked suggested sewing boxy shapes and loose fitting clothes. If you do like a more fitted or semi-fitted look, plan ahead! Gathering, pleats or a swingy shape can mean the garments looks sharp now but also fits if you get larger.
5. Buy patterns that can grow with you.
Here’s a great tip from Jennifer: Choose patterns where you don’t already fall into the largest size. That means you can reprint or retrace as your size changes!
5. Sew for the body you have!
Sew your precious fabric because there will always be more fabric in your future. If you really love the fabric, consider buying double the amount so you can remake the garment in a few years!
Make fitted garments if that’s what you want to wear, even if they only fit for a year or two. Old fashion rules about “flattering” or “hiding your body” are out; wearing whatever style you want to is in!
6. Pass it on to a good home.
I loved this plaid dress… but as my hips and bust got bigger, the hemline rose up and after a couple of years I passed it on to a friend at a clothing swap. I find it much easier to part with beloved clothes when I think someone else will enjoy them. If I really love a fabric, then I’ll refashion it into something I can enjoy.
7. My final tip is: IT’S JUST CLOTHING!
Wear what makes you happy and gives you a spring in your step. If it isn’t fitting right, you won’t feel good. You also won’t feel good if you punish yourself for your size by wearing uncomfortable clothes or things you don’t like. You deserve nice things.
As I said at the beginning, my own experience is of slowly gaining weight each year. However, we would love to hear from people who have different experience of size changes (pregnancy, fluctuations, losing weight etc), and I hope we get some volunteers to write follow up posts!
Please leave your own tip, strategies, comments and thoughts in the comments! We ask that you stay kind to yourself and others.
Gillian is co-founder of the Sewcialists. She loves colourful clothing and cats! She blogs at https://craftingarainbow.com/, and is @craftingarainbow on Instagram.
Excellent advice
I”m glad you enjoyed the post! <3
I love what you have written! I am in lockdown (seriously not going out) and have already added pounds which I don’t welcome. Your advice and very positive attitude is very helpful at this time. Thank you!
There are so many memes going around about gaining weight during lockdown, and they make me so annoyed! Changes in weight are a perfectly normal reaction to stress, and there’s nothing wrong with being bigger or smaller. Use it as an excuse to make some killer clothes for when we are free!
What a brave post! You have totally embraced your body and I applaud you. That said I prefer not to try and refashion garments that are too small as I’d rather make something new. Like you stated, it’s just fabric and there’s always more to love!
It is pretty low on my list of fun activities too, I have to say! I only do it when I really love the fabric, or I worked hard on the garment. I’ve got a few maxi dresses I’ve outgrown that I would like to cut tank tops from, for example. Still haven’t done it though! 😉
Thank you so much for this post. I’m so bored of seeing all the fitspo and diets posts about what we should all feel guilty about in lockdown! Very nice to see some practical tips and acknowledgement that bodies just do change, and that’s ok!
It’s funny and rather perfect how the timing of this post worked out! I started writing is well before quarantine, but it is certainly more timely with all those BS memes about how bad it is to gain weight while stuck at home! I”m having so much fun sewing clothes that brighten my day, whether I’m home or eventually back out in the world.
Great tips there, thank you! I’m a bit bamboozled by one though as I’m a fairly new sewist – what does sew the seams open mean please?
Also I love your black shorts and patterned top combo, so stylish!
Su
Su: I’m sure G will clarify, but the way I interpret this is that, instead of serging the seams together (as one might do with the side seam of a shirt, for example – this is where there’s barely any seam allowance left because the serger cuts off the excess fabric as it overlocks the edge of that fabric to prevent fray), you would treat the side seam of each garment piece – i.e. the front and the back – separately (by serging or pinking or nothing at all if the fabric is knit, cuz knits don’t fray).
Then, when you sew the front and back together – to continue with the side seam analogy – you’d use a sewing machine which would enable you to create whatever depth of seam allowance is desired. If you want to have options as time goes on, leaving an inch of fabric in the allowance will enable you to rip out the machine sewn side seam and resew it, closer to the finished/unfinished edge, in order to provide more room.
As a new sewist, you might not own a serger – in which case you are always required to finish your seams in some non-serged fashion, presuming that those seams may fray. In that case, all you need to remember is that a deeper seam allowance (1″ vs 0.5″, for example) will give you fabric to utilize if you require more garment circumference at a later date.
Sewing the seams open, as I interpret it, means leaving the finished seam allowance “free” and pressing it to either side (aka “open”) once you’ve machine stitched the seam.
Yes to what K-Line said! And what a good question, because it took me a lot of googling and i still can’t find a clear explanation! I think the first picture in this post shows it best: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/pressing-seams-to-the-side-or-open-2821932
Basically, sewing your seams open makes it easier to unpick them later and adjust if you want. The usual way is to press seam allowances to the back of the garment (like at the side seams) and that can make it harder to unpick when all your seams intersect.
Thank you both, I understand much better now.
Great tips, my weight and shape goes up and down and all these tips work for changing sizes both ways. Also have a pile to put your refashion / refits in and then when you’re ready hit it ! I find this more motivating than doing them all as they come up and with a fairly short investment in time you get a heap of ‘new’ clothes
That’s a great approach!
Fantastic, a lovely piece of reality. You look fabulous in every picture x thank you.
Thank you! I had fun putting the pictures together and seeing all my different hair styles and body changes!
OK – I’m so excited by this post! Haven’t even read it yet but about to do so (at which point I’ll prob spam you with comments!) 🙂
I love seeing “Gillian over the years” because you are endlessly adorable – that asymmetric haircut was my fave! – and I remember those outfits 🙂 For me, any body shape change (fatter, thinner, pregnant – that was the hardest) is exceedingly challenging for me. Not as a sewist or knitter – from that vantage point I feel entirely capable to use math and gorgeous, fluid fabrics to make the garment that will fit best. (Alright, it goes wrong semi-regularly, but I’m still comfortable with it conceptually.) I love to see what people create when they make their own garments because they are catering to their specific proportions at any given time and that’s MAGIC! It actually makes me feel joy.
I flippantly suggested, years ago, that I have body dysmorphia but really, the clinical OCD I manage has a way of making a standard experience – aka body change – epic. My brain rejects disorder, and as far as it’s concerned, my changing body – which is totally normal and natural – is also unacceptable. At times, I see around this. Right now, I’m in an ebb and it’s a bit of a struggle.
Theme that really resonates: “fatter and happier”. It could be, for someone else “thinner and happier” or “fitter and happier” or “always the same and happy”. Contentedness, alas, is not a natural gift for me and I am so inspired by you and other sewing bloggers who live so intelligently with body positivity – because that only contributes to the beautiful garments you create and they, in turn, give you dynamite confidence cuz you look fab. Intellectually, I am all there. The challenge is, for me, that my opinion is couched in almost visceral self-judgment when change is afoot. No mind – I still sew and knit mindfully (and chicly!) for the person I am right now and, with knitting mostly, I keep the prized projects that took 100 hours, even if they’re not in current rotation, for when my body changes again. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in almost 50 years, change is inevitable. The next thing to learn is how to find equilibrium in change.
PS: There are tons of things I’ve upcycled because I know I will not fit into them again – I mean, time and gravity are real things! 🙂 so I’m not trying to suggest that I keep all the former outfits for when I’m “back to normal” (ridiculous terminology). I just can’t part with something I may need to recreate in 2 years in exactly the same size. Kxo
You know yourself extremely well, Kristin, which is always your strength! Well, that and perseverance and wit and many other things! OCD seems like a very tough taskmaster. I wonder if like my anxiety, it spirals when more and more things are out of your control? You remind me that OCD is a topic we have never explored, and I bet it impacts sewing a lot. Hmmm – food for thought!
Oh – we’ve gotta pick up on that topic 🙂 So many rabbit holes!
I love this post Gillian. Most of my clothes seem to fit me through my weight fluctuations, because they’re often knits, aren’t fitted through the waist and stomach (where most of my fat is concentrated) and have elastic waistbands rather than fitted ones. And when they don’t fit? I get to sew another one (whether in a smaller or a larger size). It’s all good!
Lara, would you be up for contributing a few paragraphs to our post on sewing as you lose weight? I’m curious if you took in your clothes as you went, or if you just sewed more!
Very happy to contribute! Have adjusted some elastic waists, but many of my clothes still fit. Then I just sew more! Feel free to send me an email with specific questions.
Hi Gillian, Thanks so much for the post. Your forthright discussion and tips are so helpful. Sewing open seams is a great tip for many different circumstances, ty! I am in the midst of trying to decide whether or not to alter some recent makes or wear them as is. I recently lost 30 lbs, but I love the makes. I am thinking I will leave them as is unless the fit becomes a practical issue. I love myself whatever size I am and what better way to show it!
I think I want another Fiona too! 😉 I’m glad you are getting to enjoy your old favourite makes even while your figure has changed. A little bit looser or a little bit tighter often doesn’t matter that much!
Ooooo, I wanted to add you should make another Fiona dress, it looks great on you!
Love the post Gillian! I feel sad for people when they are down about gaining weight (that’s fine, feelings are what they are) but then they won’t sew anything because they’re unhappy. I totally agree to sew today for who you are today.
I realized recently that I gained 15lbs since January 2019. But I like fitted clothes so I’ll keep sewing them even though I want to lose the 15. If I do, great and if not, that’s okay too.
I had breast reduction surgery recently (so, so happy I made the decision to do it!!!). I now have no freaking clue how to fit my upper body. So much changed. I have neck fit and shoulder fit and armhole fit and back fit issues that I just didn’t have or didn’t recognize before. I’m still working through it! I had to get rid of probably 80% of my dresses and tops. Sad to let go of some favorites but I get to make new things!!!
My sister had a breast reduction last year and she is so happy! It was fascinating to both of us how taking the equivalent of a block of butter out of each side didn’t actually affect her clothing that much – thank goodness for stretchy clothing! Sounds like with your fitted clothes it made more of a difference – but now think of much easier all your sewing and fitting will be!!!
Love the post Gillian! I feel sad for people when they are down about gaining weight (that’s fine, feelings are what they are) but then they won’t sew anything because they’re unhappy. I totally agree to sew today for who you are today.
I realized recently that I gained 15lbs since January 2019. But I like fitted clothes so I’ll keep sewing them even though I want to lose the 15. If I do, great and if not, that’s okay too.
I had breast reduction surgery recently (so, so happy I made the decision to do it!!!). I now have no freaking clue how to fit my upper body. So much changed. I have neck fit and shoulder fit and armhole fit and back fit issues that I just didn’t have or didn’t recognize before. I’m still working through it! I had to get rid of probably 80% of my dresses and tops. Sad to let go of some favorites but I get to make new things!!!
This is such a great post, thank you. I love to sew, but have been avoiding making things for myself for some time now because of my rapidly changing body. Chemotherapy and subsequent anti hormone treatment to prevent my cancer coming back shot me into instant menopause in my late thirties. I’ve gained a little weight, but my shape has changed drastically. My waist disappeared, my legs are slimmer, my arms got larger. Who knows what’s next. My body continues to change, making me reluctant to invest time sewing garments, and I also struggle to reconcile my new shape with the styles I like to wear.
Your post has reminded me that my garments don’t have to fit me for ever (it’s the making that’s most enjoyable for me anyway) and encouraged me to look a bit more objectively at my new lumps and bumps. I’m going to rummage through the fabric stash and just have a go.
Jaye, first of all – congratulations for being on the other side of chemothereapy! You ABSOLUTELY DESERVE BEAUTIFUL CLOTHES! ENjoy the sewing process, and celebrate the body you have, my dear!
Dear Gillian, I have to thank you from the depths of my heart for this! In the ten years I have been sewing, I have created only garments that fit my shoulders and flare out to cover my bust and belly… the classic sack dresses. Never have I sewn the 1950’s fitted and flared dresses and skirts I long for; who wants to enlarge a pattern to accommodate a 44 inch waist when the garment will be wearable for such a short time? You have emboldened me. Thank you for the wisdom of your experience!
Sweetie, your waist is only 3″ bigger than mine! And I’m 5’2″, so all my curves are happening on a very short figure. You are going to look tremendous in those fit and flare dresses!! Have you considered the Cashmerette Upton dress? https://www.cashmerette.com/collections/cashmerette-patterns/products/upton-dress-pdf-pattern Or there are a few Cashmerette fit and flare knit dresses which would be accomodating to body changes AND still give you a saucy retro vibe. You deserve the clothes that will make you happy!!!
I am crying happy tears!
This is a truly great post! I think there’s a neglected area of body change these days when it comes to aging. As I approach 40, I can tell there are differences in my shape and embracing them can be hard. The body perfection our culture idolizes does not stop for women in their 20’s and there are actually a lot of middle aged and older women who struggle with body image because of this. I would love a post on adjusting your sewing as you age: how to flatter, how to alter, and how to adjust for an inevitably changing shape.
That is such a great suggestion! I thrifted a denim jacket from a brand for mature women a while back, and damn if the thing didn’t fit my rounded shoulders perfectly. I’m pushing 40 like you, and want my clothes to fit this current body!
Thank you so much for this article and being honest about your measurements. You look beautiful and thats because you love the clothes you are wearing and feel good in them and because you are genuinely beautiful. I have spent a lifetime longing to be something I’m not, or miserable because I am that size but the diet and exercise regime necessary to keep that shape makes me miserable! I wish I hadn’t wasted that time and that I had done the things you advise, and I’m making this comment in the hopes if there is a younger sewist out there who thinks like me, please don’t waste your energy, make stuff in the right size and feel and look fabulous now.
At last at age 62 I am finally measuring myself properly and making the size that refers to not a size smaller cos I can’t possibly be that big!
Thank you again for this wonderful article and your encouragement. Btw I use fat – usually fat old bag about myself but not because I’m being kind to myself, I wouldn’t dream of saying that to anyone else! I like curvy though and maybe I’ll try and own that in future. Thanks x
Hi Janey! You made my day, thank you. I am so happy to think of you out there sewing clothes for the body you have, and making the lovely things you deserve! It’s a terrible waste to go through life miserable because of a few pounds (or 50 pounds, or any amount!) Here’s to being absolutely fabulous in your 60’s and beyond!
I love this topic, Gillian!! I would like to see this series talk about a) dealing with weight gain after trauma and b) sizing out of patterns you own and waiting for them to be released with extended sizing.
Oooh, now there are some excellent suggestions! Honestly, the memes going around about gaining weight in quarantine make me so mad, because this is a traumatic event and gaining/losing weight is a perfectly normal response to stress. I don’t have any expertise in that area, but I’ll keep my eyes peeled from someone who does – or maybe you’d consider writing for us if you have a story to tell?
Thanks! I could be into that… let me sit with it for a few days. I would really like to!
Helpful post, thank you. I have found my shape changing as I get older. Waist size is now 2 sizes bigger than hip size, and boob droop is also a thing, I always have to alter bust darts by lowering them 2 inches.
Thank goodness you can sew to accomodate those body changes! They’ll come to us all in time! 😉
Some really useful tips, I’m currently pregnant and it’s such a minefield trying to dress for the body I have now, knowing it will change pretty drastically over the next 5 months and not really knowing where I will be at the end of that. I don’t want to pause my sewing as it’s my hobby even more than a practical thing. I also have practical needs as I’m still nursing my elder child and the season is changing in the uk. I’m loving the open seams suggestions, and considering adding buttonholes to the inside waistband of elastic trousers so that I can unpick and access the elastic for the future. So much to think about and don’t want to waste my time/fabric!
Yess! Thanks for the great article
Great post, thank you! I second Nikki’s comment about changes due to age, which can overlay normal weight gain and loss. The parts of the body change shape, absolutely, and in relationship to each other as well.
My tip is to experiment with different ways of structuring garments. I say it that way, over trying different styles, because trying different styles is rather loaded terminology. So, a different structure would be, say, the difference in how a garment fits and hangs on the body, such as set in sleeves versus a raglan sleeve. The raglan sleeve is much more accommodating of arm, shoulder and upper back shape over multiple sizes – or I should say, CAN be – than a set in sleeve. Especially if the shoulder seam of the raglan style is curved, not straight. Such a subtle detail makes so much difference, I can’t over emphasize it. Ditto neck line treatments and other specific body areas and how the parts of the body relate to one another. You touched on this when you mentioned how hems go up when the middle increases in size.
Bookmarking this site, and hope to see lots more on this topic!
What a wonderful post, thank you! And I was immediately struck by how much happier and more confident you seem now than in your earlier pics. I’m grateful that you have embraced your changing body and that you share your kind and thoughtful words with us.
Recently I heard you on a sewing podcast and am now reading through your blog. The suggestions in this post are very helpful and when I sew a dress today I am going to finish the seams of individual pieces before sewing them together. To me, that is a very helpful tip for when I sew a special fabric that I might be reluctant to use because of changing body size.
One thing I would like to figure out is how to make my back piece an inch lower than my front piece to accommodate my larger bottom!
Thank you for the blog and I will keep reading.
Great post ! During lockdown I lost 4 pounds and regained them plus 5 additional ones since back to work. I noticed that some pants I didn’t like before fit better now, so I suspect I tend to choose my bottom garments a bit too large as I know any additional weight will pile on thighs and butt. I just spent some time cutting the side seams of 2 black panties and inserting 1″ of black rayon knit on each side. The finish could be better, but I feel super comfortable ! If they wear well I will repeat on more pieces.