fit to flatter

I've been meaning to post a link to this fabulous series of tutorials over on Stash, Knit, Repeat for a while. Although they are designed for knitters to help in choosing patterns and making modifications to get garments that really flatter your body shape, most of what's in them apply to any garment choices, not just knitting. There is so much to be learned from what Amy writes, and her photos are wonderfully illustrative of the difference a choice in neck shape or sleeve length can make.

I'm not creating an argument here that all clothing choices should be based on what is most flattering - that line of thinking can land us all in 'invisible' clothes pretty fast. But nonetheless, sometimes you want to know if something really suits your body shape more than something else, and Amy's lessons are really helpful in that regard. I think in part the value is in really looking at our own bodies in greater detail and recognising (as Trinny and Susannah would say) that it is all about shape, not size.

There has certainly been a few light bulb moments for me in understanding that choosing for shape isn't the same as choosing for size, and when you really do get your shape, your clothes look and feel so much better. In many ways understanding how to flatter my shape has helped me make bolder clothing choices, to stop dressing so much like a fat girl and more like someone who wants to make the most of how I look.

So head on over and check it out. And then let's all cross our fingers that someone half as smart as Amy can put something similar together for skirts and pants...

on the diagonal

green linen top, originally uploaded by Soozs.

I started this top a while ago. I was super excited about the fabric - a loose pure linen knit - and set out full of hope.

But the cowl neck just didn't work and the front was all floppy and shapeless. I was inspired by the front pleat and tuck work a few people had been doing (see here and here), but it just didn't look right. The strong vertical centre line worked like a big arrow pointing to my belly. Ahem.

A friend helped me with this version, invoking the classic, can't go wrong shape for big chicks (especially those of us with an ample bosom) the diagonal.

Pretty much every top I have ever owned with a strong diagonal line between the bust makes me look good. It gets rid of the uniboob problem and draws your eye somewhere off centre.

So I'm very happy with this.

I've been asked for pattern, but there isn't one. I've written up a few details about how I made it over on flickr, so go look there if you are interested. Happy to answer questions!

*edited to add - yes, the fabric is fantastic. I bought it locally at cutting edge here in Melbourne, which is a great source of unusual quality fabrics. I have never seen a linen knit before or since and I would be more than happy to hear from anyone who sees more of it! It wasn't cheap (cool unusual stuff rarely is) at $28 a meter, but the top took 1.5 m, so that's $42. And I think that when I have clothes made from really good fabric, it lasts and even more importantly, people are always looking and commenting on the fabric, not me.

Control or How I Plan to Do More in the Time Available Without Actually Cloning

A little while ago I spreadsheeted (not really a word) the birthday knitting for next year to try and keep me focussed (stop laughing). Then I realised that all my craftiness needs to be time-managed so to try and shoehorn a bit more in, I have added sewing projects as well.

INTELLECTUAL ARRANGEMENT

Column headings on the spreadsheet are

• :date due:
• :craft type:
• :portability: (because time at home and awake and able to concentrate on craft = about an hour a day but I can usually squeeze another hour or two in by having portable projects with me at all times)
• :recipient:
• :item:
• :materials (what to use and if I had to acquire anything else):
• :date to be given:
• :notes: (I find it useful to record if I need to blog the project and on which blog - helps me remember to take photos etc)

PHYSICAL ARRANGEMENT - KNITTING

In the madness of the days before Christmas I needed to feel in control of something so I invested 3 hours uploading (newly acquired) boodle to Ravelry, searching for and queuing patterns, annotating both the queue and the stash record with the pattern info and printing out the patterns. Another few hours here and there were invested in gathering together yarn, pattern, needles and notions and popping them all into project bags (this is where having waaaaay too many needles etc. comes in really handy). I attached a tag to each project bag with a sample of yarn. The tag lists pattern information, due date etc. and contents of bag. Bags were then divided into portable and home projects with some of the portables stashed in a box in the boot of my car. On the sewing list is extra project bags!

PHYSICAL ARRANGEMENT - SEWING.

Fabric and notions stored with pattern (or at least the scrap of paper with my idea sketched on) and either put in a bag with a label, or pinned to the garment with a label with details of date due, notions and work needed. If I haven't finished something, or it's something I can do in stages, I leave a note of where I'm up to. Trust me, you can sew on several buttons between putting dinner on and turing the chops.

I'll let you know how it all works, but at least I feel organised and potentially super-productive.

Do you have a favourite craft organisation or time-management tip?

Also on Unravelled.

Psst - sale starts early!

If you aren't in Melbourne I am sorry to disappoint, but if you are listen here.

I went in to Myers today to look for some T-shirts. My three favourite T-shirts (which are all MATERNITY ones from TARGET because I am so CLASSY) are very much the worse for wear. I haven't been able to part with them because aside from their age they are perfect. Light weight cotton with enough lycra to have stretch but not so much as to have no structure. They fit me really well - tighter up top and looser down below, V-neck with short and flattering shaped sleeves.

For two years I have been searching for replacements in vain. Don't get me started.

Anyway, since I am going to the beach on Boxing day I had reached the end of my tether and was all up for some compromise to save me from looking quite so much like a sad old lady wearing badly aged maternity Ts with my shorts.

And can I tell you? All the boxing day sale merchandise in the plus size section (now on level 2 Lonsdale during the store renovations) has already been marked down. The sales chick told me they don't have time to do everything on sale day and there isn't that much business up there in the few days before Christmas so they just go ahead and mark everything down early! I'm not a big fan of the sales - can't stand the crowds and never find anything great - but now I think I've just never started early enough.

Showing unbelievable restraint I looked only at T-shirts (well, and bras, but that's a whole other post) and ended up buying 5, all at half price or less. And I could have bought more! Basic run of the mill stuff by Regatta, Yarra Trail and the like, slightly more groovy stuff by Urbane and Piper and some really cool designer stuff by Mink and Estelle were all well discounted, basics as well as more hit and miss lines. There were also lots of dresses, pants and all the rest. Not that I was looking. One top I bought was not shown as marked down, but they still took 50% off at the register.

So if you can squeeze the time out of Christmas eve and you are in the market for some new clothes, head on down.

And guys - will someone please do us some posts here? Large needs some author support!

shirt renovation finale

So I did end up putting in the bust darts and now the shirt is really a lot better. It took an extra half hour because I had to re-hem the back to make it shorter and while I was at it I deepened the front and back waist darts. Here's a final shot of the before and after.
Conclusion? With an hour and half's effort you can turn a crappy cheap shirt into a passable garment. I don't think I'd bother for a lot of clothes, but the real difference here was the starting fabric and the fact that the loose and long design gave me some fabric to play with.

shirt renovation

I think most large ladies have a big old boxy sacky shirt in their wardrobe. I’ve had a few. I buy them in moments of weakness but really, I don’t much like wearing them. Too classically fat wear.

This one came from Target a while ago. I was seduced by the pure linen fabric, the go with anything green colour and the reasonable price tag. It promised cool and loose wear for a hot day.

But I’ve never liked that it is overly long (so when I sit for long periods it all bunches and creases up above my hips), that the sleeves are not quite the right length and the cuff on them a wee bit tight, and the utter absence of shape makes the whole thing sack like. Like I say, classic fat wear.

But I recently sewed a linen skirt I absolutely love and since this shirt was the best possible colour match in my wardrobe I set out to rehabilitate it.

I started by adding darts to the front and back so it had at least the impression of a waist. I pinned up about where I thought they should be and then tried the shirt on, adjusted their location and sewed them in.

Next I cut off the cuffs and shortened the sleeves to elbow length. A while ago I was given the tip that eyes are drawn to the horizontal line across your body where your sleeves end, so it is ‘slimming’ to have sleeves finish at your narrowest point. For me this is about elbow length. I did plain old double turned hems because I just didn’t have time to remake cuffs.

Lastly I shortened the whole shirt by a good 10cm. Again, plain old double turned hems.

The whole exercise took about an hour and even if the photos don’t quite show it, it is a vast improvement. It is still a long and loose shirt, but it now has a bit of shape.

Despite my work the shirt still has some fundamental flaws. There are no bust darts, so the front kicks out and hangs short, and the sleeves don’t sit flat against my body because the sleeve cap isn’t well fitted. These are basic fittings that make a great deal of difference to how good a garment looks, and sadly the shortcuts so often taken in plus size and cheaper clothes. Sleeve caps are hard to get right, and because people are plus size for a range of reasons, the differences in fits are much greater than for smaller people.

If I had more time (and the shirt wasn’t so old and thus unworthy of larger scale rehabilitation) I would have unpicked the side seams, added a dart at bust level, sewed the sides up again and evened the bottom hem by taking more off the back than the front. Now that I write that, I really wish I had…actually I think that might be on this weekend’s to do list.

This has given me a bit of motivation for a few more home renovations and I am eying off some other items in the wardrobe. Have you renovated any clothing?

beth ditto 101

Let's face it - to have a blog about fashion, larger lives, and people who are firmly stomping outside whatever boxes our culture may set, it wouldn't make sense not to have a quick cheat sheet about Beth Ditto.

Lead singer for the Gossip, she's also been very vocal about the fashion industry - check out her advice column for the Guardian, her reply to Topshop wanting to use the band, and featuring the likes of Yves St Laurent, Louis Vuitton & Prada, an amazing fashion spread for Pop magazine .
(Sidenote - if anyone knows what the heck Prada are doing to mohair to make it come out with that laminated look, do tell in the comments!)

Words to live by:

"Just remember - fashion is something that is prepackaged, bought and sold, but style, like art, is a primal instinct. My number-one theory in life is that style is proportional to your lack of resources - the less you have, the more stylish you're likely to be."

Rock on, Beth Ditto.

dressing room try on. yes? no? nup.

dressing room try on. yes? no? nup.
Originally uploaded by gusseting

Greetings & salutations,
I'm kylie, and I should start by saying that I'm no super organised fashionista. I have a floordrobe, and wrestle with the question of what to wear on a daily basis.
Getting back to basics - something that I find handy is a digital camera, which gives a great unbiased look at how you look in something. Shown is a recent dressing room experience - it's kinda cute, but stayed in the (vintage, smith st melbs) shop.


One of the reasons why I signed up to contribute to large was after seeing the following from sooz:

In real life I find feedback and advice, inspiration and community invaluable but often limited. I want to see more images of big people looking good, I want some role models and some advice from people who are unafraid, practical and innovative.

So, it's going to be fun to do a little hunting!