Finding the fit

I need to talk about fitting. This is the main reason I started sewing. I hate the way RTW clothes just don't look that great on me. And I'm not big on fixing, although I'm trying... The obsession with the fit is not that unusual given my family. My mom has always brought this up while buying clothes, which is why I love to go shopping with her: I can just try stuff on and she doesn't care about the style but the fit, style I can choose. She got it from home too. My grandparents were quite particular about it. Especially my grandmother, she would never wear anything that didn't fit just right or wasn't ironed.

This is what has always troubled me with sewing. I mean, I learned sewing in school, but I learned the sewing technique, I never learned to fit anything. And as long as you're still a girl, it's ok, it wasn't so important, since you don't really have boobs or a butt, but once those came along, the fit became an issue. So, now, I'm really investing on that. I know I can sew (not that I don't have room for improvement there as well), but I also want to make sure that if I'm really taking the time to make my own clothes that they will also fit and look great on me.

So: Craftsy. I'm a bit addicted actually. But I like just watching the courses... I started a couple of fitting courses and while I like Sew the Perfect Fit by Lynda Maynard a lot, I'm not sure if I'm learning to tackle any kind of fitting issue, although it is very comprehensive and I haven't watched it all the way through. I do think it's worth the money, though. Another one I started watching is specifically about pants: Pant Fitting Techniques by Sandra Betzina. One can clearly see that she has a lot of experience and knowledge, but I think the course could use a bit of organization. She also makes all the different adjustments to the same pattern piece, which makes it a bit confusing. And it suffers just about a general lack of planning. I'm still watching it though, because there is a lot of good information, but I think I might need to watch it few times to actually understand.

But then, I came across a new Craftsy course: Fast-Track Fitting by Joi Mahon. First time fitting really made sense to me. The idea is that the changes are made to the pattern according to your measurements before making a muslin. This way, the muslin needs only a bit of tweaking. And this course was definitely planned well. It was always clear which adjustment she was doing and where. Only small annoyance for me was the way she pronounced "measure", but hey, that's nothing really. I haven't actually applied any of this yet, but I will soon. I think I will even tackle my disastrous Pastille again and see if this method makes it ok. I really didn't know what to do with the muslin fitting, it was just such a weird fit. I've heard similar things about the new Hawthorn, so I think I will try my Colette book patterns first and then decide if I want to try their other patterns.