MAE SEWALONG # 2 - FBA & SBA TUTORIAL

 Welcome back to sew-along post # 2. This post i am going to show you how to complete an FBA & SBA on the Mae blouse. I did mention in yesterday's post that Bluegingerdoll patterns are drafted to a D cup, which received a round of applause from a few readers, Yay! But obviously for those of you with different cups sizes, not so Yay. So instead of being restricted by your cup size, i  think it is an important to know how to complete Full bust adjustments or small bust adjustments, that way it doesn't matter what your bust size is, because you will be able to adjust any pattern to your right bust size. And  cup size wont rule your life, and that's a Yay all round!

So before we start, just a quick recap on yesterdays post. If you are sewing along you should have your fabric picked out, pre-washed and ready to go, your pattern traced to your size,  a muslin sewn up and tested the fit and  established if you need to make any adjustments  for a better fit.

OK lets jump in shall we:

What is an FBA & SBA? 

 

 In simply terms:

 

Full Bust Adjustment ( FBA) - You  need some more room for your girls, it is too tight in the bust area, they are getting squashed/flattened and  they need some air.

Small Bust Adjustment ( SBA) - You need less room for your girls, they is drowning in there.

So how do you know if you need to complete either a FBA or SBA?

 Simply! Just refer to that handy size chart on the back of the pattern envelope and:

FBA - If your bust measurement falls into the larger size column than the rest of your body.

SBA -  If your bust measurement falls into the smaller size column than the rest of your body.

Another way to tell, is if you’ve already made a muslin, you might notice that the bust area just isn't right i.e too loose, excess fabric, fabric sagging or too tight, the bust apex sitting too low or its  just simply looking just plain weird. Then you will need to complete a bust adjustment.  

Calculate your FBA or SBA 

Calculating your FBA & SBA is easy. You just need to figure out what size you would be if you used your  bust measurement... Got it? OK, then compare this size to what size you would if you used your other measurements ( waist, hip) as your size. Then grab your front bodice pattern piece and measure the distance between these sizes. TA DA! This is your FBA or SBA amount.Which ever adjustment you are going to make, this is the amount we will either increase or reduce the bust by.

What tools do i need?

Grab your traced Mae front bodice pattern piece, pencil, ruler, scissors, sticky tape and pattern paper. 

* Please note the bodice images i am using throughout the tutorial, all are working with the seam allowance included.

First up i will show the steps in completing an FBA, the SBA follows exactly the same steps, but instead of spreading the pattern piece for more room we overlap it for less room. For learning purposes it is easier just to focus on the one bust adjustment first up.

STEP 1 

To being with, cut off the sleeve section on the Mae bodice front.

 
 

 

STEP 2 

Get your pencils out and draw your slash lines onto the bodice front, as follow:

Line 1 - Draw 1/3 up the armhole to the apex and then straight through the centre of the vertical dart down to the hem line.

Line 2 - There is no side dart on the Mae blouse so you need to  slant the dart as if there were one. So draw Line 2 slanted from the side of the bodice and extending to the bust apex.

Line 3 - Draw anywhere below the bust apex in the section shown in the diagram.

Step 3

Grab your scissors ( not the fabric ones!) and cut line 1 starting from the hem line and then up to, but not through,  the armhole edge. On the armhole edge, snip a tiny amount in towards line 1, but not completely through,  to create a tiny hinge at this point. ( See diagram below)
Then cut line 2  up to line 1 at the bust apex point, again not right up to line 1, leave enough room to create another tiny hinge.

 



 

















 

Step 4 

 Now you need to tape down  the front section of the bodice, to keep it in place. So i would recommend placing some new pattern paper underneath the bodice piece you are altering and tape it onto that.

This is where we start to make the adjustments. Pull the bodice pieces apart at the horizontal arrows along line 1, using  the FBA amount you calculated that  you  would need for the FBA. You need to keep the long edge of line 1 parallel.  So to do this, keep the bodice completely  flat,  with the armhole going up  and the side panels dropping down - Line 2 will open up and form the side dart.
Now you need to keep these two side sections in place, at the pink dots on the diagram, so tape em down

Step 5 

Our last line we need to cut is Line 3. So cut  line 3 straight across and lower it  until the  bottom edges of the pattern sections are even. Tape it down at the pink dots, as shown on the diagram.

 

 Step 6  

Now because you have already taped your bodice pattern piece onto new pattern piece, you will have noticed that you have filled in these newly created FBA spaces. If you haven't taped it down onto new pattern paper, then you will need to fill in the openings with new pattern paper. Nearly down, all you need to do now is re-draw your darts on the bodice,  as shown on the diagram below. Most probably you will also need to fix up your seam allowances, so do that now as well.

 

Step 7 

 Tape  those sleeve back onto the Blouse, and cut out your new bodice pattern piece! 

 

SBA - SMALL BUST ADJUSTMENT

As i said at the beginning of the post, to complete and SBA on the Mae blouse, you basically follow the  steps from start to finish exactly the same as the FBA i.e draw your lines, cut them etc but instead of spreading the pattern at the 3 drawn lines, as you would for an FBA ,you simply just overlap the pattern at these same lines, using the SBA amount you have calculated. Easy!

 































 

FBA & SBA -  Important things to note!

*Making these bust adjustments will change the size of the waistline (IE make it smaller or wider) so you may need to make an adjustment at the waistline to maintain your correct size.
 *Depending on which bust adjustment you have completed and how much you have shifted the pattern to allow for more room or less, you will have to 'true' your patterns style lines IE at the side seams, hem line etc. 
* Keep the adjusted bodice pattern piece for your future reference, don't chuck it out!
* Once you have adjusted your bodice pattern, either with an FBA or SBA make another muslin and test again.



I hope this helps. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me!

Catch ya tomorrow for the next sew-along post ;)

Abby
x

BILLIE JEAN SEW-ALONG # 2 - FULL BUST ADJUSTMENT aka (FBA) - PRINCESS SEAM BODICE..

OK sew -alongers, this blog post we are getting into the nitty gritty of the Billie Jean pattern, the serious side of business, just kidding don't panic!  
I will be showing you how to do a Full Bust Adjustment aka (FBA) on a princess seam bodice for the bodacious of bust! 
It may seem a little bit mysterious and you may be slightly panic stricken at the thought of doing an FBA, but i assure you it is easy! And i am going to walk you through the process step by step, so read on!

So  how do you know if you need to do an FBA on your pattern?

Simple! When you check the size chart on the back of the pattern envelope, and you  have noticed that your bust measurements fall into the larger size column, compared to the rest of your body measurements - this means, then you most likely will need to do one. But if this isn't giving you any clues or your still not sure,  here are  a few other ways to know if you need to do an FBA: 

* When you are trying to close the bodice of the dress and you can't!  And while doing so the girls are getting squashed flat!
* The waistline is sitting higher at the front then the back of the bodice.
*The dart apex is hitting you too high.
* Your fabric is  pulling around your arm syce and basically  all over the place.
* Just an  all round feeling of un-comfort whilst  wearing the bodice.

How do I calculate my FBA?

Basically all you need to do to calculate your FBA, is just figure out what size you would be if you used your bust measurement. Then  compare this  it to what size you would be if you used your other  measurements ( waist, hip) to determine your size. You will then need to measure this distance between those two sizes on your bodice front pattern piece. The total distance measured  is how big your FBA will be.

Tools you need to complete an FBA:

• your side front & centre front  bodice paper pattern pieces
• Pattern paper/ tracing paper 
• a pencil 
• a ruler 
• Sticky tape 
• scissors

OK,  let's begin shall we...

Draw your slash lines:

We will start with the bodice side front pattern piece, and draw our 4 slash lines needed to make the adjustments:

Draw the first slash line vertically from the waistline and up to the where the bust is at its fullest. Mark this line - LINE 1.

The second slash line you will continue to draw line 1 diagonally up from the bust point towards the armhole, roughly about 1/3 of the way up the armhole. 
Mark this line - LINE 2

The third slash line is drawn diagonally from the full bust point and out towards the side seam.
 Mark this line - LINE 3.

The final slash line is drawn 1'' up from the waistline and out into the  princess seam. 
Mark the line - LINE 4.



Cut and spread

Now that we have our slash lines drawn we can cut and spread them 

Starting with line 1, cut it starting from the waist,  and continue cutting up to  line 2, stopping just before the edge of the pattern piece at the armhole.


Starting from the side seam, cut line 3, stopping just before the full bust point. In cutting line 3, we have created another pivot point on the pattern piece. 
Sticky tape down the front  princess seam section onto your pattern paper.

This is where your FBA calculations come into play and are used to create the FBA adjustments! 

 Increase the opening at line 1 using your FBA calculation.For this example i will use 1'' to demonstrate. It is important to increase this gap evenly ( 1'') all the way down line 1.
Sticky tape it  down to secure the gap as you go.


Cut line 4  horizontally  and bring it down to match the bodice waistline. Remember to keep the spacing the same ( 1'') as you just did all down line 1, and tape it down.


Now draw a line extending line 3 all the way to both edges of the princess seam.



Stick this side front pattern piece onto another a new  piece of pattern paper and cut it out.


Starting at the side seam, cut line 3 ( through the new paper)  and stop at the full bust point. 


Cut into the extension of line 3 at the front of the bodice, at the princess seam, again stopping just before the full bust point. This creates another pivot point on the pattern piece.



Sticky tape  close the  line 3(dart) matching up the side seams, this will then open up at the front pivot point we just created at the front of the pattern piece.


Tape it down again onto another new piece of pattern paper, this will fill in the curve and small front opening.


The final step for us to do on the side front panel is to reduce the waistline back to what it originally is meant to be.
So you simply bring the seam allowance line at the side seam in by the amount you increased your bust by. Draw a brand new cutting line 5/8'', from the new seam line. 


Last time for the side front bodice pattern piece, sticky tape it down and cut it out on some new pattern paper!


Ok sew-alongers we are on the home stretch!
 All we have left to do now, is alter the centre front bodice piece to match the new Side Front panel. And this is super easy....

So measure 1″ up from the waistline and draw a horizontal line – this matches up with your  line 4 on your side front panel. Do the same for your line 3.


You can  measure  the seam allowance to find the same point on both pattern pieces.
Go ahead and cut out your new lines, 3 and 4 on your centre front piece and spread  them out so that they equal the same measurements that they were increased by on the side front bodice. 



Tape it all down onto some new pattern paper, and cut it out your new FBA'D centre front bodice pattern pieces!!!


All done folks and not really that scary at all, is it? 

That's all for this sew-along post my friends, but if you have any questions head on over to Facebook page , or  Tweet using #billiejeansewalong or post up your progress photos on Flickr.

Next up  we will be getting into the fun stuff of the sew-along!  ''Assembling the bodice"

Abby
xx