Hey mates, today I'll be showing you how I would do a SBA on the Carey Top.
Do you need a Small Bust Adjustment?
There are a few ways to tell if you need to do an SBA. If your full bust measurement is less than than the full bust measurement that corresponds to your high bust measurement in the size chart. Also, if you've sewn a toile and there is excess fabric around the bust.
If you have determined you definitely need the SBA, you'll also need to calculate how much needs to be taken from the pattern.
First things first, find your size in the size chart using your high bust measurement.
Check the corresponding full bust measurements of the B cup range.
For example: Your high bust measurement is 33in, and your full bust measurement is 34in. Your high bust measurement puts you at size B, but your full bust is 1in less than what the pattern is drafted for.
Because the front pattern piece is based on half your body, you will need to divide the number by two – that’s how much you'll be taking from the pattern piece. In the previous example, that means there is a 1in difference in total, so you'd be taking 1/2in from your pattern adjustment.
Before we start: If you're sewing View B
I'm going to show you how to do the SBA on View A. View A and View B have the same pattern pieces, except that View B has an extra seam line in the side front panels.
If you cut the seam allowance away on side front panel 1 and 2 (cut to the grey line), and place the panels together, they will be the same shape as the View A side front panel. Complete the SBA steps below, then at the end, cut the panels apart along the original line and add the seam allowance back.
Prepping the pattern pieces.
You will need your side front panel and centre front panel pieces.
Cut away your 1cm (3/8in) seam allowance from the pattern pieces. (This is already marked in a light grey line on your pattern.)
(For better visibility, the following diagrams will be illustrated using a black line instead of the pale grey line).
Doing the bust adjustment:
Draw a slightly angled line from the side seam to the bust apex on the side front panel piece (red dashed line). The bust apex will be the widest part of the pattern. Cut along this line, leaving a tiny hinge of paper at the side seam.
Swing the top portion of the pattern piece down at the bust seam to overlap the bottom portion of the pattern piece, using the side seam as a hinge. Overlap the pieces by the amount of length you need to remove. Tape in place.
We now need to remove the same amount of length from the center front panel.
Draw a horizontal line across the piece at the same height as the bust apex (blue dashed line). Draw a second parallel line below that, at the distance you need to remove (orange dashed line). Cut along the the blue line and move this piece down to meet the orange line. Tape in place.
Now to remove some width too. Divide your total SBA amount by 4.
For example: if you’re doing a 1in SBA, that would be 1/4in that needs to be taken off the bust seam of the side front panel and centre front panel. (Remember that we're working on half the pattern, so with 1/4in being taken off two of the seam lines, that will equate to 1/4in times 4, over the full pattern).
Draw a mark that distance in from the bust apex on both the side front panel and centre front panel (shown with a red dot). Draw in a new bustline (red dashed line), creating a smooth line that blends into the existing seamline. Cut along this line.
Add your 1cm (3/8in) seam allowance back onto your amended pattern pieces.
Cut these out and you're good to go! As always, I recommend making a toile before cutting into your good fabric, to check that these new mods fit the way you want.
Hope this helps
x Lauren