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Holly Jumpsuit Sewalong - Alterations week - part 10: Some final tips & tricks

Aloha sewalongers! We have come to the end of our Alterations for the Holly Jumpsuit series, and hopefully we have shed some light on the more common pattern fitting issues out there. The best news is that pretty much all of the adjustments we have shown are not specific to the Holly Jumpsuit, but applicable to a huge number of other patterns out there! To end the series, we're going to go through some of the quicker, simpler adjustments that don't necessarily warrant an entire post of their own, and then next week we *finally* get to dive into some serious sewing!

*To be taken to all the posts in the Holly Jumpsuit Sewalong, please click here!*

In this final post, we'll be talking about:

  • Full tummies
  • Lengthening & shortening the trouser legs
  • Grading between sizes for wide/narrow hips

Full tummies

If you naturally have a prominent "pot-belly", or you've already tried lengthening the crotch only to discover you still have those sun-ray shaped drag lines radiating out from your tummy area, then a full tummy adjustment is probably for you!

Luckily, our sewing pal and fellow indie pattern designer, Maria Denmark, has already put together an awesome full tummy adjustment tutorial for us! She has shown the alteration on our Charlotte Skirt, but the same principal is easily applied to the Holly trouser front piece.

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Lengthening & shortening the trousers

Given that the Holly trousers are straight and not flared or pegged, it really is as simple as hacking off any unwanted length from the hem, or extending the hemline to lengthen.

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Grading between sizes for wide/narrow hips

This is a very quick and easy alteration to make directly onto the pattern tissue before you trace and cut your pattern. 

*Before you begin - make sure that you do actually need to alter for wide or narrow hips only, and that your larger or smaller hip measurement is not in fact due to a full/flat butt or full tummy!*

Firstly, we need to determine to which size you'll be grading out or into at the hip. Begin with your size as dictated by your waistline measurement, then take your size as dictated by your hip measurement (fullest part of your bottom).

Take your Holly Jumpsuit trouser piece, front or back, and mark a point about 8-10" down the side seam from the waistline. This is your hip point. Conveniently, the side seam notch indicates this point pretty perfectly!

Take a pen of contrasting colour and start highlighting your waistline size at the side seam, smoothly grading out (or in) to your hip size as you get to your marked hip point.

Make sure you repeat this process exactly for the other trouser piece. Trace and cut your pattern piece as normal.

Tip from the top: Always check your adjustments by making another toile to check the fit. Once you're happy with your newly adjusted pattern, copy it out onto some card for extra safe-keeping! Although these are easy adjustments to make, no one wants to have to do it twice...

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