Resources to Help You Sew Successfully with Fit for Art

Welcome to all our sewing friends! We are honored that you are checking out this blog and hope it provides some sewing encouragement each week. This week we are updating a blog post that was originally posted in August 2019 that reviewed the resources available on our website to help you sew successfully with your Fit for Art Patterns.

Don’t miss the inspiration offered in our Photo Gallery of Tabula Rasa Jackets, Vests, Knit Tees and Tunics, Tabby Jackets and Carpe Diem Tunics and Dresses. Many are featured in step-by-step tutorials in our searchable blog archive. We are constantly adding more photos to the gallery, so if there is a garment sample you saw in our booth or trunk show that you can’t find in the gallery, drop us a line and we’ll post it too.

A terrific new addition to our website is our Sewing Terms Glossary. Any time you meet a term you don’t understand, check our list for easily understandable descriptions of many sewing terms and techniques.

Tabula Rasa Jacket

The Tabula Rasa Jacket was our very first core pattern, and so it has the biggest collection of photos, blog posts, free downloads, fitting resources and variation patterns. For starters, you are going to want to check out our written fitting guide, Common Fitting Adjustments for the Tabula Rasa Jacket. Because the square armhole construction of our Tabula Rasa patterns is a little different from standard set-in sleeves, some fitting adjustments are approached differently too. This downloadable PDF explains the most common fitting adjustments to what you see the grainlines and horizontal balance lines (a/k/a HBLs) doing on your mock-up. Are the HBLs drooping down or rising up? Are they parallel to the floor? Are the grainlines bowing in or out? Are they perpendicular to the floor? Take a careful look in the mirror straight on and in profile, and then consult the Common Fitting Adjustments for TRJs and adjust the pattern to improve the fit.

We also have a series of videos posted on our YouTube channel that you can access on the Video Tutorials page of our website. Rae demonstrates the pattern work for nine of the most common fitting adjustments for the Tabula Rasa Jacket. The one we refer to most often during booth fittings demonstrates how to make the adjustment for a rounded back, adding paper to the back pattern and shaping up the neck small darts.

Some of the other videos for the jacket include the petite adjustment, changing the front darts, and adding to the sleeve cap. Find links to all nine videos on Video Tutorials page or on the Jacket Help page, found under Helpful Hints. The Helpful Hints section of the website offers several more great resources, including additional downloadable PDF tutorials for mixing fabrics and trimming the waistline and a jacket sketch to use for planning your artful TRJ.

Tabula Rasa Knit Tee & Tunic

The core Tabula Rasa Knit Tee & Tunic pattern is constructed in the same way as the TRJ with a square armhole and choice of side panels, and so many of the fitting adjustments are similar. There are a few adjustments, however, that we recommend doing differently, which is why we also offer a downloadable PDF of Common Fitting Adjustments for Tabula Rasa Knits. The most notably different adjustment for Tabula Rasa Knits is the rounded back adjustment. This different method takes advantage of the properties of knit fabric to add into the upper back without requiring darts at the neckline. Find the illustrated explanation for this adjustment and several more in the Common Fitting Adjustments for the Tabula Rasa Knit Tee & Tunic document. See Rae’s five knit adjustment videos on the Video Tutorials page of the website. There are additional resources for Tabula Rasa Knits, including flats for sketching, on the Knits Help page under Helpful Hints.

Carpe Diem Dress & Tunic

There are a large number of fitting videos for our newest adult core pattern, the Carpe Diem Dress & Tunic. These videos are available on the Video Tutorials page of our website or on the Dress Help page.

Eureka! Pants that Fit

Directions for fitting adjustments for Eureka! Pants that Fit are built into the extensive instruction book that comes with this core pattern. For sewers with a different learning style, we have also created four videos to get you started on choosing a size, assessing the fit and completing the pattern work for a personalized Eureka! Pants pattern. Find links to these videos on the Video Tutorials or Pants Help pages of the website.

Most pants sewers will want to refer to our Guide to Zipper Application, which includes instructions for inserting a lapped or invisible zipper in your pants. There are many additional resources for Eureka! Pants on the Pants Help page of the website, including tutorials for eliminating darts in a shaped waistband, underlining pants and tracing off the pattern to start changing the style of your Eureka! Pants.

Tabby Jacket

Our newest pattern, the Tabby Jacket, is designed for kids to sew themselves following Fit for Art’s thorough step-by-step illustrated instructions, with additional prompts for a helping adult. Utilize our resources on sewing with kids and teaching kids to sew on our Kids’ Jacket Help page.

Sewing Basics

In addition to all of these goodies, you’ll find links to practical sewing basics, such as guides to seam finishes, sewing a beautiful dart, choosing the right interfacing, and hand hemming, from the Helpful Hints page. Links to fun stuff, such as free patterns to make an obi belt, pintuck pocket, and several varieties of fabric flowers, can be found on the Free Downloads page.

Even More

This still isn’t everything you’ll find on the website, so we encourage you to noodle around and make some discoveries on your own. Want to catch up with us in person? Find our upcoming events in the Event Calendar and subscribe to our newsletter and blog to keep up-to-date. Need some of the tools we refer to in those video tutorials? Shop for pattern paper and the curved ruler in Tools & Kits and our favorite interfacings in Fabrics in the online shop. Ready to start making style changes to your Fit for Art Patterns? Check out the variation and detail patterns available for jacket patterns, knit patterns and pants patterns.

Have questions? Contact us and we’ll do our best to help you sew successfully with Fit for Art Patterns!

Happy Sewing, Carrie