How To Increase The Bustline In A Commercial Pattern 

This is the technique taught by Nancy Zieman back in 1999 in her "Fitting Finesse" and "Pattern Fitting With Confidence" books and shows. The episodes from her shows are still online and it's a great technique. Nancy Zieman also has books that accompany her shows which are very good -- she shows how to alter tops, pants, skirts and move darts, all without cutting the pattern.

Thank you! So much easier and understandable than the other 15 I watched today!

Would love to see a FBA for princess seams. I have a 6" difference between my upper bust and full bust. I have no idea where to begin.

It depends on how much you're adding. If you're adding less than 4 inches total, you can probably just ease the sleeve in as sleeves are usually eased in normally. If you're doing something more extreme than you'll have to add an extension to the sleeve. We'll eventually have a tutorial showing sleeve alterations.

you can do this! I actually think it's better to fit the bust and then make adjustments to the waist. That way you know the shoulder area will fit well and you don't have to worry about the armholes and then doing added alterations to the sleeves. Increasing the waist using the pivot method is less of a big deal. Also, don't forget to make a quick muslin so you can make sure your alterations work. good luck! :)

This was the easiest one I've seen. Commercial pattern designers should think about us curvy girls Bc they NEVER fit and we always need to make an adjustment. Thank you so much

So are you looking to adjust the whole pattern up a size or two? That's called pattern grading. I do have it on my list to do a video on this, just don't know when that will be yet. In the meantime, I'll send you a link and maybe it can help you out.

I am sewing a dress for my adult daughter to wear to a wedding tomorrow and she is heavily busted. I was really stressing out on the proper way to increase the commercial pattern when in desperation, I turned to RU-vid this morning at 3:00 AM. YOU ARE AN ANGEL WHO SAVED ME FROM A MAJOR PANIC ATTACK!!! Thanks to you she will have a beautiful dress to wear tomorrow!!! God bless you for your generosity in sharing your gifts, talents, and knowledge with those of us still learning!

Watch “sewing with Nancy” “fitting with finesse”. Her bust measurement to select pattern size has worked with every pattern I’ve ever purchased.

So glad you found out video helpful. :) I'd love to see how your costume turns out.

Beautiful dress. Since you don't have any straps, try pivoting from the waistline out to your increase at the bustline. Just realize that you can't pivot more than 1" per side seam without doing an extra extension. Be sure to make a muslin after your alterations so you can test to see if this alteration works before using more expensive fabric

I just answered you on the site about the 4" difference but you would extend the side dart from it's original point. so the dart would be longer.

WHY HAVE I NOT DISCOVERED YOUR SERIES BEFORE!!!!!!!ugh i would have saved myself hours of tears and heartache...

This is without making alterations, it's just always big? You're probably like me (I have a small back so my bodices are usually bigger in the back). You can measure your back width (at your problem area: waistline) & compare this to the back bodice pieces (without seam allowances) & then use the same system of decreasing the waistline but you'll only be dividing by 2 because you're just adjusting the back bodice. Definitely make a test muslin of the bodice before using more expensive fabric.

So glad we were able to help you out and your daughter had a lovely dress to wear. :D

We hope to have a tutorial on this soon

Oh dear. I did all of this and it appears to be correct. One problem. My pattern (Butterick 5646) has a side bust dart which extends down to a point on the side seam. I redrew the side seam with the new point but how would I now draw the dart? Do I use the old end point and draw the dart lines to meet the new side point OR do I measure the end point out the same amount I extended the side seam thereby moving the entire dart?

Sorry bout that, computer glitch. As I was saying, so I have discovered that the pattern size that I thought I would be able to wear is actually smaller then the commercial sizes. I like this method, but I don't think it will work for a full figured girl. Can you please show some videos on how to alter patterns to fit full figured girls? I have this pattern from Simplicity, it's a dress, and I want to make it, but I have found that my measurement don't come close to theirs. Can you please help?

This is terrific! I've been sewing for (ack!) 45 years, and I've been doing pattern alterations for 35 years. Your information is spot on, and I really love how you explain WHY you do it, as opposed to just doing it. I've used the slash and spread method, but I'm always ready to learn easier ways! i.e. you *CAN* adjust a princess bust line if you measure the bust point in addition to everything else. Please keep up the excellent work for our fellow neophytes.

Can u also do a tutorial for a protruding buttock adjustment for us curvy ladies

Are you using a pattern for a cup C or you already did an alteration to the pattern? You could add the two inches alteration but I suggest sewing a muslin after doing your alterations. It just means using a cheap fabric, and basting the bodice together enough so you can try it on and test the fit. That way you can tell if it fits before using more expensive fabric.

hi there. Is it like a princess seam? I googled it and can only find a tiny image of a pattern with a pink top. You can just do an increase on the side seam pieces only and then you don't have to worry about the other piece. If you increase by a lot, be sure to also see our increase sleeve width tutorial. We show you what to do if you increase by more than 4". You can also divide by # of seams and increase using all the pieces, pivoting on each side but we don't have that tutorial yet.

The waistline does not have a maximum pivot restriction so you're fine just doing a 1" pivot on the bustline and a 1 3/4" pivot on the waist without having to do any extensions.

It doesn't matter

Are you referring to one of the Simplicity patterns? You can buy them directly on the Simplicity pattern website. I'm unsure if they ship to Mexico though so you would have to ask them.

watch our tutorial on increasing the sleeve width because we show what you need to do for increasing the bustline if you are increasing by a great deal. (It's in this video because you also need to adjust the sleeves since you're altering the armhole size) I would also look at the particular pattern, and if it's not a fitted waist but is designed to be a little looser, maybe go up to the next size pattern so you don't have to increase by so much.

If you're pattern is taped to the paper and you can see through it, then your marks are already there. Or if you're not taping your pattern to the paper then yes, transfer your marks. :)

I can see what you're saying, especially if someone has a small back and is really busty, but not everyone has the same shape. We're also dealing with full body measurements that are printed on the commercial pattern and pattern companies don't break down these measurements for front and back nor how much ease is going to be added to each section. I can only recommend doing a muslin of any alteration you make and then making adjustments if you need to.

If it was me, fit according to the bust and not your waist. That way we know that the shoulders of the garment is going to fit well. The waist is an easy adjustment to make. Also, be sure to look at the finished garment measurements. Sometimes that helps in your decision making as well. And don't forget to make a muslin first to test the fit. I'd love to see a picture when you finish :)

hi there! yes, this technique only affects the bustline and the waistline will remain the same. If you increase the bustline by more than 4" total, check out our tutorial Increase Sleeve Width. The second half of the tutorial shows you what to do for large increases since you are changing the size of the armhole. Also, after you do your alteration, make a test run with inexpensive fabric so you can make sure it works.

that is frustrating. Luckily, it's a very similar process using the pivot method. We'll try and have a tutorial on this some time next month and you'll be able to see exactly how it's done. :)

When you do your facing, you're finishing it with an understitch and then a topstitch, right? I've also gotten in the habit of stitching down the facing right at the shoulder seams. And I mean I'm stitching in the ditch (right in the center of the seam) of the shoulder seam. By doing this, you're not going to see any of your stitches. :)

Yes, you can use this technique. It'll deepen the dart a bit but should work. Just make sure you do a muslin to test your alterations before using your more expensive fabric.

I would think this would work in your case. Just make sure you make your first version with cheap fabric and just baste your pieces together to test the fit.

If I were you I would fit the bust and decrease the waist. That way you can be sure your shoulder area will fit nicely.

I think Zieman's chart is based on your front width measurement which is still measuring the area of the high bust, but just the front of the body instead of the whole circumference. This system may work better for someone with a small back, but they both are working from the idea that you're finding a pattern that will first fit your shoulders and then just increasing the bustline. Zeiman is great so I would never go against her. :)

I would check the finished bust measurements. It looks pretty loose fitting so you might not have to adjust as much as you think. You'll still want to pivot back towards the side seam just so you can make sure that is a nice continuous line. I'd love to see a picture when you finish. It's a cute look!

The reason the bustline has it is because you'll start distorting the armhole. Your situation is a little different since your dress doesn't have an armhole to worry about. You can see me doing an extension on a bustline in our increase sleeve width alteration tutorial which is also on our channel. It's in the second part of the video, around the 19:30 timecode I think.

I would say it depends on how much you're increasing it by. If it's just a little I would just stick to adding to the side seams. If it's a lot, you can distribute the measurement to all your seams, that way you don't have to worry about the armhole getting too out of shape.

yes, you do the front and back on the side seam. You have two side seams on the back and two on the front and that's where the number 4 comes from.

nice! be sure to watch our tutorial on increasing the sleeve width (if you have sleeves) as this needs to be done if you're increasing more than 1" and really affecting the armhole size.

Glad we were able to help out. Just make sure you do a muslin first so you can test your alteration first. I'd love to see a picture of your vintage dress when you finish. :)

Yes. Although, if you're increasing both, you may want to move up to the next size pattern. It doesn't the matter the order but I usually do bust and then waist or you can do both at the same time and just pivot to your new marks. :)

Not yet, but I hope to some day. We're going to be releasing a tutorial soon for those that need to pivot more than 4". It's a little different because you have to also alter the sleeves since you're changing the armhole size

This seems fine for very small adjustments but it does not add any extra length thru the centre front neither does it provide any extra shaping by making the darts bigger - both of which you need to fit a full bust. Unless I'm missing something?

wow, I'm impressed you go through that extra step. yes, you can iron it, just make sure the iron is only warm (not hot) and not to leave it on too long. It won't come out completely smooth but it does help.

Hello Professor Pincushion! It seems to me that at the end of the video, you advise to do the same alteration on the back pattern piece. Sorry if this is a silly question, but I was just wondering why - we don't need more room on the back of a bodice for our bust, do we? Cheers, Sarah

yup, that's a good idea. I've just used this pattern as a video sample one too many times, I guess ;)

Thank you! :) Professor Pincushion keeps me pretty busy but who knows, maybe some day

Ah, I finally understand how to pivot correctly, thank you! I hope I'm wrong but I suspect this method won't work for a large bust, DD or bigger. Do you have a tutorial for the pattern-slashing method? I will look for some others' but I find your videos very easy to follow.

great video, This is how nancy zeeman use to do it but she had seam allowances printed on pattern, I needed to know how to add these so I could use the pivot method. thank you!!!

Hi Professor Pincushion! I have watched a couple of your videos (super helpful!), and now I have a question about the order of making alterations to a pattern. My body measurements require both an increase to the bustline and an increase to waistline for most patterns. I have tried just going up in size to the correct waistline measurement (which usually fits the bust okay and fits the waist), but this causes me to have a lot of extra fabric across the shoulder area (and I can't figure out how to make that go away). So if I do the bust/waistline increase, which alteration would you start with? Alter the waistline then the bust or the bust and then the waistline, or does it matter? Or is there an alteration to the shoulder area I'm missing (I tried making darts, but it's just so much fabric they need to be long and look bad to me)? Thanks so much!

So glad I found,this. I had previously tried the slash method and almost ruined my pattern. I put it back together and tried your method and so glad I did the blouse fits and I will be able to make many more thanks so much.

I have never seen breasts growing from a woman's back! So why are you increasing the back? You are NOT increasing the BUSTLINE, you are increasing the width of the front and back. To increase the BUSTLINE, you have to do a Full Bust Adjustment! Which means that you have to adjust the dart. The way you are doing it, your side seam will move forward of where it is supposed to be. And your dart will not be lined up properly to the bust apex.

Sorry, I have a follow up question concerning the darts I asked about below. Should I follow the markings of the darts for my full bust size or my upper bust size? Thank you.

just to clarify... Did you say to do this to the back pattern piece as well?

Hi, I have a low bust, which is always lower than the pattern marking, it can be as much as 3" lower. How do you alter this at the same time of making a larger bust measurement? My full bust is 44", with an upper bust measurement of 36". Thank you.

Very interesting and instructive, but what I cannot understand is the inbuilt seam allowance. In Europe, we don't have that. We mark the outer edges of the pattern and sew there. Hey, presto! as Americans say - sew along the markings, no meed to make an estimate of 5/8".

So glad to hear it worked out for you! :)

this is absolutely the best FBA I have ever done. Excellent fit first try. Thank you so much!!

Thank you so much for making this video. Can you answer a query for me please? What if there is a dart just below the arm pit on the front and at the shoulder at the back? Do I mark those darts in at the original position of the pattern piece or the pivoted position?

I need some help with the sizing on this pattern. My upper bust is 38 1/2, but my waist is 35". According to the chart on the pattern with the 38 1/2 in upper bust, my waist should be like 30". But for the 35" waist, my bust should be 42" or 43" (It's inbetween a size, the actual measurment is 34" waist to a 42" bust). My full bust is about 41 1/2" . Should I go with the size for the full bust since it is closer to the correct size? I don't want the dress to be too small for my waist.

Hi this is wonderful but I would like to do this to a pants pattern for the waist for example: I am a very full figure and most patterns that fit my hips dont fit my waist bc I really dont have a waist. my hips are 60 and my waist is 58, how do I fix a solid waist band pattern? and do I do the same for a dress pattern that needs to be bigger at the waist? Thanks for your help!!

Why isn't it done where the extra is added only in the front bodice and not the back piece, given that's where the bust really is? I'm new so could use an explanation please

It is impossible to see your drawings Use a fatter marker and better lighting. I cannot see what the point of pivoting is because I cannot see what you are doing and why.

Excdllent and straight forward tutorial. Many thanks.

would you use this same principle to enlarge the chest area on a patteren for a mens hawainn shirt, my husband is barrell chested and he needs a good inch more across the chest and would I need to change any other part of the pattern? Thanks sso much

Is the pivot method more accurate than the full bust adjustment? Or will it come out the same?

My upper bust is 36 inches but my waist is 32. How do you adjust to that much larger waist?

my darn phone always posts comments before I finish typing. again we had to make the seam allowance smaller around the armholes. smaller then the norm 5/8 so my bust would fit

For some reason it seems I need to shorten the center back at least 4 inches! It never works. Even in rtw I have unsightly wrinkles at the back waist. Help! Please!

Your videos are fantastic. I have McCalls M6746 do I only need to do step one of you bust increase video. I ask because as you can see it is a smock fit.

I see that you have increased the bust,but don't you have to adjust the sleeve to accommodate the increase or do you just "ease" the fabric in????

can this method be used ti increase the bodice pattern when it has front bodice front side bodice I am increasing from 112cm to 144cm

I have Simplicity 0363, how do you apply increase? the front has two pieces. I have a 40" Bust. Help if you can. Thank you

my pattern is m6469 from the website below, under tops, page 3

How to adjust a pattern if I have narrower shoulder and larger bust. Would I be adjusting the shoulder and bust on the pattern. How would I do this and how to find out what pattern size I should start with.

oh well never mind. An important bit of info is missing here, doesn't work if you have more than 4" diff...

I'm a full figured girl and I have discovered that the patterns actually run smaller then commercial sizing. So

What do you think is better, Nancy Zieman's bust measurement chart or just using the high bust measurement?

sorry typing on cell phone. what I was saying was my cousin helped me. She had to make the seams at the arm

Which size would you use if you’re between sizes smaller or larger

I've never seen ths approach...im use to the slash&spread method. I'll try ths now & see if it really works.

I just made a dress & I have large a bust. My cousin who has been sewing most of her,life

I don't add to the back.. i only adjust for the front????

Doesn’t this method increase the armhole size?

I don't understand why you needed to mark the seam allowance.

I don’t understand why it’s not on the fold. That’s confusing

I’m confushed so you don’t need to do full bust adjustment ?

can I use this for a large increase in bust. 2" on each end for a total of 8". I am busty but the larger patterns give me HUGE arm holes

Hello, please can you help. I have a blouse pattern 20-22, but I want to increase it to a size 30, I have measured by UB= 47, LB=50, I also need to alter the waist =50 and hips = 54 following your directions I make it for the bust increase: 50-52 inches (size 28-30) so, 47 52 = 5 divided by 4 = 1 1/4 have I done this correctly?????

Just to be clear I would transfer my circles and dots as well right

It is always fun to watch left handed people write.

also you want a dry iron, water can drip on your pattern tissue.

Why not just cut the pattern o the larger bust size?

Why would one want to increase the back also? My full bust is 42-44(breastfeeding) and my underbust is 32. Wouldn't I just add to my front bust and not the back?

I'm working on a Raglan shirt. My question is this, if you add length to the side seam do you then have to add that same length to the sleeve armhole? Or would you "ease" in the difference? I'm new to sewing clothes so I'm not sure I'm explaining myself well. Hope that makes sense! Thanks!

THANK YOU! I never realized that commercial patterns were made for B cups. No wonder my D cup doesn't fit! If I buy a pattern that fits my bust measurement the shoulders and sleeves are way too long and sloppy. And those are a bear to alter.

Thanks, very informational

If this bodice has sleeves, does an adjustment need to be made to the sleeves? I hope this isn't a stupid question. I haven't sewn in many ears and now I know why patterns don't fit me. Thank you so much for your clear, great tutorial and I hope you keep them coming. New subscriber. Thanks!