How To: Understand Basic FBA - 1 Dart Bodice (Full Bust Adjustment) 

I have watched quite a few videos on FBAs. Yours is by far the best explanation. Thank you .x

Clear instructions, explanations and demonstration. I successfully altered a pattern from B cup to DD in my first ever FBA. Much thanks, I’m subscribing!

Thank you! You have helped me so much ....I've done a FBA course, bought and a tutorial from another sewing co....but yours is the easiest to understand and very well explained. Thank you

My goodnesses, I nearly cried . I’ve tried doing fba’s in the past and couldn’t understand how to do it. Just watched yours and did a toile. Fits beautifully. I had to add 6inches for my large bust . Thank you so very much .

omg. I actually paid money to get taught this technique. This video was a zillion times better. You Rock Miss Aneka!

Fantastic tutorial, so clear and I love that you explain the reasons WHY something is done the way it is, very useful and helps understanding. Thankyou!

Oh my goodness, you've just made the fog lift for me!! This has been baffling me for so long and now I'm ready to tackle it. Thanks so much :)

Thank you for another user friendly tutorial. I especially appreciate the information on how to remedy the extra room added to the waist after the FBA.

This tutorial is a complete lifesaver! I did an FBA to a basic dress bodice with a B-cup and got it up to a D, which fits perfectly now. But the pattern also has darts at the bottom, which look really bulky and unpleasant now, so I'll follow your advice and take the extra off the sides for my second toile. Thanks so much for your awesome explanations! I'm really new to this and I managed to pull the FBA and the truing off on my first try. God, what did people do before the Internet? Sit at home and cry, I suppose.

Unbelieveable! I’ve always been so afraid to make any pattern adjustments (except for length and maybe adjusting the side seams). You make it so logical and easy to understand. So happy that I saw you on That Sewing Blab. You’ve opened up a whole new world for people like me. Thank you!

Well, after all these years, I've finally got it! Thank you so much. This tutorial has erased so much struggle and frustration.

Thank you so much for this great tutorial and explanation. This is the first time I really understood how the FBA works and how I can alter a pattern correctly. I often had fitting problems: always too much fabric above the bust and too little below. Now I know what to do. So thank you and be sure I will watch ALL of your videos and tutorials because I know that I will learn a lot.

This is the best FBA tutorial I've been able to find. Very clear and helpful, with nothing omitted. I'm a beginner, sewing my first adult garment, a simple loose fitting tank top. I just tissue fit after doing the fba with this tutorial and the fit is so much better than sizing up would have been!

The best fba tutorial.thanks so much. You are a great teacher.

Thank you! I am taking up sewing out of necessity as I have a narrow frame and a proportionally very large bust. (Hips 92 cm and a 16 cm difference at the bust.) Your tutorials are the best I have found on the subject. Very clear and precise.

What a beautiful job you did. You're a great teacher. Clean ,concise......well done.

you were born for this. Great videos

I love that you took your time to explain Ma,God bless you Momma ❤

Thankyou so much. This has opened my eyes to the silly mistakes I have made over the last 12 months. I'm so excited to start on my pattern alterations again 😊

Fantastic tutorial Anika as usual and as always, so clear 👍. I loved watching you on 'That Sewing Blab' yesterday and it was lovely hearing about your sewing story and how you got where you are today. Very exciting to be doing meet ups in America and I'm sure you will be fighting them off in many countries soon and wowing them with your amazing skills 😊. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the FBA's 👍💞😘

Thank you! you are an amazing teacher, I really appreciate how thorough and clear you are with every step.

Brilliant you always explain things so clearly.You answer my questions before I ask them .

Great tutorial easy to understand and explained so well in a lovely clear queens English voice by a great teacher. not gabbled or rushed like so many tutorials that leave one just as confused at the end

Thank you for this video. I also watched the video in trueing the bust dart using the tracing wheel and it worked!!!!!! I am so happpyyyyyy

Fantastic tutorial. Returning to dressmaking after several years so very rusty on these techniques. I always have to adjust the bust. Just brilliant explanation. Thank you.

I have a new pattern that I think I'll need this for, so looking forward to trying out this and your other tutorials to make a better dress than I've been able to manage previously! I'm sure I'll learn a ton by putting them into practice.

Thank you so much for this tutorial. It is the third one I have watched in an effort to improve my garment fit...I wish I had found this one first. I will be looking in on the other tutorials you put a link in. Thank you again!

Such a clear video ,now I can understand the information previously read. Thank you.

Just a wonderfully clear tutorial. I can’t thank you enough.

As always, loved this tutorial...love, love, love the detail you give.

Thank you so much! This tutorial was the best one I’ve ever seen! I’m hooked! I have a D cup and I’m also tall with a high waist. I love a vintage 40’s style and this has helped me so much to get a perfect fit.

Very good video! You made the FBA dart much more understandable for me.

This is THE BEST explanation of a fba I have ever seen. Thank you so much for sharing your skill and talent with all of us ! Liked and subscribed! ❤️.

Awesome. You are one of the very best I have seen . Wish I knew this when I was younger.

thank you for a crystal clear tutorial.

You te are such a good teacher ! I live your channel ! Everything is so clear with you !!! Thank you !

These tutorials are always so very helpful, thank you x

Excellent instruction. Very detailed and informative, just what I needed.

This was awesome as usual Aneka, thank you so much. I’d like to eventually have a almost completely me made wardrobe and all your wonderful tutorials is helping me on my journey. Once again thank you very much.

Thank you very much. This is the best fba-tutorial.

Very good tutorial, thank you!

Very well explained but wow mind is boggled now. Im off to put into practice what I have learned 😀

Aneka, as always very professional video! Thank u.

Absolutely brilliant tutorial. Thank you so helpful x

Thank you Aneka! This is a wonderful tutorial!

Fantastic explanation!

Best fba vid!!! Thank you for explaining in detail everything we need to know! Awesome video!! 🙂

A great tutorial as everything was so clearly explained. Thank you

This is SOOOO helpful. Thank you.

Thank yo! Great information!.

I meant to say, Thank you,Great information!

Thankyou. It was so clear.

This is very nice. I have learned so much. Thank you.

This is really helpful for fitting issue…

Bravo! Very clear tutorial! 👌

This is a fantastic video. Thank you.

I've been referring to your videos for quite some time. You are truly an excellent teacher. You make everything so clear.

Great tutorial thanks. I have successfully done 1 1/2" fba on a dress. However I now need to remove that amount from the hip area. The waist is fine. Also I am working with a line dress with no waist seam.

Brilliant! Thank you!

Thanks for this video! I’ve just followed the instructions the first time. What I don’t understand is how a rack quite snug dress can fit really quite well and anything sewn seems to need lots of adjustments. Can’t wrap my head around it. Binging your videos anyway :)

SUPER VIDEO THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH !!!!!

Thank you for such an informative video. You are an excellent teacher. I downloaded and printed your free Copen pattern, so great that I was able to print just the sizes I need. I love that you have put waist darts into it. When will you release your other patterns?

Excellent! Thank you

This is the best tutorial I've seen so far. Perhaps you have it programmed, but if not, will you consider an FBA instruction video for strapless bodices?

Thank you so much

Maybe I'll just lose 20 pounds and some of my bust so I don't have to do this. LOL! Amazing, clear, streamlined tutorial, as always, Aneka. Thank you--when I develop the nerve, this will be so helpful! :)

Used your FBA and it worked perfectly. Do you have a tutorial for a broad upper back adjustment?

good thank you

Hi Aneka, Thank you for your helpful reply (on another video comment) I have watched this again and I would like you to check if my calculations are correct, thankyou so much. I am making a wedding dress for the daughter of a close friend - the bride is pregnant and will be almost 30 weeks on the wedding day which is early in May! her measurements are high bust 95cm full bust 103.8 cm, difference 8.8 cm which places her between a C&D cup The Vogue pattern I'm using has a D cup front bodice piece. I made the first mock in sz 22 because that matched her full bust m'ment (before I watched your tutorial) but it was too small, (plus we wanted to create a way to allow for some unpredictable increase in size due to her advancing pregnancy) so I tried adding a little width to the front pieces (by slashing & spreading) over the bust area and pleating it back in at the empire waist seam and at the front shoulder to fit with bthe back shoulder! Don't laugh!!! You probably know what happened - we had a bodice that fit easily over the bust top to bottom and has room for expansion too but a terrible gaping excess of fabric into the armhole and side seam. Then I found you. Now my calculations on above measurement using the extemely large bust technique suggests I should do the bodice in sz 16 D cup. I am a bit confused by the fact that the sz 16 bust measurement is 97cm which is actually smaller than her high bust mm. Does that mean I should do a sba on that sz or should I use the B or C cup pattern piece? sorry about the essay! I hope it's ok to ask for your help like this. I have just started doing some pattern making courses online through udemy and I would be willing to pay for the kind of instruction you are giving here on your channel for free. thank you so much for your previous advice I really appreciate it.

thank you

Great video, real easy to understand and follow. Also, what if the side seams don't match because the shoulder to waist is about 3" longer in the front than in the back? How do you fix that?

Hello Aneka, I have just watched this video on FBA. My question is, I need to alter my apex, and also do a FBA, so which do i do first? If I do the apex first, and then the FBA, the apex moves from the original place that I would have made it, and therefore would I need to realign it again? The pattern that I want to do does not have a side dart, and I am taking the measurement from the pattern size 20 as my bust is 43". I am a little confused as to how to adapt the pattern to fit my bust. Any information as to how I go about it would be gratefully appreciated, thanks Val.

I enjoyed your video and followed along with my own pattern. It seems that on my pattern, as well as yours, the armhole shape has been distorted. I would be very grateful if you could explain how to deal with this issue. Thanks in advance.

Your explanation is so clear. Thank you! After the FBA, does the armhole need to be redrawn? Just looking at the final altered pattern piece, it looks like the armhole is now a bit distorted.

Hi and Thanks!!! so clearly explained. However, I am wondering how can i keep my seam allowance in the armhole"flat". I am trying to apply the technique, but i get a fold in there.

Good Morning Anika, you have helped me with a FBA and I sewed out a test sample and from the high bust down everything fit perfectly. Now above the high bust, which is 39, and I used the pattern size for the high bust measurement, it is to large. from shoulder to shoulder the pattern is 19 inches and my shoulder to shoulder measurement is 15 inches. So I need to remove two inches on each side of the front bodice above the high bust. I think I know how to do this, but I just wondered if you could tell me if I need to leave any ease or just go with the 15 inch measurement plus seam allowance. No wonder when I sew nothing ever fits correctly. I am just built so weird!! Thank you so much for all your help and this should be the last question to finally get a pattern that fits.

Hi Anika, Thank you!!! I've really enjoyed your tutorials, they have been very useful and informative. I wanted to do a FBA to a pattern with 1 dart but its on the waist, how do I do this? also, if there ends up being a difference between front and back bodices how do I adjust them without altering the back as its good for my measurements. Many thanks

Hello thank very much for helping me with FBS I really understand your teaching but my question is pls do i add the extra lints to the back bodies? Thank you I know is been a while you made this video hope I get reply thank you very much

That was a fantastic tutorial I really loved it, is there any way of contacting you for more important question on FBA pls.

Excellent. Thank you. Now, the question is how to lower the dart as well?

Dear ma'am, Thankyou for your efforts!! :) Kindly explain, after doing this fba, the high bust line is increasing, which loosens the fitting there, i.e., @ under arm point. How to correct this?

Great video. I'm still a bit afraid of doing this though. Do you need to do anything to the arm hole as the shape has now changed?

What about the arm hole ? That has moved ? Thank you for an excellent tutorial :)

Hi Aneka. Thanks for this very informative video. I’ve learnt so much from it. Very comprehensively explained. Can I ask one question. Does this process work on a wrap bodice? I’m making a bridesmaid dress for a friend and this is the chosen style which I’ve had great difficultly in fitting? I have had to add a side dart as you mentioned in order to improve fit and although I’ve chosen the largest bust size in the pattern range the garment is still tight over the bust whilst the shoulder area is now too large. Hope you can offer some advice.

Hello love your tutorial my question is if my bust measurements are bigger than my waist and hip . I would cut the pattern with both the bust and waist do the FBA first then grade down the waist and hip? I would assume then I wouldn’t have to alter the waist for being too big?

Nice mam

Hello Anika i love your tutorial so much am trying it now but i have a question,do you use your basic bodice pattern that already has waist darts allowance or the one without waist dart allowance already in place

Great tutorial Aneka! I fall under the category of an extremely large bust, where my full bust is 5 inches larger than my high bust. Is there an upper limit for FBA, and if that is the case, what should I do?

Thanks for the great tutorial. I'm working on a beginner level woven top. The pattern is from an American Co and drafted for a C cup which I am. I've cut out my size based on the method you've described & made a toile. The bust fits ok but there is pulling across the top of the sleeve & alot of gaping at the back of the neck. Should I have cut the bust size according to my high bust? The armhole seems v big & gapes at the back too. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. X

Hi ...thank you for this...the arm hole was a weird shape after the fba ...as shown on your example ...do you just trace the original arm hole to the new pattern.

Hi Aneka, great tutorial! Very useful for me, as I have a rather large bust. I would like to ask you something though: do I also have to re-position the bust appex too? And if so, what do I do first? The FBA or the bust appex? Oh, and another question: can I create a dart for a full bust, to a pattern that originally doesn't have one? (for example to the front of a wrap dress)

This is a great tutorial but I have a question. How do you do a FBA on a bodice with a dart only at the neckline?

Absolutely fabulous, and succinct and clear. Thank you Aneka. I assume the back of the garment will need to be lengthened the same amount the front was lengthened? (Truing side seam?)

Most of the full bust adjustments are made on the front pattern. Are there any adjustments made to the back, or the arm hole of the sleeve. Most adjustments are made equally around the front and back and to the sleeve if the sides are changed at all.

Hi, I have one question about the FBA. When pivoting the side dart the arm hole went up...Do you redraw it and bring it down?

Hi Aneka, I’m sorry to bother you but I’m making the Copen dress and I’ve altered the pattern to fit but when I pin the side seams together the front is longer than the back by 2”. It seems to be the top part of the pattern which is longer and yet it fits me. I know I could just cut the bottom of hem but I would like to know what I’ve done wrong. I don’t know wether this makes sense to you. Many thanks Freda.

Why does the line need to be parallel to the grainline? In my pattern (a wrap top to a dress) the grain line about 45 degs from centre front, I would assume the line to the waist be at an angle? Additionally, my side dart is is above the bust mark on the pattern, would I draw the line from the bust point to the middle of the dart?

Hello Aneka, I have just done a fba and a lower apex adjustment on a wrap dress. Because my bust measurement is large the dart is large. On looking at the side seams on the back bodice which I have lengthend to match the front, the side seams do not match, the dart seems too large, and the shape of the side seams are different, the back one is straight and the front seam has a juxta position (the only way I can describe it). Therefore the seams do not match. I am so frustrated at trying to do all these measurements, and they never seem to work. Can you tell me how to correct this problem. I found that if I put he dart back to its original size the seams match up ????? Very bizarre. Thanks again for your very informative videos. Val.

I have full/prominent bust with small bones structure, my shoulder seams always sit right at my shoulder point but then move toward the front bust at the neck point. Is a FBA going to fix this issue?

I am doing a FBA to a shift dress with only side dart. I am confused as to how to translate this video to a dress with no waist marking. Also this lengthens the CF which will make it longer in the front than at the sides?