Our new Waistcoat pattern is now available! While it’s drafted for mens/boys’ figures, we recognize that it will likely be used by female and gender-expansive dancers as well. Some dancers with a developed bust may wish for a vest that is fitted properly in that area. In this post, we’ll show you how to alter the draft of our waistcoat pattern for a more femme-style fit in the chest.
About Bust Cup Adjustments
The alteration we’ll do on the waistcoat pattern is essentially a Full Bust Adjustment. FBAs and SBAs (small bust adjustments) are an alteration to the front chest of a pattern to make the pattern fit a certain amount of bust. Most womens’ patterns will be drafted for a medium amount, but busty or flat-chested folks may need to do an alteration to get the best fit.
Bust cups in patterning refer to the difference between the full bust and high chest measurement. A 2-inch difference in these measurements is considered a “pattern B cup” (a difference of 1″ = A cup, 3″ = C cup, 4″ = D cup, 5”=DD cup, etc). Our ladies patterns come with multiple bust cups, and we have a whole blog post dedicated to Bust Cup Sizes in patterning. If you’re new to the concept, we recommend checking out that post first.
When taking these measurements, be sure to wear the bra you would perform in (this can make a huge difference). Pull the tape measure quite tight for the High Chest measurement, but not too tight for the Full Bust.
Where does this intersect with the Waistcoat pattern? Well the waistcoat is drafted for 0 amount of bust because men and boys without a bust will have no difference between those two measurements. When we draft for a bust, we’re looking at how far out from from the ribcage the garment needs to fit (how many more inches of fabric do we need in the front to expand around the bust). So we can use the difference in measurements listed above to know how much to add to the waistcoat for busted figures.
What does the Waistcoat look like on a woman with no adjustment?
Pictured on the left is Earnest Threads owner Mattie in a waistcoat size based on a general bust measurement of 34 inches (size 34). Since this measurement includes the bust and isn’t simply a ribcage measurement, you can see gaping around the armhole and the shoulder can be a bit big in contrast (this isn’t very extreme here, but will be more apparent on a bustier dancer).
Mattie’s High Chest measurement (ribcage) is closer to 32. When we start with a (smaller) size based on a ribcage measurement, and add fullness specifically at the bust, we can decrease the amount of gaping at the armhole and improve the fit in the upper chest in general. So let’s dive in!
Note: The waistcoat pictured here is only a mock-up and doesn’t reflect the construction techniques of the actual pattern.
Let’s get to the actual pattern adjustment!
Math along with me! I’ll do two versions, one with a pattern A-cup (fairly flat-chested), and one with a pattern C-cup (fairly busty). We are using the front for Views A/C (E would work the same way). See the bottom of the post for a note about views B/D/F. Trace a copy of your front pattern piece so you don’t ruin the original.
It’s also worth noting that our mens sizes are drafted for figures approximately 5’10” height. Many women may find they need to shorten the pattern. This can be done before or after the bust adjustment.
1. Determine the best size to use based on the High Chest measurement of the dancer, and the chest measurement of the pattern. For Mattie, this would be Mens 32.
Locate the approximate bust line, which is not indicated on the pattern. It is about 1 inch above the top of the front dart. Though if this results in the line cutting into the armhole, lower it so it’s below the armhole. The bust line should hit the side seam.
For a more personal fit, you can measure down from the dancers’ mid shoulder to apex of bust, then measure down from the mid shoulder of the pattern that amount.
2. Cut the pattern horizontally at the newfound bust line, as well as up the center of the dart. Finally, cut from where the dart meets the bustline, to the middle of the armhole, as shown.
Now before the next step, we need to do a little math. The amount we are adding to the pattern is the difference between Full Bust and High Chest. For an A-cup bust, that’s 1 inch. For a C-cup bust, that’s 3 inches. We’re adding it all to this front pattern piece, but since the piece only represents half of the front, we’ll add half the measurement.
A cup = 1 inch total –> 0.5 inches
C cup = 3 inches total –> 1.5 inches
3. Locate the small triangular pattern piece that contains the “armpit”. Keeping the top corner at the armhole, rotate the piece to create a gap to its right. The width of the gap needs to be the number we just computed (half the full amount to add).
4. Bring back your lower side piece (bottom left) and align it so that the top right corner touches the armpit piece, as shown. The lower piece should not be rotated in any way – the gap to the right of it should be the same width all the way down.
5. Shift the bottom-right piece slightly downwards to match the bottom left piece. The top of these two pieces is the new bust line.
6. Locate the bust apex: It will be in the center of the vertical gap between the sides of the waist dart, and along our new bust line (at the top edge of the lower pattern pieces).
Mark a point 1 inch below the bust apex and redraw the vertical waist dart to end there. (larger sizes may want to end the dart more than 1 inch away)
Mark a point 1.5 inches to the left of the bust apex. Draw a (new) bust dart in the angled gap between pattern pieces on the right side. The dart will end 1.5 inches before the bust apex (larger sizes may want to end more than 1.5 inches away)
Optional: Depending on where the bust line was drawn, the new bust dart may be VERY close to the bottom of the armhole. This can cause weird bulk with the seams and finishing. Ideally we’d like there to be at least 1 inch between the dart and the armhole. If you need to lower the dart, simply cut the pattern an inch or two below the dart, angling up to the bust apex. Rotate the tiny wedge to meet the piece above it, and redraw the dart in the new gap as shown in the second #6 photo.
7. Re-draw the outer edge of the pattern to complete it.
When constructing the waistcoat, sew the new bust dart at the same time as the others. Press it towards the hem.
Seamed Styles
Full Bust Adjustments are easier to do on garments with darts rather than seams. So we recommend using Views A/C/E as shown in the previous illustrations. However, if you feel strongly about using the seamed waistcoat styles B/D/F, we love this tutorial for doing a full bust adjustment on princess seamed garments. The “Side panel” they alter would be pattern piece #6, and the “Central panel” would be pattern piece #4 or #5. The “width added” will be the number I calculated before step 3 above.
Let’s see the results!
Pictured left is Mattie in the original size 34 fit with no alteration.
Pictured right is Mattie in the size 32 with bust adjustment.
