Muraki Kazutaka, surgeon, coffee lover, doll collector.
Descendant of Darkness.
Multifandom-randomness and occasional RP :|
(Stuff I reblog or do by myself. Cosplay, Art, Writings, anything)
Tagtrack: murakioao
Upsizing clothes! There are a million upcycling tutorials for clothes that are too big, but so few on how to make too small clothes you still love bigger!
Thank you for your suggestion! We all go through weight fluctuations in life, so it stands to reason our clothes should be able to fluctuate with us.
Resizing your clothes used to be a very common practice before the advent of fast fashion. Fast fashion sizing is extremely flawed, especially when it comes to plus size fashion, and we’re stuck with a lot of vanity sizing, so it’s a good skill to have regardless of whether you’re looking to mend something old or buy something new.
How to upsize clothes:
Introduction:
There are many different ways to make a garment larger. The following list is not exhaustive, just a few ideas to get you started.
Grading patterns:
If you’re making your own clothes, it’s always useful to know how to modify a sewing pattern. The easiest way to adjust a pre-existing pattern to your size is slash and spread grading. First, you need to define which spots on the pattern need extra space. You then cut your pattern in that spot, and slide the resulting pattern pieces away from each other until you’ve got the size you need. Use paper to fill in the gaps. To ensure the resulting pattern makes for well-fitting clothes, make a mock-up and add, move, or remove darts where necessary to adapt it to your body type.
The image below shows potential slashing lines on a set of standard pattern blocks. Each line is a spot that allows you to add extra space. To read more about this process, check out the corresponding article by Threads Magazine.
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(Image source) [ID: a diagram of slashing lines on a pattern block for a dress, bodice, skirt, sleeve, and a pair of pants.]
To make your clothes easier to let out in the future, make sure to provide ampleseam allowancewhen cutting out your pattern pieces. This surplus fabric has several different uses, including giving you some wiggle room for when you need to size up your garment.
Now, let’s take a look at pre-made garments.
Lengthening clothes:
A garment that’s too short on you is easy to modify. Just add more material!
If it’s a skirt or a dress, add ruffles to the bottom. Ruffles are easy to make by hand or with a sewing machine. You could also add lace, or wear the item with an underskirt.
As for shirts, sewing an extra layer to the bottom edge is the easiest way to go, too. You could even combine two shirts into one to get an extra long shirt.
Another option is to cut your item in two and insert extra fabric between your separated garment parts.
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(Image source) [ID: a pair of blue pants with cuffs sewn onto the bottom of the legs to lengthen them. The cuffs are made out of a fabric with a blue and brown geometric print.]
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(Image source) [ID: a before and after picture of a red t-shirt that was lenghtened by adding in a patch of colourful fabric at the waist.]
Letting out seams/darts:
Remember how we made sure to have ample seam allowance earlier? When a garment has surplus fabric in the seams and you only need a little extra space, you can undo the seams of your garment and sew them back togetheragain, this time with asmaller seam allowance than before. The Spruce Crafts has a pretty good tutorial on how to let out seams. You won’t be able to make major size changes using this technique, but if you only need a few centimetres, this is a good way to go.
A lot of garments also have darts. Darts are fabric folds that are sewn down in strategic places to help the fabric follow the body’s curves. If a dart doesn’t fit you the way you want it to, then unpick the dart and try on the garment. Either leave the dart open, or pin the dart in place however you want it, then take off the garment again and sew the dart back together.
Be careful not to rip the fabric when using a seam ripper. Also note that removing entire darts may change the garment’s fit.
You can also add custom darts to achieve a better fit, but that’s a topic for another time.
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(Image source) [ID: twelve different types of darts on a feminine bodice block.]
Adding extra fabric to your garment:
If we need to add more room than seam allowance or darts can provide us with, we need to add extra material. Remember those slashing lines we looked at earlier? If you’re working with a pre-existing garment rather than a pattern, those are the perfect places to chop up your clothes and add in extra fabric.
Check your sewing stash for fabric that’s similar in weight and material to your original garment, or go thrift shopping for an item you could use to upsize your garment. Long skirts and maxi dresses are a great source of fabric for alterations like these!
Lace inserts are also a fun choice to add some room, and if you’re working with a knit item, you could even knit or crochet your own custom insert.
Define the area where you want to add extra fabric on your item, and measure how much you need. Draw a straight line on your garment with chalk/soap. Make sure the line doesn’t cross any important structural or functional parts of your garment like darts or button holes: refer to the slashing diagram we saw earlier if you’re not sure what spot to pick. Cut the line open (or unpick the seam if it’s situated on a seam), and add in your extra fabric. Finish off your new seams so they don’t unravel later on, and you’re done!
You can add straight strips of fabric for extra width or length, or you could use flared panels or even godetsto make your item flair out.
Want to see this technique in action? Check out this video by Break n Remake:
Some ideas:
This Pinterest user cut a straight line down the front of a t-shirt and inserted a lace panel to add extra width in the front of the garment.
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(Image source) [ID: a blue t-shirt with a panel of dark blue lace added in at the centre front.]
Busy Geemaw cut open the side seams of a shirt and used flared panels to add some extra width in the bust and hip area.
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(Image source) [ID: a green and white long-sleeved shirt with a striped flared panel in matching colours inserted at the side seam.]
This person added a panel to the sides of a pair of jeans to give them more space in the hip area. You could easily use a long straight panel or a panel that flares at the bottom to resize the entire garment instead of just the hips, or use a wide piece of elastic for extra stretch.
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(Image source) [ID: a side view of a pair of light blue jeans with a dark blue wedge-shaped denim insert running down from the waist and ending above the knee.]
This person added a godet in the back of their shirt in order to get more space in the back.
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(Image source) [ID: a blue and white plaid shirt with a white lace godet inserted in the back.]
Blue Corduroy enlarged a pair of shorts by opening up the side seams and adding in strips of fabric.
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(Image source) [ID: blue denim shorts with a floral fabric insert at the side seams.]
You don’t need to resize the entire garment if you don’t want to. For example, One Brown Mom turned this ankle-length skirt with a too small waistband into a well-fitting knee-length skirt by taking advantage of the skirt’s flared shape.
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(Image source) [ID: a woman wearing a black shirt and a brown tartan knee-length skirt.]
Conclusion:
Throughout our lives, our weight will fluctuate and our bodies will change. There’s no shame in this: it’s just a fact of life. Therefore, knowing how to upsize an item that is too small for you is a useful skill to learn.
Thank you for this amazing post! I saw it last year (2021) and it stuck with me because it reminded me of some projects I had back when I was a teen. ‘60s and '70s style jean bell-bottoms were popular in the '90s (which also were cousins of the popular raver jnco jeans in terms of shape), they used a similar idea, splitting the outside at the knee, then inserting a triangle of funky fabric to create the bell shape. Punk and Goth styling also obviously has a lot of sewing involved - especially when one is above typical sizing.
So when I got a non-returnable skirt from torrid during an online clearance sale last Xmas that didn’t look like a pencil skirt but actually was a pencil skirt (a shape I dislike on me) I remembered this post and have been re-styling it to be more of a classic kick-skirt shape with a 80s Lauper-esque Punk aesthetic. Thank the reblog for reminding me to finish it!
Shape altering can be as finished or unfinished looking as one likes. I repurposed a bust-flattening type undershirt/bralette (the flattening was intentional, as a note) that no longer fits into the side panels for this, and honestly, I think it’s coming along nicely.
Thank you again for this wonderful post. I’ll always reblog when I see it! And for anyone debating about trying to modify their clothes to fit better, give it a go! You likely aren’t wearing it now, so what have you to lose by trying?
Hey just a reminder that thought crime doesn’t exist and pretending to have empathy is just as good as having it! You can be the world’s biggest dickhead in the privacy of your own mind and as long as you’re outwardly kind it literally Does Not Matter
hey um so we went to target tonight and we found this talking kylo ren action figure that you’re supposed to shake really hard to “show it your power” and when you shake it it grunts like it’s in pain and when you stop shaking it, it raggedly asks you to show it the power of the dark side again
Alright. I’m sorry to keep having to drag life stuff onto this blog. I know you guys follow for art, and I want to have more of that for you, but the last couple of years have been a rollercoaster and there’s still a lot of stuff coming at me. If you want details there will be a followup post to this where you can read them.
For now though, so here’s the skinny: My dad called a few days ago and basically laid it out that he needs to have hip surgery like yesterday—the docs aren’t going to let him wait on this. My old lady can’t take care of the house all by herself while he’s recovering, so I need to get my ass down to their place, and I’ll be there for at least a month. I am taking my rig with me so that I can continue to work on my queue, but I will be almost wholly unable to stream because lol parents’ internet.
In order to be able to help them out and still keep myself solvent, I need to take more work, while I continue to whittle down what I owe people. I don’t want to clog my queue with more paintings, so I am going to take daily sketches as a stop-gap/experiment for how I will conduct business in the future.
If I start my streams earlier in the day, I can do three full-body sketches per stream before I dig into more complicated, standing work. If I do these from the 24th of July through the 2nd of August, then that should be enough scratch for me to rent a car to get my ass down to my parents’ place and still pay my rent in Chicago.
The Deets:
$30 apiece for a full body - that’s $5 off my regular price.
One character per canvas only, please.
OC or canon characters, just no ponies, please.
I will do anthros if you feel you can trust me to do them justice.
What you get is what you get; unless I omit something by mistake, I will not be making revisions to these.
Please use the Google form at the top of this post to submit your inquiries. All of the instructions are there.
I take PayPal primarily, though I will also accept Google Wallet and Cash.me.
First come, first served. I will respond to inquiries in the order that I receive them, and schedule them in the order that they are paid. If I have any questions about what you want, I will send you an email. The schedule will be put into a separate post.
SFW ONLY. Can’t stress this enough right now. I’m going to be streaming these sketches on Twitch.tv and I can’t be drawing bare boobers and dangles on there.
If this system works well enough, I will strongly consider shifting most of my focus to doing daily sketches. Will I still take larger commissions? Absolutely, but I will probably take them in more limited numbers if I can make the bulk of what I need in order to live this way.
If you don’t want art but you want to toss my dumb ass a couple of bucks, feel free to avail yourself of the Twitch tip jar. I will idolize you for many moons hereafter.
Thank you, and I’m sorry once again for seeming to fail consistently at life.
This was an idea I have been obsessed with ever since finishing the game; loving space age travel art as much as I do, I couldn’t help but wonder about the Initiative’s tourism advertising revving up once viability was green across the board and Meridian was secured. Almost all of the formerly busted Golden Worlds, now fully habitable and relatively safe - what would the visual explosion of their marketing look like? So I went ahead and gave it a shot.
Post-ending travel ads for the Golden Worlds of the Heleus Cluster, with a bonus appearance from Aya. I released these in 2 installments, but I decided I wanted to look at them all together. Super proud of these.
See the coke up there? it’s in totally the wrong place. KEEP YOUR BEVERAGE AT 4 O’CLOCK. or 5, if you’re a leftie. Keep your paint water on your table in front of you, and your beverage off to the side so that you have to physically turn around to get at it. You will teach your brain that Drink Is Over There, Not On The Desk; your coffee will last longer that way, AND YOU WILL AVOID SPILLING IT ALL OVER YOUR WORK.
if you DO spill your drink, cover the page and call it “Organically Dyed Paper” it ain’t coming out, run with it.
Instead of 7-hour continuous playlist, listen to albums so you’re stopping every 40 minutes or so to change the music THEN STRETCH YOU FOOLS.
Alternate caffeinated beverages with non-caffeinated. your hands WILL start to shake if you keep mainlining coffee like that.
get this freaking pencil sharpener. yes, that’s a lot for a sharpener, but this SOB will work forever, won’t eat pencils, and gets you the finest points possible. this has been stress-tested by scientific illustrators and I promise we are the pissisest possible people when it comes to pencil points. Mine it literally 6 years old now. it’s great. (Yeah, yeah, it’s missing from the pic. Have a backup in case of forgetfulness.)
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ART IN POOR LIGHT. this means both too little AND too much. You eyes, brain and spine will all thank you. This mean making sure you’ve got direct, full-spectrum light indoors (it’ll make laptops and winter easier too, I promise) and wearing sunglasses outdoors.
FUCK PRISMACOLOR PENCILS. The pigment’s good but the binder is brittle and breaks, and the wood is frequently warped. literally 1 in 5 of the last prismacolor pencils I’ve had were totally unusable. Faber-Castel is comparable in price/sometimes cheaper and had very high quality.
like, not shitting on cheap art supplies, because god knows I use them all the time, but pirsmacolors are EXPENSIVE and having the lead snap for the 7369205790235969th time will give you a goddamn stroke.
Remember to Eat maybe????
about every 2-3 hours, get up, leave the room, and do something else for at least 20 minutes. Do the dishes maybe. Gives your eyes and shoulders a break, lets your brain re-set and you’ll be able to see things that Need Fixing when you get back.
FOR FUCKS SAKE, USE REFERENCES. All the greats did, you’ll stress less, and things will look so much better. Just google image the sucker.
srsly eat something. even some cheetos. pls.
ok kids it’s 3AM i’ll think of more in the morning. take care of yourselves.
+DRINK WATER Whenever you remotely think of the deliciously boring liquid, take a swig! If you can’t bring yourself to drink - challenge yourself. I can’t stress it enough! That bottle of sparkly water over there? CRUSH IT! SUCK THAT SUCKER EMPTY AND IF YOU HAVEN’T HAD ENOUGH OF DEMOLISHING THE POOR PRICK, CONTINUE WITH ITS BROTHER!
It really helps when you trick your brain into thinking that you can channel your anger through a stupid bottle of water. Or glass. Whatever. Lap it up from a bowl if that lifts your skirt, but DRINK. Your brain will thank you with working sharper,quicker and less headache-y
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![daxtri:
“[in hive speak]: oh, Worm?
”](https://64.media.tumblr.com/bcdbabfcc759bd195ece23a5343b746b/tumblr_owmleinTKG1rhuzp1o1_r1_500.png)
