Fitting Finesse

Perfect. No markings. No writing. Just like new.

This book enabled me to fit my stocky, hard to fit body with a custom designed dress for a wedding I attended. That dress fit like a glove, and the instructions were beyond easy. I highly recommend this for ALL levels of sewing experience!!!

Before I puchased this book I was almost ready to give up sewing. I only made clothes that were bulky and not stylish and still was not very happy. I now have clothes with sleeves that are big enough and sholders that don't fall off. I also like the fact that you do not have to cut up your patterns. I lost my copy somehow so I am getting another. I can't be without it.

I've been sewing for four years, and most of the clothing I made did not fit properly until I read this highly informative book. My first mistake was buying patterns in my RTW size... BIG mistake. A size 8 pattern is like a size 4 RTW. The scale is completely different, and Zieman clears up the confusion in this book. From taking accurate and objective measurements to altering a pattern piece by piece (math skills necessary), this is the best book available. My clothes have never looked better.

Nancy has done it again. Her CLEAR ILLUSTRATIONS and EASY TO FOLLOW LANGUAGE demystify the alteration process. Until the pattern industry agrees to make patterns that fit REAL bodies instead of that mythical 5'8" 100-pound form, Ms. Zieman's book will be invaluable. I've been sewing for about 40 years. Until I read this book, I always wondered why my patterns never quite fit when I followed the measuring guidelines on the pattern envelopes. It wasn't me, it was the pattern's miscalculations! Nancy tells us how to determine the actual pattern size to purchase (and it ain't the one recommended on the envelope!) Then, she meticulously takes us through the steps required to modify the purchased pattern to ourselves. I used this book to resize a princess style bodice to a prospective bride with a double-D bust. I would not have attempted the changes without Zieman's careful and beautifully illustrated advice.

I loved this book. It gave the best and easiest directions on how to enlarge patterns and get them to fit, that I ever read. I had been trying for years to get patterns to fit my larger "attributes" and this books tells you concisely how to enlarge or make smaller all the parts that you would need to alter. Very good for the entry level to intermediate sewist