Fittingly Sew™ is a new, exciting and innovative program for fitting and designing clothing patterns. It will add pleasure and efficiency to your sewing experience. If you adjust patterns for fit or to achieve a specific style, this program is for you.
With the mere click of a mouse, you can:
• add fullness and pleats
• change the shapes of curves
• transfer darts
• lengthen or shorten pieces
• make facings
• create yokes
• do a whole host of other actions
In every instance, the seam allowance automatically readjusts itself to the new shape.
Any of these activities would render a commercial pattern unrecognizable with numerous slashes, folds and tape. Fittingly Sew™ lets you undo anything, so you are always working with a fresh clean copy.
Fittingly Sew™ comes with a collection of basic shapes and patterns that you can use as the basis for your own patterns. As well, over time, you can build up a collection of your own shapes and patterns that you can re-use and modify, so creating each new pattern gets faster and easier.
The basic shapes and patterns are stored separately in files called templates. They are very much like commercial patterns, except that they come in your size.
No special printer is required. Fittingly Sew™ prints to most printers. Just assemble the printed pages to form a full-size, ready-to-cut pattern.
Fittingly Sew™ Demo is intended to give you a taste of the Fittingly Sew™ program. The information for ordering Fittingly Sew™ is located at the end of this document, or by choosing About Fittingly Sew on the Apple menu.
The walk-through takes you through the fitting and designing of an A-line skirt with a yoke in the front and a patch pocket on the back. Along the way you are introduced to most of the special capabilities of Fittingly Sew™.
The walk-through assumes you are familiar with the following basic Macintosh operations:
• mouse basics – moving the pointer by moving the mouse, using point-and-click and point-and-drag techniques
• selecting and choosing – pulling down a menu, choosing a command from a menu
• manipulating windows – changing the size of, moving, activating and closing a window, using the scroll bars
• using the clipboard to copy and paste
• choosing your printer and printing documents
Pieces, segments and points are the key elements in Fittingly Sew™ patterns. They are shown in the following illustration.
Pieces are made up of lines, called segments. There are straight, curve and dart segments.
Square points (called endpoints) indicate the ends of segments. Each endpoint belongs to the segment which follows it in a clockwise fashion.
Round points (called control points) control the amount of curvature in curve segments.
Points are treated as standard Macintosh objects, that is, they can be selected by clicking on them or dragging over them, and once selected they may be dragged around the screen.
Double-click on the Fittingly Sew™ Demo icon.
1. The first screen you see is the About Fittingly Sew™ Demo dialog box. Click the Done button.
The next screen is the Welcome dialog box.
2. You need to make a choice here:
A) If you want to custom-fit the skirt, click the Develop New Sloper button. Continue on to the next section entitled, Developing Slopers.
B) If you want to base the skirt on a standard size, click the Develop New Pattern button. Move ahead to the section entitled, Developing Patterns.
A sloper is a basic pattern which describes a person's physical characteristics. It is used as the basis for designing other patterns. Developing a properly fitting sloper means never again needing to alter a pattern to make it fit.
Fittingly Sew™ uses 7 slopers: front and back bodices, skirts and pants, and a sleeve.
This section walks you through the development of the front and back skirt slopers.
The next window is the Person Data dialog box. This asks you for some personal information about the person being fitted.
1. You may make a choice here:
A) Fill in the data in the boxes.
B) Do nothing.
2. Click the OK button.
You may add to or update this information at any time by choosing the Person Data command of the Sloper menu.
The next window is the Measure Data dialog box. When it first appears no slopers are selected, so no measurements are visible.
1. Click in the Front Skirt and Back Skirt check boxes on the right. The measurements needed for fitting a basic skirt appear in the box on the left.
2. Click the Show Pictures button.
The list of slopers has been replaced with a picture that shows how the Front Waist Arc is measured.
3. Press the Tab key a few times. Notice that, as you do this, the text cursor moves to the next measurement and the picture changes to an illustration of that measurement.
4. Fill in all the measurements.
5. If you prefer to use a standard size, click the Use Standard Size button, then choose the size you want to use.
6. If you chose to use a standard size, click the OK button. All the measurements are automatically filled in with the chosen size.
At this point, we are going to introduce an error into the data, as follows:
7. Move the text cursor to the Waist to Knee measurement.
8. Reenter the value such that it is 2.5 cm (1 in.) less than the correct value.
9. Click the OK button.
The next window is a sloper window. It contains two skirt pieces which overlap. Notice that the Pattern and Piece menus are dimmed. They are not available when you are working on slopers.
1. Make sure that the second icon from the left at the top of the window is highlighted. If it is not, click on it.
2. If the pieces are too large or too small for your screen, press the mouse button on the rightmost icon, which contains a number, at the top of the window. This number indicates the scaling at which the piece is being shown. The icon is a pop-up menu which appears when you press the mouse button.
3. Choose a value that allows you to see the pieces in the window completely.
4. Click inside the outline of one piece. Points appear around the edge of the piece. That piece is now selected.
5. Rearrange the pieces, by dragging them, until they no longer overlap.
Recall that we introduced an error into the measurement data (the skirt length is too short). We must correct that now, as follows:
1. Click in the front skirt piece. (It is the one with the centre front on the right.) Its points appear around its edge.
2. Select the two endpoints along the lower edge of the skirt.
3. While holding down the Command key, drag the selected points downward. The Command key constrains the drag to be vertical. Notice that the amount you have dragged is displayed in the lower left of the window. Drag until you have moved the points 2.5 cm.
Since you have changed some measurements, Fittingly Sew™ recalculates those measurements based on the revised skirt piece. In this case, you have lengthened the skirt, so it determines that the Waist to Knee measurement needs to be updated.
That change now needs to be applied to other pieces that use the changed measurements, in this case, the front skirt piece.
4. Choose the Redevelop command of the Sloper menu. Fittingly Sew™ thinks for a few moments. As long as the cursor looks like a running sewing machine, all is well.
Once it has finished doing the calculations, Fittingly Sew™ redraws the pieces according to the revised measurements.
5. Choose the Measure Data command of the Sloper menu to look at the measurements.
6. Click the Cancel button.
These are the steps to print and test fit the skirt. They are here for your information only. You do not need to do them in the Demo.
1. Choose the Seam Allowances command of the Display menu. The seam allowances appear around the edge of each piece.
2. Choose the Page Numbering command of the Display menu. Page breaks and page numbering appear on the screen.
3. Use the page numbering to determine the page range you need to print.
4. Choose the Print command of the File menu.
When the print is complete, you can see marks along each edge of each page which guide you in accurately assembling the printed pattern.
5. Cut out the pattern and try it on. Make any fitting adjustments. Using the techniques described in the previous section, adjust the on-screen pieces so that they match your fitted skirt.
6. Repeat these steps until you are satisfied that the skirt fits properly.
1. Choose the Save command of the File menu. A standard Macintosh directory dialog box appears.
2. Give the file a name and indicate in which folder it should be placed.
3. Click the OK button.
WARNING: DO NOT CLOSE THE WINDOW UNTIL YOU ARE SATISFIED THE MEASUREMENTS ARE CORRECT. Fittingly Sew™ Demo DOES NOT ALLOW YOU TO OPEN THE FILE AGAIN.
Choose the Close command of the File menu.
Skip step 1 if you chose B in the Getting Started section. You should already have a pattern window open.
1. Choose the New Pattern command of the File menu. A new window is opened.
Notice that the Sloper menu is dimmed and the Pattern and Piece menus are enabled. This indicates that you are working in a pattern window.
2. Choose the Sizing Data command of the Pattern menu. The following dialog box appears.
3. You need to make a choice from this box, as follows:
A) If you want to base your pattern on measurements you established in the Developing Slopers section, click the Use Sloper File button. A standard Macintosh directory dialog box appears. Specify the file that you created in the previous section, then click the OK button.
B) If you skipped the Developing Slopers section, or if you want to base your pattern on a standard size, click the Use Standard Size button. A Standard Size dialog box appears. Choose the size you want to work with, then click the OK button.
The information in the sizing data dialog box is updated to reflect your choice.
4. Click the OK button.
1. Choose the Add Sloper command of the Pattern menu.
2. Click the Front Skirt and Back Skirt buttons, under Minimum. The ease choices indicate the amount of wearing ease that is added to the basic slopers when they are included in a pattern. Minimum is the appropriate choice in this case.
3. Click the OK button.
Fittingly Sew™ adds front and back skirt pieces, based on the measurement data you have provided, to the window. The two pieces overlap.
4. If the pieces are too large or are too small for your screen, press the mouse button on the rightmost icon, which contains a number, at the top of the window. This number indicates the scaling at which the piece is being shown. The icon is a pop-up menu which appears when you press the mouse button.
5. Choose a value that allows you to see the pieces in the window completely.
6. Click inside the outline of one piece. That piece is now selected.
7. Rearrange the pieces, by dragging them, so that one is placed below the other.
1. Select the front skirt piece. It is the one with the centre front on the right.
2. Select the two points at the lower edge of the front skirt piece.
3. Choose the Curve subcommand of the Segment command of the Piece menu. This converts the bottom edge from a straight segment to a curve segment. The segment becomes a curve segment, which has control points. The shape of the segment does not change. The purpose of this step will become clear later.
4. Select the three lowest points (two endpoints and one control point) on the side seam of the front skirt piece, as illustrated in the following diagram.
5. Choose the Rotate Points command of the Piece menu. The cursor becomes a bull's-eye.
6. Position the cursor over the unselected control point on the side seam and click. A copy of the bull's-eye remains on the screen. The cursor becomes a curved arrow.
7. Position the cursor on any selected point and drag slightly leftwards. All the selected points rotate around the bull's-eye. Notice that the amount of rotation is displayed in the lower left of the window. Rotate the points outward about 6°.
Notice that by rotating the points, rather than by simply dragging them outward, the side length of the skirt has been preserved. As well, by changing the lower edge of the skirt to a curve, the lower edge becomes gently curved. Had it been left as a straight segment, the hem at the centre front would have become slightly pointed.
8. Repeat the previous steps for the back skirt.
Making the front hip yoke involves the following activities:
• splitting the front skirt piece into yoke and lower front skirt pieces
• shaping the lower edge of the yoke
• matching the upper edge of the the lower skirt to the yoke's lower edge
• closing the yoke darts
To split the front skirt piece into yoke and lower front skirt pieces, do the following:
1. Select the front skirt piece by clicking in it.
2. Choose the Split Horizontal Command of the Piece Menu. The cursor becomes a pair of scissors, and a dotted line appears across the piece.
3. Use the scissors to drag each end of the line until it is positioned at a slight angle just below the darts.
4. Double-click in the area below the line. The piece is cut along that line, forming the yoke and lower skirt pieces. The skirt piece is selected.
5. Drag the skirt piece slightly away from the yoke piece.
To shape the lower edge of the yoke, do the following:
1. Select the yoke.
2. Select the two points along the lower edge of the yoke.
3. Choose the Curve subcommand of the Segment command of the Piece menu. The lower edge becomes a curve segment, which has two circular control points.
4. Turn on the display of seam allowances by choosing the Seam Allowances command of the Display menu. This allows you to see seam allowances being adjusted as you reshape a curve.
5. Drag each control upwards until it lies on the apex of the dart above it.
Notice that seam allowance is automatically adjusted as you alter the curve.
6. Turn off the display of seam allowances by choosing the Seam Allowances command of the Display menu.
Since the yoke's lower edge no longer matches the upper edge of the skirt, they need to be made the same, as follows.
1. Select the endpoints on the lower edge of the yoke.
2. Choose the Copy Segment command of the Edit menu.
3. Click in the skirt piece to select it.
4. Select the two endpoints on the upper edge of the skirt.
5. Choose the Paste Segment command of the Edit menu. If you get a dialog box asking you about mismatched endpoints, click the Relocate Pasted Endpoint button, then click the OK button.
6. Now the edges match. You can confirm this by dragging one piece so that it just touches the other along the matching edge. The edges are the same.
To close the yoke darts, do the following:
1. Select the yoke.
2. Choose all the points that lie to the left of the outer dart, including its leftmost endpoint.
3. Choose the Rotate Points command of the Piece menu.
4. When the cursor becomes a bull's-eye, position it on the apex of the dart and click.
5. When the cursor becomes a curved arrow, drag any of the selected points upwards until the dart closes.
6. Select the two points at the end of the closed dart by dragging around them. Since they lie one on top of the other, they appear white when both are selected.
7. Choose the Remove Dart command of the Dart submenu of the Piece menu. A single endpoint remains where the dart was.
8. Repeat the previous steps for the remaining dart.
Although it appears that the lower edge no longer matches the skirt, they will match up when you sew them together, giving you the required curvature over the abdomen.
1. The yoke should still be selected. If it is not, select it.
2. Choose the Piece Info command of the Display menu. Boxes containing the piece's information appear on each piece.
3. If the boxes are scaled so small as to be unreadable, you may change the scaling in the window to 100.
4. Choose the Piece Info command of the Piece menu. A dialog box appears showing the information about the selected piece, as illustrated below.
5. The piece name is "frontskirt." Replace the name with "Hip Yoke." Leave the other information untouched.
6. Repeat the previous steps for the lower skirt piece. In this case, the space for the name is blank. Enter "Front Skirt."
7. If you changed the scaling, restore it to its original value.
8. Choose the Piece Info Command of the Display menu to turn off the information display.
1. Choose the New Piece command of the Pattern menu. The New Piece dialog box appears.
2. Enter 10 (or 4, if the ruler is in inches) as both the width and length.
3. Click the OK button.
A 10 cm x 10 cm square appears on the screen.
4. If necessary, drag the square so that it does not overlap any existing piece.
5. Select the two endpoints at the lower edge of the piece.
6. Choose the Add One Point command of the Piece command. A new endpoint appears between the existing two.
7. Click within the piece to deselect all the points.
8. Select the new endpoint.
9. While holding down the Command key, drag the new endpoint downwards about 3.5 cm (1.5 in.), as illustrated below.
The upper edge of the patch pocket requires a larger seam allowance than the standard value, in order to have some extra to turn under.
10. Turn on the display of seam allowances by choosing the Seam Allowance command of the Display menu.
11. Select the two points at the upper edge of the pocket.
12. Choose the 3.8 (or 1.5 if you are using the inch ruler) value of the Seam Allowance submenu of the Piece menu. Notice the seam allowance on that edge has become much larger, as illustrated below.
13. Turn off the display of seam allowances by choosing the Seam Allowance command of the Display menu.
1. Click outside of any piece to deselect any selected piece.
2. Choose the Segment Lengths command of the Display menu.
Numbers appear at each endpoint around each piece. You may increase the scale to 30 (or more) in order to see the numbers clearly. Each number is the length of the segment that follows it in a clockwise fashion, as illustrated below.
3. Add up the three numbers along the top of the yoke (do not include the one of the extreme right — it is the length of the centre front of the yoke).
4. Add up the three numbers along the top of the back skirt piece (do not include the one at the right — it is the length of the curve along the side seam). Notice that darts have no length.
5. Add the resulting numbers together. This is half the length of the waistband. Double the number and then add a bit more (5 cm or 2 in.) for the button overlap.
6. Decide how wide you want the waistband to be. Double that number to take into account the fact that the waistband is folded.
7. Choose the New Piece command of the Pattern menu. The New piece dialog box appears.
8. Enter the measurements. Put the longer measurement in the height box and the shorter one in the width box.
9. Click the OK button.
The waistband appears on the screen.
10. If necessary, drag the waistband so that it does not overlap any existing piece.
Refer to the section entitled, Printing and Test Fitting the Skirt, for an explanation of how to print and assemble a pattern.
This walk-through has introduced the basics of Fittingly Sew™. The following points will enhance your understanding of the further capabilities of Fittingly Sew™.
The space within the window is referred to as the fabric space. Notice that when you bring the scale down to a small value, part of the window may become grey. That part of the window is unusable. The white part reflects a piece of fabric, which helps you when you are planning layouts. It may or may not be folded. The characteristics of the usable space are controlled by the Document Info command of the Sloper or Pattern menus.
Windows are in either piece or point mode. The mode controls how pieces and points are selected. The mode is controlled through the Piece and Point icons.
When a window is in Piece mode, pieces are dealt with as complete units. They cannot be edited, and their points are not visible. More than one piece may be selected. This mode is useful for moving pieces around the screen.
When a window is in Point mode, pieces are dealt with as collections of segments and points. They may be edited by selecting, dragging and otherwise manipulating points. Only one piece may be selected at a time.
A template is a separate file which contains a pre-designed pattern. It is "included" into the current pattern using the current measurements. It is very much like buying a commercial pattern, but getting it fitted to your measurements. You may use them "as is" or as the basis for your own designs. We are creating more templates which you can purchase as they become available.
No templates are provided with Fittingly Sew™ Demo, since it does not allow you to use them. However, two templates are built in, to give you an idea of how they work.
Choose the Include Template command of the Pattern menu to try them out.
Holding down the shift key changes some commands on the Piece menu, for example, Split Horizontal becomes Split Vertical.
Using the Preferences command of the Edit menu identifies the settings for new windows.
The Adjust Bust Dart command of the Sloper menu is not available in Fittingly Sew™ Demo, which does not provide the calculations for the bodice and sleeve pieces. This command is used to adjust the size of bust dart for different cup sizes.
Fittingly Sew™ is available from
Bartley Software Inc.
72 Robertson Road, Box 26122
Nepean, Ontario, Canada K2H 9R0
(613) 829-6488
(800) 661-5209 (North America)
CompuServe: 72133,3102
$189.00 Canadian funds
Shipping: $10.00 (Canada) $20.00 (elsewhere)
Canadian residents, add 7% GST.
Ontario residents, add 8% PST.
$169.00 U.S. funds (includes shipping)
Fittingly Sew™ Demo is a proprietary product of Bartley Software Inc.
Bartley Software Inc. make no warranty, either express or implied, with respect to this software.
Permission is granted to make and distribute copies of Fittingly Sew™ Demo, provided the copyright notice is preserved on all copies and this document accompanies it. The software may not be sold or distributed for profit, or included with other software which is sold or distributed for profit, without the written permission of Bartley Software Inc.
Copyright 1993 by Bartley Software Inc.
All rights reserved.
Fittingly Sew is a trademark of Bartley Software Inc.
Apple, the Apple Logo and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.
