Full Bust Adjustment to Jalie Dolman 3352

Let’s start by being honest, when I sew for myself, I don’t need to do a Full Bust Adjustment. (Read a post I wrote about making this tee for myself.) (FBA) Recently I helped out at a sewing retreat hosted by my friend Catherine, owner of Distinctive Sewing Supplies by presenting a few short seminars. One of the attendees requested that I show her how to do an FBA on Jalie Dolman 3352. As a result of that request one of my seminars focussed on just that.

Let’s start by being honest, when I sew for myself, I don’t need to do a Full Bust Adjustment. (Read a post I wrote about making this tee for myself.) (FBA) Recently I helped out at a sewing retreat hosted by my friend Catherine, owner of Distinctive Sewing Supplies by presenting a few short seminars. One of the attendees requested that I show her how to do an FBA on Jalie Dolman 3352. As a result of that request one of my seminars focussed on just that.

How I did a Full Bust Adjustment on Jalie Dolman 3352

A friend of mine has a tiny build and a D cup. Many of the tops she makes are too large in the neck, shoulders and hips due to the fact that she chose her pattern size by her full bust measurement. Jalie drafts for a B cup, which is 2 inches larger than the upper bust measurement. (A C-cup is 3 inches, D is 4 inches and so on.)

Choosing Your Correct (Jalie) Size

Measure your upper bust (that’s above the bust around the chest), add 2 inches and that’s your size. If you’re a B cup, cut and sew, ta da.

My friend’s upper bust measurement is 30 inches. (76cm). Add 2 inches (32 inches) and that’s her size for the neck and shoulders.  (R) Her full bust measurement is 37 inches (94cm).  There’s a 5 inch (12.75cm) difference!   When she sews a garment using her full bust measurement, the neck gapes and her shoulders droop.  We need to add 5 inches to the front pattern piece.  Because we’re working on half a front, we’ll add 2 1/2 inches to that piece.

How I did that Full Bust Adjustment

Begin by tracing your pattern front piece using your upper bust plus 2 inches for size,  and cutting it out.  Standing in front of a mirror, hold the pattern piece over your front, keeping the center front fold straight and making sure the shoulder and neckline are in the correct position.  Mark the apex of your breast, the bust point. (The nipple)

On a flat surface use a ruler and pencil to mark the following: 

1. A curved line where the armscye would be.  Close is close enough.

2. A straight line from the bust point to halfway along the curve drawn in step 1.

3. A straight line from bust point to hem, parallel to the center front.

4. A straight line from the bust point to the side seam, perpendicular to the line drawn in step 3.

5. A straight line from the line drawn in step 3 to the center front, perpendicular to that line about halfway up the front.

Cut off the sleeve extension and set it aside for now. Cut on the remaining lines, leaving “hinges” where indicated.

Open out the long vertical cut the amount we need to add by sliding it to the left, in this case, 2 1/2 inches.  Keep the pieces parallel.  Note the “dart” that opens at the side.  That’s ok, we’ll deal with it later. Add 2 1/2 inches to the front length by sliding the bottom of the front down.

Tape the center front pieces down to hold them in place.

Without moving the taped down center front pieces, pivot the outer piece to close the dart.  Tape down the upper dart section.

Keep the dart closed at the arrow, then pivot the remaining piece, toward the right until there is a 2 1/2 inch gap up the front. (the original increase amount). 

The lines of the dart will overlap.

Lay the sleeve extension back into position.

Solving the Short Front Side Seam

And that’s where I have a problem. Because I’m adding 2 1/2 inches, the armscye curve was raised. See how the bottom of the sleeve is overlapping the underarm? Now the front side seam will be shorter than the back.

I fixed that by sliding the side front down until the armhole was at the same level as the sleeve bottom.

The last step was to stick a pin through the sleeve at the outer shoulder and pivot the sleeve bottom to the right until the underarms meet.

Your New Pattern, with a Full Bust Adjustment

Smooth out the line for the shoulder, hem and at the “dart” line if needed and you’re ready to trace off your new pattern.

This works for tee-shirt patterns with no darts, too, just ignore all reference to the sleeve extension.

I hope this is of some help to you, if you have any questions, please email me at:

yvettechilcott (at) yahoo (dot) ca

Does this make sense to you? Is this a full bust adjustment you need to make when you sew for yourself?