How to increase bust on sewing pattern

Everyone has uniqueness in their body shape and this makes it extremely difficult to find a dress for yourself that fits you 100%. This is the reason that almost every good brand has an expert sitting there if you need any kind of alteration. Although this alteration is mostly to make your dress fit according to your body, sometimes people need other alterations as well.

Bust adjustment is one of the few things that need to be adjusted just according to the body shape because any errors can take away the whole charm of the dress while making you feel uncomfortable as well.

Most of the dresses in the market come with a bust size that fits best to an American B Cup size but if you have a bigger or smaller size, you need to make bust adjustments.

People love to take challenges and learn small things like how to tie a knot when sewing? If you are one of them and want to get this job done by yourself, you may ask, how to increase bust on sewing patterns?

Just continue reading this article as we will guide you how to enlarge the bust as well as other topics like how to measure bust on a sewing pattern. and, How to know if you need full bust or small bust adjustment.

What is a bust on a sewing pattern?

In simple words, bust on a sewing pattern is the extended round part of the dress around your cup area. The standard bust size of almost all dresses in the market is American B cup but if you have a bigger or smaller size, you need to make adjustments.

It is extremely important to have a perfect fit bust on your dress because where a large bust can take the charm of your dress, a small bust can make you uncomfortable and may cause you issues in the long run as well.

What is a full-bust adjustment?

How to do a Full Bust Adjustment- Pattern Drafting for Beginners

As its name suggests, full-bust adjustment or FBA is done when you are large (bigger than B cup size) and want to alter the pattern accordingly.

With this adjustment, the volume of the cup area will be increased by adding extra fabric or through any other method so that you can have more space in the bust.

The adjustment will be done in such a way that you don’t have to disturb the shoulder fit or the arm-cycle coverage (if you have a sleeveless dress).

What is a small bust adjustment?

Small bust adjustment of SBA is an alteration process where the volume of the cup area is decreased to make it perfectly fit with the person’s body shape.

This is done by either removing the excess fabric or customizing it in any other unique way. SBA is implemented when you have a smaller size as compared to a B cup.

How to find a bust on a sewing pattern?

Finding the bust on sewing patterns is assumed to be difficult because of the round cup shape but if you know the right way to do so, it is not that difficult.

The first thing is to make sure that you are wearing a good bra that is perfectly fit and comfortable on your body. Below is one of the simplest step-by-step methods to find bust points.

1. Measure the distance between one bust point to the other bust point, also known as bust apex.
2. Start by measuring the distance from the shoulder seam to the middle point of the bust for both sides. The distance may vary for each bust so you should go with the average of two distances measured. 
3. Measure the distance from the center of the front waist to the bust points of both sides.
4. Put dots using temporary markers or pins on both points of your sewing pattern.
5. Finally, line them up as you do before sewing a bust area of your dress.
6. Now take a compass and draw a perfect circle while making the bust point mark as the center of the circuit.
7. The bottom and side points of the circle will be considered dart points. These are the points where the cup should be on your body.

Do keep this fact in mind that finding the perfect bust point and sewing it with efficiency can only be done by a person who has good knowledge and experience in the sewing field. A layman may find it difficult to make bust adjustments.

How to enlarge a bust on a sewing pattern?

1. Start by laying an extra piece of fabric or tissue paper on yourself to determine where your bust point is. Mark the bust point for both sides using a temporary fabric marker.
2. Draw a vertical line straight from the bust point to the bottom hem. The line should be straight and go parallel with the pattern’s grain line.
3. Now from the bust point draw another line that goes up and end at the lower ⅓ of the armhole or arm-cycle. Consider the line drawn in step 2 and 3 as “LINE 1”.
4. Horizontally, draw another line using a pencil while one end is at the bust point while the line is going exactly through the middle of the bust dart. Consider the line drawn in step 4 as “LINE 2”.
5. Now draw the final straight line horizontally at ⅓ of the line between them and the bust point from the bottom. Consider the line drawn in step 5 as “LINE 3”.

Now that we have a road map of the bust adjustment, let’s move on to the actual process. Firstly you need to decide whether you need to make a full bust adjustment or a small bust adjustment. The procedure for both is given below.

How to adjust the full bust pattern?

1. Start cutting a straight line along with the “LINE 1” up to the bust point. Then cut straight from the bust point to the armhole while leaving a small hinge near an armhole so that paper or fabric remains intact with the other part.
2. Cut right on LINE 2 but make sure you don’t cut all the way to bust points so that you can pivot the paper.
3. Split the previously cut edges by spreading them apart to the extent that it brings you proper space. Both parts should be parallel to each other. Doing so will increase the bottom dart size as well.
4. As soon as you spread LINE 1 edges, you will notice that the right part of the paper is now shorter than the left part. To make it even, cut straight along with LINE 3 up to LINE 1.
5. Spread this lower piece downwards until the hem is leveled at the bottom.
6. Now fill the spaces with tracing paper that occurred due to cutting lines and put pins or something to keep things in place until you sew the actual pattern.

How to adjust the small bust pattern?

If we give a simple explanation, small bust adjustment is just the reverse procedure of FBA. You need to make lines and cuts as done for FBA and then go with the step-by-step procedure given below.

1. Start by sewing (as much amount as you need for the dress to fit your perfectly) one darted side of the pattern to the other darted side. Doing so will reduce the bust dart to some extent along with the waist dart.
2. One of the bottom hems will become shorter after step 1. Simply cut the LINE 3 and extend over it as to cover partly until the hem is leveled.
3. In the end, red-blend all the lines that were drawn around the newly adjusted bust dart for our dress.

Do I need full-bust or small-bust adjustments?

Most ready-made dresses come for an American B cup size which may vary from region to region. So, the very first thing is to ask the shopkeeper or look on the label to see what the actual bust size of your dress is.

Suppose your dress comes with an American C cup size, you will need a full bust adjustment if you have any of the cup sizes from D, DD, DDD/F, or G.

On the other hand, if you have a cup size smaller than C such as B, A, or AA, you will need to make small bust adjustments to your dress and make it perfectly fit your body size.

FAQs:

Can you increase the bust on a wedding dress?

Yes, you can increase the bust on a wedding dress instead wedding dresses probably comes on top when it comes to alteration in different areas.

The changing of the bust on a wedding dress is a bit challenging as it has a bunch of additional fabrics, jewels, laces, and designs which make it quite difficult to alter.

Also, having a sleeveless wedding dress may add to the complexity. Therefore, it is recommended to only take the services of a professional and expert seamstress instead of trying yourself (if you don’t have enough skills and experience for such complex dresses).