Mar 12, 2012 Fitting Books Let's face it, fitting can be complicated and confusing so it's always good to have some good references available to help you figure it all out. Books are a good place to start when you are just beginning the fitting journey. I currently have two books specific to fitting. The first one I purchased was Fitting & Pattern Alteration: A Multi-Method Approach. I bought this one sight unseen, hoping it would be a good reference when I first got my job as a fit technician. It did come in handy a few times but I found the black and white line drawings somewhat misleading and the "multi-method" pattern corrections a bit confusing. However, now that I have a better understanding of fit, I find this book to be quite thorough and it does contain a lot of valuable information. I wouldn't recommend this as a book for a beginner. Fitting involves understanding the wrinkles and drag lines on the garment and the line drawings are just not clear enough to truly understand the fitting issues. The second fitting book I purchased was Dress Fitting, Classic Edition: Basic Principles and Practice. Although this is a difficult read, this is a really good fitting book for a student of fitting especially if one is willing to do the preliminary modelling exercises in Chapter One. I truly believe that "modelling", otherwise known as draping, teaches you everything you will ever need to know about fitting because it clearly shows how the fabric behaves in regard to the contours of the body. Manipulating the fabric over the curves and hollows of the body illustrates many of the fitting issues that are encountered and generates good understanding of fit. This book also presents the theory of fitting so that there is understanding of why the patterns are shaped the way they are for good fit. I would highly recommend this book if you are willing to put in the work and experiment with the exercises. I just ordered The Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting. I am very excited about receiving this one. It seems to me that it presents fitting in the manner that I do; with muslin photos accompanied by pattern corrections. I will be sure to let you know what I think when I get my hands on it. Take a look and see what you think. There are many other fitting books available, Fit for Real People and Pants for Real People seem to be favorites on Pattern Review. You can add your favorites to the comments if you like. It seems to me that all fitting books have one thing in common, they focus on fitting and pattern corrections for a basic fitting shell with darts. I feel this is a shortfall since most sewing enthusiasts are sewing with fully styled patterns not fitting shells so it can be confusing when your pattern doesn't look like the one they are showing in the book. What are your thoughts on that?
