Bodice fitting, "falling" chest

[totchipanda]

I apologize if this has been asked before, I have no idea what search terms to use

I've recently gained some weight and am having to refit my wardrobe (plus the fourth annual train trip is on in less than a month and I need a new outfit!). My backwidth of 14" has not changed. Bust is 39", waist 32" (both corseted measures). Even before the weight gain, I had the same issue in the other two French vest bodices I made; with an E back and D front on the first two, and the current one in mock-up stage with E front and back, I get adequate fit around the waist, but the top of the bust area always seems to "fall flat". Imagine a souffle as my chest, with the corset edge visible through the fabric, and the souffle of my bosom sagging behind it. It's a very pronounced shelf look. The current mock up has 1" to 1 1/4" of overlap in front without being pulled overly tight (yahoo!) and the top part, over the edge of the corset, would be closer to 1 3/4" or more. My last bodice, with the E back and D front, no longer has the "flat souffle" effect, but it won't close at the waist.

I'm not sure how to fit this. Surely other small-chested-compared-to-the-waist-and-hip ladies have had this problem? How does one correct it? I'm currently fitting the French vest bodice because it's the one I've had the most experience constructing.

Thank you for any and all suggestions!

[Heather]

Do you have a picture? It is really hard to see the problem from a description. You can email it to me if you don't want to post it here.

I am thinking it is one of two different problems, or maybe it is both of them combined. The shelf descriptions sounds like the front is too long from the shoulder to the bust. Take a horizontal tuck in your mockup, from armpit to center front, and cross the other side until it lays smooth. Since the problem went away later, it sounds like a 3/8" tuck is needed.

The center front extra above the bust can be trimmed off to make it the same top to bottom. Just be sure that it is laying easy on your body, and not pulled. You will then need to make the inner collar smaller to compensate for the smaller neckline.

[totchipanda]

Hopefully these work. There's a lot of floral going on here hehe.

I have the top portion at the neck pinned to 2" and the bottom part in the 1" - 1 1/4" range



Shoulders hunched forward to maximize the fallen souffle, it's much more pronounced with the allowance pinned to 1" instead of the 2" I have here


I think I had my shoulders back in this one, but this isn't how I normally stand.

[Heather]

Is this a mockup? or your good fabric?

It looks definitely to long from neck to bust. Like by about 3/4" to 1". First thing, pin the center front with 1" all the way up. In the second photo, you can see the tuck that is naturally forming. Literally, pin the tuck to where is fits smoothly. This is how much you need to shorten the pattern, and the tuck is exactly where you need to shorten it at. This will pull the neckline down to where is should be. This should fix most of the issue.

I am seeing another problem. It is especially noticeable in the 3rd photo but you can still see it in the 2nd one. The front of the armhole is way far forwards of where it should be. The fabric should just sit at the front edge of your arm. In the 2nd photo, it looks like about 1/2" and the 3rd photo it looks like 1 1/2". On your pattern, draw the armhole starting the 1/2" farther to side. It might be easiest to draw the armhole using 2 sizes larger size line, tapering back to the shoulder. If you need to pin the center front more than the 1" above the bust, be sure that you are not pulling the fabric towards the center all. Just pin where is naturally sits.

[totchipanda]

This is the mock-up. Thank you for the suggestions, I can't wait to try them out

I'm not sure if the armhole is actually wrong. The side you see in the photo is the side holding the camera out. I'll check it with the next fitting to be sure.