FBA on McCalls 5464

I'm working on McCalls 5464, the jumper pattern. I like it. It has a good cut for someone like me, and when I made the muslin, I was very pleased with the results. As always, I needed to do a FBA on it, but this is one of the easiest FBAs I've done in a while. If you look at the line drawings, you'll see that it is a princess line dress, but the princess lines are incorporated into a dart, rather than into separate seams. This actually simplifies the process of performing a FBA. Here's what I did to accomplish it:

First, I drew a line across the entire width of the pattern, through the bust point (I love that most patterns mark it clearly these days), and parallel to the Center Front/grainline.

Next, I slashed the pattern along this line, from the CF and up to, but not through, the cutting line. Next I slashed the dart above this line, along the dart's slash line printed on the pattern. In effect, I ended up with three (well, 2 9/10ths) pattern pieces. Then I proceeded to do a standard princess line FBA. I spread the center front of the bodice at the slash line by 1 inch, to accomodate a D cup. I placed tissue paper underneath it and taped it down. Then I separated the side front bodice piece so that it was 1 matched the front, as you can see here:
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I then trued up the darts. Sorry, I should have done my truing in pencil, then sharpied it in, but I did it in a sharpie and realized I had not done the correct job. The actual new dart legs are the ones on either side of the dart slash that are closer to the CF. I think you get the idea though. The reason I say this is an easy princess FBA is because the CF and side front are one continuous piece, there is no guesswork about where the side front slash should go.

I should be finished with this tomorrow, and I'll post a review of the pattern when I finish. Until then,
Happy Sewing!
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