What Is The Best Style Top To Wear If One Has A Protruding Tummy?

Sewing Tips

Hi Sewing Friends:

"What would be the best style top to wear if one has a protruding tummy? Is there something flattering for a middle-aged miss-fit?"

This is a recent question I received.

I'm sure many of you have the same question middle aged or not. So, I am posting my answer for all of you. If you have something to add or a comment to make, please do so here. Or, if you have a question, please let me know and I will try my best to answer it for you.

To Your Sewing Success,

Marian Lewis


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Sewing Tips
What Is The Best Style Top To Wear If One Has A Protruding Tummy

- by Marian Lewis

©2006 Marian Lewis - All Rights Reserved

1st Step To Sewing Success

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What Is The Best Style Top To Wear If One Has A Protruding Tummy?

First of all, do not wear tucked in tops. They simply accentuate the tummy.

Sewing your own tops will give you the best fit to flatter your figure.

Sew simple, basic shells, tees or camisoles to wear under open over shirts or blouses.

An open shirt provides vertical lines that divide the figure and make you look slimmer. The more vertical lines the better.

Think about sewing tucks or pleats in the front of your shirt. Sew more buttons or stitch a design on the front placket.

Shells should not be clingy to show bulges, but just glide over the body smoothly. Choose flattering colors for your shells to update your wardrobe.

Sleeve Lengths

Do not wear sleeveless garments if your arms are large or flabby or you are an older lady. The skin in the upper arm area is not pretty. We need to cover it up when we want to look our best.
That goes for elbows, too. Wrinkled elbows are not attractive either.

Try sheer, lace or see through longer sleeves. They give the effect of wearing a sleeveless garment, but cover up the flaws.

If you wear short sleeves, make sure they do not end at your bustline. Have them end above or below the bustline so you don't look extra wide there.

Do not have long sleeves fall below the bend of your wrist. This creates a dowdy look.

Don't have sleeves end at the hemline of your shirt. Again, this visually makes you look wider than you are.

The best sleeve length is three quarter sleeves -somewhere between your elbow and wrist where your arm tapers down. Everyone looks smaller there. Roll up long sleeves to this point and check it out in the mirror.

Wider, Longer Fronts

Ready-to-wear and sewing pattern companies make garments the same width back and front. Our bodies simply aren't that balanced. We need to sew unbalanced garments for our unbalanced bodies.

Protruding tummies mean more flesh in front. That means you need more fabric in front to accommodate the larger bulge. This goes for men with "beer bellies" too.

This is really where sewing your own is the best answer. When you sew, you can add whatever you need wherever you need it.

You might also need to add more length in front to go over your bust and large tummy so your shirt doesn't hike up in the front.

Think of a maternity top and how much fuller it is in the front. The same principle applies here.

Shirt Length

Don't have your shirt end at your tummy or your hip where you are widest.
Aim to have it end somewhere in between the two widths.

You don't want your shirt too long, especially if you are short.

Also, add side slits to your shirts to help divide the figure from the side view.

Try asymetric hemlines to help hide the tummy, too.

Have fun fitting your figure. You can do it!

You are the designer! When garments fit, you look and feel better.

It just makes sense!

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Marian Lewis is a sewing instructor, author and creator of an amazing new fitting method for hard-to-fit sewing folks who want great fitting skirts and pants. In her mini-course ebook, she teaches step-by-step common sense techniques how to find out WHAT you really need, WHERE you really need it and HOW to apply that to a commercial sewing pattern.

Marian is also the author of many articles and other mini-course ebooks related to sewing highlighting, "It Doesn't LOOK Homemade"Sewing Techniques.

Copy and paste the link now to check out her website at:

=> http://www.1ststeptosewingsuccess.com/

Discover Fitting And Sewing SecretsTo Achieve Sewing SuccessFor information on the mini-course ebook:

"Common Sense Fitting Method For Hard-To-Fit Sewing Folks Who Want Great Fitting Skirts And Pants"

Copy and paste the link:

=> http://www.1ststeptosewingsuccess.com/fitting.html

For information on the mini-course ebook:

"Sew A Tee Pee And Accessories For Your Tribe Of Kids"

Copy and paste the link:

=> http://www.1ststeptosewingsuccess.com/sewing.html

For information on the mini-course ebook:

"Classy Designer Straight Skirt"

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=> http://www.1ststeptosewingsuccess.com/sewing.html

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The Ugliest Garment

Hi Sewing Friends:

Sorry, it's been so long.

After returning from vacation, I spent a few days in the hospital.

I've decided that the ugliest garment in the whole world has to be a hospital gown. I know they have to be unisex and one size fits all, but do they have to use such ugly fabric?

Even if you are healthy, when you put one of those things on, you look sick. Remove your make-up and you look really bad! When you look bad, you feel bad.

Men's shirt fabric can be really nice and can even be floral, or many other more interesting prints. Why can't the hospital gowns be made from some of these more cheerful, colorful prints? Why can't the kids gowns be made from cute kid prints? Who chooses these fabrics anyway?

Well, I'm off to don another one of those ugly garments to have a test done. If I had to spend much time in it, I think I would sew my own and bring them with me to the hospital.

That's a thought for those of you who have someone who has to wear hospital gowns for a long time. Sew some pretty prints to help cheer them up. The gowns are really very simple garments.

To Your Sewing Success,

Marian


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