It was really hard not to suck in my belly to where I thought it just might be in two months, but I succeeded in letting it pouf out in its full glory! 

Taking measurements is a time-consuming process. You aren't just taking the standard bust/waist/hip measurements - you are taking nearly 30 different numbers, which is why (I hope) my hand-sewn clothes will come out fitting more precisely than the store-bought variety. I couldn't have done it without a bit of help - thankfully my parents were here visiting and my Mom, an accomplished seamstress in her own right, was here to tie me up in measuring tape.

Some of the measurements are specific to the type of clothing you will be making - for example, Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified has you estimate the sweep of a skirt when taking measurements to draw up a specific skirt pattern. A skirt's sweep (think about doing the hula hoop around your knees - the sweep is the amount of circular space you have around your legs) needs to be large enough so you can move, but it can be narrower the higher you move the hem line up your legs. A mini skirt can be tight, but if you have a mini-skirt sweep on a tea-length skirt, you'd do better rolling along the ground to get from point A to point B.

I went ahead and took all of my body-specific measurements now, and I'll re-think the garment-specific estimated measurements once I start work on each project.

The fabric is arriving any day now - and I have to decide if I'm finally going to break down and buy myself a dress form. I've been using myself as a dummy, so to speak, and I honestly feel like a dummy when I poke myself for the umpteenth time with a pin. I'm considering getting a Uniquely You dress form - do any of you have any experience with it? It appeals to me because I'll be able to mold it to my own body shape and I can adjust the shape if my body shape fluctuates. Plus, I would be able to easily pin fabric directly onto the form. What do you think?

Have a good weekend!

Meg