Adjusting Fit At The Bust – Part 1 – Bust level and Bust Point Apex

I thought I would produce a blog post covering the adjustment of fit at the bust, both for a larger bust – full bust adjustment (FBA) and a smaller bust (SBA). I planned the post in my notebook, making sketches and notes of the pattern cutting steps I would take, and then I went to bed. When I woke up in the morning, I had changed my mind! I can’t let myself put a post of a technique on my blog, without explaining why I am directing you to following my steps, and to do that means one post suddenly becomes several.

So where do we start… there are so many factors to take into account when fitting to a bust. Of course there is cup size, bust level, the size of bust darts, bust points or bust apex and selecting the correct pattern size in the first place, that not only fits your bust but fits the rest of your body! We will look at each of these factors over this series of posts.

Let’s start with focusing on bust levels and bust point apex locations and get this right first.

Most basic blocks, and that includes my own range of basic blocks, are drafted to a standard B or sometimes a C cup size.

So what do ladies, myself included, (I am an F cup) do when they pick up a basic block that has been drafted to a standard set of size chart measurements and the cup size does not match their own? The probably put up with the less than perfect fit they have!

There are many methods out there offering techniques to adjust the bust area. If you take a moment to search FBA (Full Bust Adjustment) you can take a look at all the different methods. Some are excellent, however some are far from correct and, in themselves, will introduce more fitting problems than you had in the first place!

This is also the reason I want to be very thorough in explaining my methods and start at the beginning, so hopefully you have a little more understanding and not be simply following a set of instructions that may or may not work out well for you.

The beginning is how the block was drafted or the pattern was created in the first place. One very important POINT is to establish where the bust point (some refer to this as the bust apex) is located on the pattern or block. In this post I will refer to it as bust point apex!

If you are using a basic block, then the bust point apex is located on the bust line and if you extend the 2 bodice darts to meet at this point, this will be your bust point or the apex of your breast and the bust point lies on the bust level.

 Here are my basic blocks, as you can see the bust level is marked and also the bust point.

On a finished pattern the bust point and bust level may not be as easy to locate. The pattern cutter will have taken the darts back from the bust point by at least 2.5 cm (1 inch) if not more.

Pattern cutters do this automatically as a dart would look very unsightly sewn right up to the bust point apex.

In order to find the bust point apex on a pattern or block that does not have the bust level or bust point labelled, simply find the center of the dart mouth (opening of the dart) and extend a line from this point through the dart apex and carry it on a little, do the same for any other darts you have and where they meet will be the bust point apex.

If you only have one dart then the extended center line will touch the bust line at the bust point, you may not know where the bust line is but it will give you some idea. If this line doesn’t look as though it will touch your own bust point apex and looks as though it is aiming to hit above your bust then your bust is lower than the pattern has allowed for. The opposite is true if it hits below, then you have a higher bust than the pattern has allowed for, I have never seen this in all the garments I have fitted but I am sure someone has a very high bust.

In this first post of the series I am going to look at simply establishing the location of the bust point and the bust level. After all there is little point in adjusting for a different cup size when the bust point and level are wrong. We will then look at altering the bust point to your own measurements on any pattern or block you may choose to use.

At 51 years old, having breast fed 3 (now grown up) boys, I can say that my boobs are somewhat lower that they were when I was a student! Although a good bra can do much to help. This is a very important point actually as when you are making these changes you need to be taking any measurements while wearing your best supporting bra.

Even as a student, I regularly bought clothes and found that the bust point or shaping for the bust was much higher than my own bust, and this is very annoying as it results in a nasty bump above the fullness of the bust.

Importance of the Bust Point Apex

The bust point or apex is a very distinct and important location on your body. It is one of the most important points to find in order to make your pattern fit you. It can also be in different locations on the different sides of your body! 

It is crucial to determine your bust point apex in order to properly fit any garment worn over the bust. It is also important as it’s the area that requires the most fullness to be created and all darts should originate to and from this point.

If you fail to allow for the position of your apex, you may end up having fullness in an area that doesn’t need it (for example – after making a full bust adjustment without making the bust apex and bust level adjustments first) or perhaps having your garment too tight around your bust area. We want the fullness to be added in the correct area, having done all that work!

When we make our own patterns and our own clothes we have the opportunity to adjust this, thank goodness!

It is well worth taking the time to assess if the bust level and the bust point to bust point measurement are in the correct location before making any other changes – I hope I have stressed this enough!

In my posts I tend to talk about basic blocks, as my customers are using my basic blocks and they want to learn how best to adjust them, however these principals also apply to patterns, however the areas such as bust point and bust level may not be as clear on a pattern as they are on a basic block. We will look at this later in the post.

There is the option, if you are using a pattern to simply take the pattern piece and place it to your own body, this way you can see where your bust level is in relation to the pattern shape. We can measure the distance between one nipple and the other to calculate our bust point to bust point measurements.  Mark these important points on the pattern and use these locations to make the adjustments.

 Let’s look at the changes we can make if perhaps our breasts are fuller, this will make our bust points further apart and our breast will sit lower. The pattern we are using has likely been drafted to fit a smaller cup size but if we select a pattern size to fit our bust measurement then we have an ill fitting garment everywhere else! Again we will look at this in much more detail after we have worked on bust level and bust point apex.

Your bust apex is the most prominent point of your bust. For some people, it is located at the tip of the nipple, but that’s not necessarily always the case.

Finding and measuring your bust point

To find the bust point apex, look at your bust and locate the most prominent area from the top, and the side. Measure between these 2 points and this will give you your bust point to bust point measurement.

Next Steps – Measure from your neck point (where a shoulder seam would sit snugly on your neck) to the bust point apex – this measurement will help you mark the bust level.

How to lower the bust line and adapt the darts 

Measure across from the Center Front (CF) half your total  bust point apex to  BP apex measurement. Square up and down from this line. 

The Bust Level

Take your shoulder to bust point measurement and make this measurement hit the line you extended up and down from the bust point apex  line.

This method works for a lower and wider bust in the same way it would work for a higher and narrower bust, simply follow the same steps, however for a higher bust you will hitting the line you extended above the original bust level. Where the purple line hits the vertical extended line is the new bust point.

Now draw in the darts to the new bust point, work on the shoulder dart first . Take all the darts back at least 2.5 cm or 1 inch for sewing.

For the second dart extend a line parallel to the CF down from the point of the shoulder bust dart, drop this line to the waist level. Measure the original dart at waist level and distribute half the total measurement of this dart either side of the new vertical line you have extended from the new bust point. This is your new dart.

Having established the bust point and bust level, we now need to learn how to add extra allowance for a full bust, manipulating the pattern in the bust area only and maintaining a good fit at the neck, waist, armhole etc. This is the stuff of later posts! 

Full busted ladies often have no there choice than to select a pattern size to fit their bust measurement, but often the rest of her is smaller as she has a small skeletal frame. 

In the next post in this series you will learn how to select the pattern size that best suits your body size and then we will learn how to manipulate the pattern to add extra in the bust area without affecting the fit in all other areas.

I know this is a complex area, one of the most complex in pattern cutting and the hardest area to fit, so please ask questions as I am delighted to answer!

See you in the next post!