It seems that women who are no longer a size 8 tend to wear baggy clothing. They wear loose clothing to (I think) hide their full figures. Just because a woman no longer the hourglass figure she once had, does not mean she has to give up a 'shape.' Curves are beautiful.
Photo courtesy of https://www.swakdesigns.com/collections/plus-size-new-arrivals
Using some sort of gathering implement around her waist and I personally feel that the second photo makes her look slimmer at all points - bust line, waist and (ugh) hips. She could have used a belt, scarf or even an interesting piece of rope to achieve just a little definition.
Somewhere in your closet awaits a pair of jeans, slacks or skirt that does NOT fit your waistline anymore. Breathing would be optional if you decided to wear that favorite outfit but you cannot give up on yourself or it.
Enter, embroidery at work. Not all crafts need to be for giving and sharing, fixing something for yourself is very rewarding. I did a blog on
"Is Mending Obsolete?" you may find interesting.
I need to create some room in my brother's pants, they won't button up anymore. Here is how it went - - (did someone say "measure twice and cut once?" - - I am embarrassed!)
I cut the waist down 5" on the back seam. If need be, I could have made the cut on either side of the waist band, resulting in 2 patches. I am using a simple patch because he is not really into florals or cute sayings.
I have prepared my adhesive/water soluble stabilizer. This is one of the very best adhesive stabilizers I have found, you can get it
right here at AnnTheGran. If you compare, yard for yard to other brands, Ann's stabilizers are an excellent buy.
I did have to remove the belt loop that was in the line of fire/stitches. It actually came off easily.
The moment of truth shows that I measured only once. . . I can fix that by adjusting the freebie design included with this blog. I really hope you are enjoying the freebies. I try to do something that you likely don't have in your stash, and this one is a good one.
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One and a quarter inches should be enough to with stand a lot of 'growing' for him, he is 78 years old. The best brother on the planet!!
Be sure to place some fabric below your patch. (LOL, guess who did not do that??)
For ladies' garments, there are so many beautiful designs to chose from that the patch is not necessary. I tried to match the thread to the fabric or you can use a contrasting thread for some interest.
Here are two sizes of the patch I created. They are 2" by 2" (50mm by 50mm) and 2" by 4" (50mm by 100mm). Don't forget the basic rule for 'resizing' a design - never go beyond 20% +/-. I have tried and had some interesting outcomes - mostly large areas of blank fabric where there should be stitches.