Laser Level Top

[Josefa Palsgrove]

Imaginethat I can take a a cross-section at your hips (yellow dotted line). Both of these ellipses have a 44-inch circumference, but obviously, the ellipses are very different shapes. The long axis goes from hip to hip, and the short axis goes from the center front to the back. Patterns are designed with a short axis length based on a particular body shape. However, there are situations where your body shape and posture may need more room from the center front to back: anterior tilting pelvis, protruding lower abdominals, and/or protruding upper thighs. When measuring the hip circumference, it is essential to include these, but why?

This photo shows how to measure the hips, including the protruding stomach, to determine the new hip measurement. When I re-measure my hips and include my protruding stomach, I measure 45 inches, which puts me between a size 16 and 18 for this pattern. Is size 18 the correct size for me though?

Fit the waistband first! I recently started doing this, which has transformed my whole fitting process. I usually waited until the last step to adjust the waistband but was always disappointed with the final fit. I also find it extremely helpful to use the same fabric as your final garment because:

For the May jeans, the answer is nope! I have a long post about why I need the center grainline to bisect the knee when fitting to my body. In the image above, the actual center of the knee reference line is the small red tick mark. The front is not too far off, but the back piece is over an inch off-center.

Before I moved to version A with the straight legs, I tried version C with the shaped legs. If I compare fit with my previous blog post about the center grainline at the knee, you can see similarities.

Fixing the grainline placement at the knee will not solve all fit issues, but you need to change the grainline at the knee first before you adjust the grainline at the hip. Here are my new and improved steps for finding grainline at your hips.

Stand with your feet approximately hip-width apart to be balanced and comfortable. You may have to adjust slightly, but the general rule is that your second toe should line up with the center of your ankle. The center of my ankle actually lines up with the space between my first and second toes. If you are measuring the grainline for the back of your leg, you will want the same alignment of your feet. Start with the front, so you have an idea of posture before attempting the back.

The middle of the back of your knee may seem impossible to identify too, but again the center grainline of your pants will actually be at the center of your knee. Just mark the horizontal reference line of where your knee crease is.

Stand comfortably and aligned as described above. The laser should be lined up with your second toe, the middle of your ankle, and the center of your kneecap. Mark where the laser crosses at your hip reference line. You have now found the center grainline of your front body. Notice that the center grainline of the pant is at the center of my kneecap.

For the back, the laser should be lined up with your heel, Achilles tendon, and the center of your knee. Mark where the laser crosses at your hip reference line. You have now found the center grainline of your back body. Observe again that the center grainline of the pattern is at the center of my knee.

You can make the adjustment at the hip reference line, but that destroys the crotch length and shape. Moving things at the crotch level is slightly more straightforward because the crotch hook is preserved. For the front, I moved the torso lateral 1.5 inches. For the back, I moved the torso lateral 0.75 inches. If you measure from the center front, excluding the seam allowance, to the center grainline, it measures 5.5 inches originally and 4 inches after the alteration. If you measure from the center back, excluding the seam allowance, to the center grainline, it measures 6 inches originally and 5.25 inches after the alteration. Double-check that the inseam and side seam length matches after making this alteration. You will likely have to adjust the length a little.

I love the expanded size range, clear and detailed instructions, online sew-along, and certain aspects of drafting (i.e., waistband and crotch curve shape). These jeans do a great job making your butt look its best.

De Raeve et al. (2018) studied cross-sections of approximately 2500 participants in Belgium. I particularly found Figure 7 interesting because it reveals the extreme variation in hip shape even when all three participants have the same bust, waist, and hip girths. In terms of RTW sizing, they would all wear the same size. However, bodies come in all shapes, even when dimensions are the same. Garments will not fit the same way on these three bodies, and with LIDAR technology fit can also be evaluated on 3D bodies.

The shift makes the outseam more bias-y rather than the inseam, does this influence/limit movement or comfort? Is the squat test harder?

The shift also makes the amount of negative body space smaller that is generated by putting the first few inches of the inseams together due to the modified inseam angle between the crotch and knee. Are we giving ourselves less comfort/less ease front to back by making it fit better elsewhere?

I have a passion for fashion, sewing, knitting, and fitting, which has led me on an endless journey of learning. Through this blog, I share my experiences, including my successes, failures, and the lessons I've learned along the way. While my earlier posts reflect my knowledge at that time, my understanding has since grown significantly. If I were to revisit those projects now, I would approach them differently, so please take some of my older ideas with a grain of salt.

To get an accurate measurement, mark the blue tape with 18mm neutral toe reference mark circled in red. 18 mm was the distance between the laser and the edge of the Harbor Freight laser level. I used a tape measure to set the reference marks because its width turned out to be conveniently close to 18 mm.

If the rear is perfectly aligned then you have something to go on, but still need the track width measurement for both front and rear and to work out the compensation, width of laser etc. Otherwise you have no datum to start work with. Also if you have more camber than standard and different wheel width and offset then you are better to just forget this system and put both hands on your beers.

Your better off just firing the laser forwards at wall with a tape measure stuck to it. You would need the front track width, toe requirement and do the compensation. Most importantly you need to measure the distance from the rear of the front rim to wall distance and do some Sine work to know what one mm for example equates (exagerates/ magnifies) to on the distant wall. One mm on the wall will not be 1mm toe. You will have to do some trigonometry. If you calibrated your laser this exageration on the distant wall will improve your accuracy.

This magnetic torpedo laser level is a must-have at home or on the job. Its three vials read plumb, level and cross check, and its built-in, rotating head swivels to project a laser dot, horizontal line or vertical line. Designed with durability in mind, this level's molded housing is impact resistant to withstand even the roughest jobsite abuse.

Perfect for small jobsites, this rotary self levels in the horizontal plane and manually levels in the vertical plane. The rotary also features an illuminated vertical vial and adjustable rotational speeds of 200, 400 or 600 RPM. Accuracy is never a problem thanks to the visual and audible alarms that alert you when the rotary is beyond its leveling range and the locking compensator that protects the inner pendulum during transport. With the included wall/ceiling mount, 8-foot grade rod, detector and clamp, tinted glasses, magnetic target, elevating tripod and hard-shell carrying case, this leveling system will get your jobsite up and running!

A laser level is an electronic device that projects one or more fixed lines or points of red or green light beams along the horizontal and vertical axes. It belongs to hardware decoration construction tools, and is widely used in handicraft, construction industry, decoration engineering and other fields, and is the mainstream tool for professionals in the masonry construction industry.

Your choice of batting. I like batting on a roll or from a bolt. It has far fewer creases and wrinkles than packaged batting. You can use your laser level to trim packaged batting as well. It works for everything.

Use this same method for trimming backing fabric. Fold the backing fabric in half length-wise. You will be checking and trimming BOTH ends (top and bottom)of your fabric to be sure they are straight and square with the fold.

I finally found one and I use it to help keep the edges of my quilt top straight on the longarm frame starting from the top edge and left and right sides of the quilt as i baste it in place. then as I roll the quilt, it helps to keep the sides as straight as possible going down the quilt.

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