How To Make Clothes that Fit and Flatter by Adele P. Margolis
Margolis wrote some half dozen books on sewing and patterns and this one from 1969 focuses on fit, how patterns should fit, and what patterns are good for fitting what kinds of bodies. I have given you some of the really fun 1969 fashions with the top photo of the evening outfits, but the book is largely a set of detailed lessons on how to fit sewing patterns to bodies of all sizes. This is where I learned to grade patterns, that is, to change them from one size to another.
Margolis features all these hip fashions in order to teach you about fitting. As in, make sure that the darts which feet the pattern to the body do no disturb the fabric--see the flower cut up the wrong way by a dart on the left and left undisturbed on the right. Ditto for the check pattern on the blouse. Margolis teaches you to move darts wherever they work best in this lesson. She also tells to to not bother messing with certain kinds of patterns in certain kinds of ways because the results will not work. So in addition to teaching grading, and fitting, she is also giving lessons on the relationship between design and fit.
This is an out of print book, but Margolis was a popular author, so there are lots of used copies to be had.













