1: Determining your bust apex

Hi readers!

Welcome to the first post of my fitting series, where we will discuss the importance of the bust apex and how to determine it.

Importance of the bust apex

The bust apex is a very unique feature of your body. It is one of the most important points to find to make your pattern work for you. It is crucial to determine your bust apex in order to fit blouses, dresses, and in general outfits for your torso. It is an important region because it requires the most fullness.

If you don’t locate the position of your apex, you may end up having fullness in a location that doesn’t need it (for example with a full bust adjustment) or perhaps having your garment too tight around your bust, which will look disproportionate or otherwise weird. We want the fullness to be added in the region of our bust which requires it, which is essentially what more fabric and wider darts do.

Fullness is required at the bust around the apex.

The apex of a dart points towards the region which requires maximum fullness (your bust apex in this case). When we close a dart, we are basically creating a cone, adding volume to a certain region of the garment.

The apex of a dart points towards the region where fullness is added.

Finding and measuring your bust 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.

First of all, wear undergarments that you like and can wear comfortably and often. Wear a thin ribbon or an elastic around your waist so you can use your waistline as reference.

To find the bust apex, look at your bust and locate the most prominent point from the top, and the side. Mark those two points.

Locate and mark the position of your apex

Now, measure the position of your apex with respect to the following references (as indicated by the following figure):

i) side neck – to apex

ii) apex – to apex

iii) center front waist – to apex

Measure the positon of your apex with respect to other common reference points on your body.

The following two references may also come in handy. You may need to take them depending on the design of the pattern you are planning to use.

i2) center front neck – to apex

i3) shoulder seam – to apex

Other references may also be required depending on the pattern you are making.

Now that we have found our apex, the adjustments to the pattern detailed in the following posts will make your boobs look amazing!

That’s all for today folks,

Have a good time!

❤ M

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