I was over at Nancy K's blog and noticing that she was having a dilemma about picking out a new pattern.
I notice this a lot with my students, and this is another one of those things that I do so regularly, that I don't realize I know what I know - if you know what I mean! OK, that sounds confusing to me - can only guess how it sounds to you.
So with Nancy's permission, here is a perfectly good example (with thanks from Nancy) is how I would approach her if she were a client of mine.
First, (I would be very lucky to have her as a client cause she obviously puts a lot of care and thought into her appearance), is her shape.

I think of Nancy as being more straight up and down rather than any other shape, and she is not short, however has to be careful about being "cut in half". Neither one of these are serious flaws, but do have to be considered in pattern selection, pattern alteration and pattern design.
She's been looking at Vogue 1167, which I think is a good pattern for her, but will require a little work before it really becomes a WOW jacket - and this is what we're after here - a WOW look! And let's be honest - every pattern needs some work to become a WOW garment.
So I think this is a good pattern and a classic one. But first some critique on the photo above. Nancy got this right off....it's been clothespinned in the back - meaning that they've nipped it in, in back, during the photo shoot to make the jacket look a little better....but we can do that too, only in a different more permanent way.
The next thing is that the jacket sleeves have some fullness to them that might be a problem for another figure, but not for Nancy, so let's not take on more here than we need to....just wanted to mention that about the sleeves.
That said, this jacket has some good points....the side bust darts are excellent, the 3/4 sleeve length is great for looking taller/less bulky, but this jacket needs more than that to make it work.
The waist must be delineated in this pattern - there is not waist and the side bust darts are good but they aren't good enough: (the back view)
I mean cummon now....you can't tell me the picture of the finished garment (the one above this one) hasn't been clothepinned at the waist when you look at this line drawing!!!

Looking at either solution here (center back seam or side back darts) either one of these solutions will solve the waist look (and OK I manipulated the side seam of the original drawing to make my point here, but this WILL work!). However, from an aesthetic point of view, and taking into consideration the line of the pattern, I personally like the center back seam the best on this style.....there's a boxy, sort of 70's-ish look to this, and this would have been a typical seam in those days - and I know this only cause I was sewing back then (you understand I was 3 y/o then.....OK maybe a little older!)
Here's using the Armani line technique on this waist to also help in this.
Armani would nip in a little above the waist, (in the illustration the red line is actual waist, and blue line is where the pattern has been nipped in the most) for the smallest part of the jacket waist (I did a little blurb on this here), but the whole idea is that if there is a more graduated line from the bust to the waist and from the waist to the hip, rather than the beloved "muffin top" look, then this is not only more presentable, but actually flattering!!! What a concept!!!
The next thing is that Nancy has to be careful about being cut in half. So she has to be careful where the jacket hem hits her. She also has to be careful that the jacket doesn't do a "Flying Wallenda" and accentuate an area that doesn't really need accentuating. So where's that perfect line?!
Easy - it's where her tummy or hip (which ever is the most delicate for her) sticks out the most.
This is a mathematical formula that works every time:
If she wants to de-accentuate her tummy & bust, then she makes the line from where it sticks out the most to where it goes in the most, as smooth as possible. In the case of her tummy, she has all the way from the most protruding spot, to the hem to make that line smooth. In the case of her bust, she has from the bust point to the waist to make that as smooth.
The opposite works well too.....for my gals who have little or no busts, I fit right under that bust line and make it close to the body and poof - like magic, they have a va-va-voom sexy bustline - or at least it makes them look like they do!
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So here's the bottom line on this jacket....she has to be careful of the hem, she has to do a center back seam and take in the waist a little above the waist, and take in the waist on the side seam a little above the waist, and voila - she has a perfectly great jacket that will work well in a lot of situations. And something that is classic enough to be done again and again and still look the same!
Gee, after looking at this pattern, I like it too. I probably wouldn't have noticed it since it doesn't have the trademark high neck collar that I love so much (to cover my thin bird neck), but the more I look at the the more I like it for summer and spring! Oh dang, the pattern isn't even available yet. Why does Vogue do that?!!