Seth

They all look terrible. That is not a fitting result, it is what raw calico with no closures looks like on a body.

Before you read anything from a toile, four things have to be true. The back has to be genuinely closed, so baste the seam shut or use a lot more than three pins, because a gapping back throws every line in the front. Wear the underwear you will wear with the finished garment. Tie a length of narrow elastic around your natural waist over the toile, which shows you instantly whether the pattern waist is sitting where your waist is. And stand normally, not in a fitting pose.

Then look, in this order: is the waist seam level and in the right place, are the shoulder seams sitting on top of your shoulders, are the side seams vertical, are the bust darts pointing at the bust apex. Only after all four do you start reading drag lines. Ninety percent of alarming wrinkles on a first toile are caused by one of those four being off, and they resolve together.

Unglamorous checklist before you conclude anything about your personality: had you eaten, had you had water, how much noise was in the room, and how long had you been at work first. Loud rooms in particular are physically tiring because you are decoding speech through noise for an hour straight. That said, if the flattening is getting worse over time, or you are needing the two hours after any interaction at all, that is worth mentioning to a doctor rather than a forum. This is just what worked for me.

Rough guide I use: under 5cm difference between high and full bust, ignore it and cut the straight size. 5 to 7cm, decide by how fitted the garment is. Over 7cm, do the FBA every time. At 10cm you would notice the difference from across a room.

And an FBA gives you a bigger dart, which is what actually produces room for a bust rather than just more circumference sitting in the wrong place.

The tuck pointing at the bust point is the bit I was missing. I kept pinning it vertically and wondering why the whole front distorted.

Tailored jackets have famously high, small armholes for exactly this reason and people always assume it is the opposite.

Separately from the armhole, do the bicep as its own adjustment rather than by grading up a size. Slash the sleeve vertically down the middle from cap to hem, spread by the amount you need, then re draw the cap so it is a smooth curve rather than a peak with a step in it. 2cm of ease on a 33cm bicep in a stable cotton is on the tight side for a garment you drive in; I would want 3 to 4.

Cutting the back with a 3cm centre back seam allowance on your next toile makes this much less painful, because you can let it out on the body instead of guessing on paper.

Normal, and the location tells you it is friction rather than a defect. Seatbelt across the chest and arms rubbing the body are the two highest abrasion zones on a coat, and that is where every coat pills first.

What happens is that short fibres work their way to the surface, tangle, and then cannot fall off. Pure wool sheds those pills eventually. Your polyester is stronger than the wool, so it holds the pill on like a little anchor, which is why blends look worse than they wear.

Use a wool comb or a sweater stone, not a battery shaver on high, and go in one direction with the nap. Do it every few weeks rather than in one big session. The rate drops off a lot after the first season once the loose fibres are gone.