This is part three of a series on Waist Shaping.
Now that you have determined your gauges and the number of stitches you are going to use throughout the body, it’s time to make your final plan. You need to make one more sketch of your garment. You no longer need to worry about the width measurements, but now you need the “height” measurements. More specifically, the distance from the bottom of the garment to the narrowest part of your waist, then from your waist up to the widest part of your bust. Keep in mind that you will probably also need to work in the under-arm openings somewhere in this range, but that’s beyond the scope of this tutorial.
My measurements worked out to be nearly symmetrical. The garment should be 20 cm to the waist, and 16 cm from waist to bust. I included a ribbing portion at the bottom, and then made my divisions symmetrical up the garment. You can play around with your measurements and number of bands depending on how many needles sizes you need to use. Come up with something that works for you and create a little sketch like the one below.
Notice that I included the height of each “band” as well as the total height up to the top of that band. This is very important, since you will not be able to measure each band individually as you go!
Once you have this sketch, you are ready to go. Cast on the number of stitches you determined in part two with the needles listed in the lowest section, work for the length given, switch needles, work until the piece measures the new height, and keep flying up the body. When you get to the top you will have a body shaped to your measurements, no increases or decreases needed!
