While you don't necessarily need to do a FBA on the Whitlow robe due to the nature of the wrap and the amount of ease in the pattern. If you want some extra width in the bust or are worried about coverage, then this is the post for you!
Alys and I had a bit of a chat and a play and came up with an alternate method to what you might normally see - we think this works better for the robe and gives you an opportunity to add width at the bust, without adding a dart. You could also do it using the traditional method and add a dart (the dart could then be renovated to extra hem fullness if you like) - more on that at the end.
Step 1
Draw a line parallel to the grainline, up to the neck point.
Step 2
Find the bust apex by holding the pattern onto your body (remember the Whitlow robe has got a raglan sleeve). Mark a horizontal line through the bust apex point, perpendicular to the line marked Step 1.
Step 3
Cut up the vertical line from the hem. Stop cutting at the neck point. Cut into the neck point from the other side - creating a small hinge (marked with a circle).
Cut through the horizontal line towards the stitch line on each side and stop 1-2mm from the stitch line on each side. Cut in from each side towards the point where you stopped cutting, creating a hinge (marked with circles).
Step 4
Open up the pattern on the bust line by the required amount - using the hinges to help you keep the parts of the pattern flat. If your pattern becomes skewed, you may not be able to add the whole amount - this should be okay due to the amount of ease in the pattern. The hemline will stop lining up - this is okay, as it is what is stopping the front opening from becoming skewed.
Step 5
Once you are happy with how much you have added, tape in place.
Step 6
Re-draw the hem line - drawing a smooth curve from the front opening, over towards the side seam. You will need to re-draft the hem facing to fit with your new hemline. You can find a tutorial on how to draft a facing here: https://inthefolds.com/blog/2015/12/9/throwback-thursday-how-to-draft-a-hem-facing
Smooth any other lines that have been impacted by the alteration (e.g. the hinges on the raglan seam and the centre front opening). You want the lines to remain the same length as they were originally.
Traditional FBA
Step 1
Find the bust apex by holding the pattern onto your body (remember that the Whitlow robe has a raglan sleeve). Draw alteration lines in as above - one over to the top of the side seam (just a few cm down) and the other to around the middle of the raglan seam.
Step 2
Complete FBA as usual. If you need guidance on this, check out this post: https://inthefolds.com/blog/2017/4/21/the-collins-top-sew-along-full-bust-adjustment You can start at Step 8.
If you're planning to do a FBA, which method do you think you'd like to try?