When a style tag stops going up

You are two points short, you add another flower, and the number does not move. Accessories lift a tag only so far; after that, more of the same one changes nothing. The missing points come from a stronger fabric on one piece, or from an accessory of a different kind.

Where it happens

The same wall has turned up on several cards and several tags. Daywear stuck at 48 of 50 on one of Adora’s pigeon orders, and at 40 of 50 on another dress, while the same accessories kept raising Elaborate. Elegant three points short on Prudence’s funeral dress. Risque at 12 of 20 under a pile of accessories. Each time, adding more of what was already on the dress did nothing. The cap is per tag, and Elaborate is the exception to it: every accessory placed adds a flat point of Elaborate, which is why that one keeps climbing when the others stop.

Where a tag’s points come from

• Fabric on the bodice

  A fabric’s tag score is split by part, not by area: bodice 35%, skirt 40%, sleeves 15%, collar 10%. The bodice is a small piece of cloth carrying a third of the score, so it is the cheapest place to recut.

• Fabric on the skirt

  The skirt carries a little more of the score, 40%, but it is most of the cloth. Worth it when a tag is far off and the bodice alone will not close the gap.

• Accessories

  All the accessories on a tag are lined up from the biggest value down, and each counts 85% of the one before it. However many you add, they never pass about 6.7 times the biggest one’s value.

Each pattern also adds its own tag values on top, which is why the same fabric scores differently on a different bodice.

The accessory ceiling, tag by tag

The most any accessory in the shop gives a tag, and the most accessories together can ever add. Ten of the same one already reach about 80% of the ceiling; the rest crawls.

So accessories can never add more than about 20 Daywear or 20 Risqué, however many go on: a dress stuck two points short on either needs fabric, not more trim.

Getting the last points

1. Stop stacking accessories. Once there are ten or so on a tag, more barely move it. Take a few off if you like the dress better without them.
2. Recut the bodice in a stronger fabric. It carries 35% of a fabric’s tag score for little cloth; the skirt is next if that is not enough. Look for a fabric that scores high in the missing tag: fabric tag scores go up to 100, and the fabric finder lists every fabric by the tag you pick. Buy only what that one piece needs.
3. Check the layers you cannot see. An underskirt counts toward the dress too, so its fabric is another place to make the change.
4. Swap to a stronger accessory, not a different one. What counts is the value, not the kind: one accessory with a bigger value for the tag goes to the front of the line and lifts the ceiling, while a new kind with the same value adds no more than another of the old one.
5. Start the dress again as a last resort. Restart dress does not give back the fabric you already cut, so buy what you need first. Selling the finished dress is the other way out: see off the rack, selling and gifts.

Before you sew

The sketchbook adds up the tags as you pick pieces and swatches, so the cheapest fix is the one made before cutting: get every floor over its line on the sketch, with a few points to spare, and every maximum under its. When the dress is done, the pass-or-fail checker goes through a card line by line. How the tags and rules read in general is on style tags and requirement rules, and Fiona’s page has the Vegetable Empire card in full.

When the number is a ceiling

Some cards cap a tag instead, and there the problem runs the other way: accessories and strong fabric push you over. Chilly Overtime caps Cute and Romantic, and Not Haughty caps Quality itself.

Use the fabric share planner to see which pieces carry the colour or fabric goal.

Compare pattern tag scores before changing fabric.

Look up accessory tag scores when the dress needs a few more points.

Try a different dress design before cutting more fabric.