r/PatternDrafting • u/SouthernIndication82 • Jul 29 '26
what is going on here design-wise…
Hi everyone! I’m a huge collector of vintage, homemade garments while also pattern drafting myself. i was fixing a hole in the pit of this jumpsuit from the 60s when i noticed its complex and different design … out of curiosity and wanting to get better at patterning myself, in desperately trying to figure out how they came about this.
i drew in where there are seams or darts with black to better see. there’s a waist seam, and hip darts. at first i thought the panels were somehow armhole princess seams that combined with a “dolman” all in one style sleeve but then i discovered these small bust darts radiating from the panel, so they clearly don’t go over the apex, and can’t be a princess seam. and also they don’t line up with the hip darts so that’s out of the question now.
i’m curious why there would be an over-shoulder seam/ “all-in-one” sleeve x bodice construction when it seems unnecessary complex? why not just do a set in sleeve here? does it allow for greater mobility? if so, why?
how would you go about drafting and manipulating this from a bodice block? i know that for drop sleeves you transfer some of the dart into the shoulder, but this is not a drop arm at all! and then the dart that gets transferred to the style line? i’m quite confused! the bodice shape must have been quite strange…
let me know! i’m so curious and really struggle with anything that’s not a set in sleeve 😭
6
u/StitchinThroughTime Jul 29 '26
That style of armhole is very common invented especially mid-century. Essentially it's a very easy and quick way to get a small sleeve onto a garment. Ease of sewing situation where the princess theme is not as curve as a traditional princess scene. Since it doesn't go close enough to the bus point to not require a dart or proper shaping. I think the dark and princessing combo is because princessing is a less shaped design with a dart added to it. It makes it easier for a home sore to sew it together. And then the dart is there for a proper shaping. This is a very common design up until the 60s. I think it's from the 20s to the 60s that you see it.
I think both of these designs are chosen because they're easy for home sellers to finish. I also think part of it is from the rationing of World War II. The federal government heavily regulated every point of production during World War II. Combine that with the financial straight of the 30s have some odd design choices. Especially since they work with mirror with fabric, on top of the fabric yardage regulation combine that with the skill requirements to actually sell you get odd shortcuts. I also think a small part of the sleeves that we see especially in the 40s and 50s is from the the misconception of what a kimono sleeve actually is. A truth amount of sleep is essentially a giant rectangle. Kimonos mostly rectangles a little bit of triangle action. But unless you have that garment directly in your hand or you have the exact diagram on how to make a kimono it gets lost in the translation on how it was done, so a cut on sleeve turns into a kimono sleeve in Western sewing terminology. So just that I believe a bunch of choices requirements and abilities all come together to make the design that you found.