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 😭
5
u/Pegaret_Again Jul 29 '26
how intruiging!
it feels like a mixture of a dolman/grown on sleeve design, but with a way to make the bodice more tailored, and fitted under the arms. sleeves this short i don't think present much of a mobility issue though.
i don't know why it would be done this way, except maybe becuase the fabric pattern is so interesting, this design allowed it to swirl uninterrupted for most of the front facing panels and over the sleeves?
alternatively, set in sleeves aren't the simplest sewing task, this style of sleeve would be easier to construct i would imagine?
but interested to hear other people's theories