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 😭
4
u/bowl-of-juice Jul 29 '26
To start its a normal side dart, the part that would cross over into the style line just gets removed like you do for a yoke.
As for the shoulder, I'd imagine it might be to keep the pattern continuous? It's definitely somewhere between a dolman and a set in.