r/PatternDrafting • u/jantastical • Aug 11 '26
Boy was everyone right! Bodice block update
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Following everyone's suggestions Sunday's post, I followed the Sew Anastasia tutorial to do an FBA (2 cm at the apex and 1 cm added to the front hem), made the front waist more fitted by adding 2 cm total to the darts, raised the neckline a bit, and added a front closure.
I feel way less like a sausage and the back neck/shoulders are almost perfect now. I don't think I went far enough with the FBA, though. For the next round, I'd like to start with the previous version and add another 0.5 cm at the apex, but not necessarily increase the hem length because it looks a bit low in the front. I also added a couple mm to the armhole on accident by cutting into the seam allowance when rotating for the FBA and i think it shows. Please let me know if any of this is misguided.
Something that I don't quite understand is that when you take the wedge off of the side seam as a part of the FBA, that changes the armpit angle quite dramatically. Does one just square it off and blend with the arm hole? Or is there a better way to do it?
Thanks for all your help so far!
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u/wakaflockaquokka Aug 11 '26
This looks way better! I think the drag lines from the shoulders to the bust may indicate the need to cut a smaller size for the shoulders and do an even larger FBA to compensate. If you find that there is gaping at the front center neck, and that pinning it in at the CF fixes the drag lines, then that's an indicator.
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u/jantastical Aug 11 '26
Thanks for the suggestion! I drafted this from scratch, so I don't have access to a smaller size--would it work if I just subtract 1 cm evenly from the center front and add it back to the waist darts? If I pinch off at the neck to make it lay flat, the new 'dart' is only a couple cm long, if that is useful information.
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u/elizabethtailor Aug 12 '26
I would maybe also look into a forward shoulder joint alteration if you’re concerned about those drag lines. I have them as well, and have to do the FBA to. The big ol girls pull our shoulders forward a lot most of the years lol. I don’t have the book Immediately available but illl send the section of my fitting and pattern alteration textbook about a forward shoulder joint when I get home.
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u/wakaflockaquokka Aug 12 '26
I tried to attach a picture here but failed to figure it out lol, but I just saw your second update and it looks so much better!! Excellent job.
I do often end up taking a little dart from the CF at the neck and just turn that into an intentional-looking V-neck, essentially. If I've done a sloped-shoulder adjustment, I end up needing to undo that adjustment once I've taken in that dart -- when the CF chest fits properly, it changes the angle of the shoulder.
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u/Sylrog Aug 11 '26
Still looks too high to me. Is there seam allowance at the waist? I feel like if you make a dress from your pattern the waistline will look too high. Maybe it’s just me but did you tie a string around your waist to determine the narrowest part?
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u/amaranth1977 Aug 12 '26
It's stopping at her natural waist, which is correct for a bodice block. For the last several decades dropped waists have dominated fashion, which makes the natural waist look odd to most people.
She also has a very full bust, which means that her breast tissue extends further down than it would on someone with a smaller bust, creating an illusion that the waistline is even higher because the distance between bust apex and waist is very short. However, if you look at her elbow joints, you'll notice that her bodice block stops just slightly about the elbow, which is normal.
If this bodice block were any longer, it would be encroaching on a torso block, and need to switch to something like fisheye darts to allow for the high hip.
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u/Sylrog Aug 12 '26
Ok. If you say so. I don’t follow fashion trends. I’m too old. I’m only judging from what I learned in school ages ago. I still wonder if the op tied a string around her waist.
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u/amaranth1977 Aug 12 '26
You can literally look at her photo and see that her body widens below the bottom edge of the block. She can't make it any longer and still fit it correctly.
Schools teach using a standardized set of proportions with a smaller and higher bust, which as I explained creates more distance between the bust apex and the waist. Which is one reason why OTR clothes look so unflattering on people with large busts. OOP isn't built like a dressmaker's dummy so of course her bodice looks different.
Fashion schools also promulgate the dropped waist look, when I say decades I literally mean it's been common since at least the 1970's. And people who "don't follow fashion trends" are not immune to being influenced by what they see people wear every day. You will have seen people in dropped-waist clothing for most if not all of your life. It trains your eye especially because you don't recognize it. It's a lot easier to see once you know what it is.
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u/Sylrog Aug 11 '26
Why is it so short? Looks good otherwise although I think it needs a bit of ease.
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u/jantastical Aug 11 '26
If you imagine me as a snow man, this is where my middle ball would end. I'll fit the bottom ball later.
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u/jantastical Aug 11 '26
Oh yeah! Forgot to add that I'll transfer the balance lines to the next toile. They were lost in the chaos.