Patterning Basics - Bodice Block (Front)

Oh, the time has come, friends. This blog post brings to you a tutorial on how to draft your own bodice block, also known as a bodice sloper. These basic 2-D shapes of your 3-D body are a great way to get started on more complicated pattern-drafting. If you’ve got these building blocks, you can pretty much figure out everything else. Admittedly, I am still learning the wonderful craft of pattern-drafting, so this is not the end-all-be-all of knowledge. This tutorial has been cobbled together from various sources, all of which I will link down below. I’ll be doing this in inches (ex.: 14”). Good luck to you (and to me) as we begin this journey together.

Preparing: Taking Measurements and Gathering Materials.

Get some big paper, a long ruler, a pencil, a flexible measuring tape, and an eraser. I also recommend some sort of comforting drink and snack. You’ll also need a French curve.

You’ll also need a variety of measurements here. It’s easiest to have a friend help you take your measurements, but it’s not impossible to do on yourself. Measure your bust, waist, and hips around the entire circumference of your body. Be sure to measure at the widest point of your bust and hip. Take an additional measurement three inches down from your waist and that is the circumference of your abdomen. You’ll also need the full length of your torso, which is from where your neck meets your shoulder to your waist at center front.

The next set of measurements you’ll need will be the center front measurement from the center front base of your neck to your waist, from the base of your neck to the tip of your shoulder, and from the tip of your shoulder to your bust point. You’ll also need your side seam measurement. While wearing a t-shirt, hold the end of your measuring tape to your underarm seam. Measure from there to your natural waist. That’s your side seam measurement.

Now for some miscellaneous measurements. Measure from the tip of your shoulder to the center front at the base of your neck and from your sternum across your bust point to your side. For the bust point to bust point measurement, place one end of the measuring tape at the fullest point of one bust and measure from that point to the fullest point on the other bust. You’ll only need half of that measurement for this drafting. From the inner corner of your armpit, measure over to your sternum. From your belly button measure over to your side.

Step One: Basic Square

The first line you’ll make is the measurement of the base of your neck to your waist. For me, that’s about 17”. Mark the top of that line A and the bottom B. From point A, you’ll use the measurement from the tip of your shoulder to the base of your neck. That’s point C. Extend that line 3” down. Point D is plotted along the A-B line and is the length from the center front base of your neck to your waist, which is 14” on me. Extend that line 4” to the left. From point B, draw a line the measurement from your sternum across your bust point to your side. That’s point E. Extend that line up 11”. At this point, it should look like a weird, unfinished square.

Step Two: Complicated Lines

Starting at point B, measure 4” over to get point F. Draw a line up diagonally from point B until it intersects with the line coming down from point C. That intersection is point G. On the B-G line and down from point G, mark the measurement from the tip of your shoulder to your bust point. You now have point H. Our next point, point I, will be on the A-C line. Starting again from point G, use the measurement of the base of your neck to the tip of your shoulder. From point I, square down at an angle until the line intersects with the line from point D. Our next line will intersect with point H. Point J will be on the A-B line. From point J, use your halved bust point to bust point measurement. The end of that line is point K. The halfway point between points D and J is point L. From point L, you’ll use the armpit to sternum measurement. That’s point M. Square up and down from point M by a few inches.

Step Three: Side Seam Calculations

From point I, draw a line diagonally down until it intersects with line E. That intersection point is point N. Start at point N and measure up your side seam measurement to get point O. Mark a point an 1.25” to the left of point N. That’s point P. Connect points O and P for your side seam.

Step Four: Dart Time

This specific bodice block only contains one front dart. To get that, start at point P. Use the measurement of your belly button to your side. The end of that line is point Q. To get the legs of the dart, draw one line from point Q to point K and draw another line from point F to point K. That’s the dart!

Step Five: Finishing

So close! To get your neckline, use a French curve or some other curved ruler to smooth out the line that connects points I and D. For your armscye or sleeve seam, use your curve to connect points G and O, making sure your line hits the point M at the furthest point inwards.

And that’s it! A little complicated, yes, but nothing we can’t accomplish together. With this bodice block, you can do all sorts of complicated dart manipulation, seam lines, collars… The possibilities are truly endless. I’ll be covering how to draft the back of this bodice block in the next blog post, and then there will be one more post about how to manipulate these blocks (that post may or may not have something to do with this year’s birthday dress…!)

Linked below is the textbook one of my pattern drafting classes used, along with a couple video tutorials I found helpful.

Until then, dear readers, stay tuned!

Sincerely,

Madeline

7/25/2022 - Back at you! In browsing the Internet Archive for a totally unrelated thought, I found a copy of the book I used for reference!! It’s totally free to borrow from the Internet Archive, but you may have to make an account. This book is typically expensive, so finding it for free is a massive win!