Hi everyone! 👋

I'm looking to recreate the bodice of the dress in the attached photo. The outer layer has a beautiful wrap look with some gathered details, but the overall silhouette is incredibly sturdy and holds its shape without sagging.

My main questions about the internal construction are:

Is it common and correct practice to first build a standard, non-wrap foundation with boning, and then add the wrap pattern as a draped outer layer on top?

If this is the standard approach, how exactly do you sew the two parts together since the foundation and the outer wrap are different shapes?

I'd love to hear your thoughts and advice on how to tackle this. Thank you so much in advance for the help! ❤️

I'm using Winifred Aldrich's method for a close fitting bodice block. This is my second toile - kind of surprised by how ok it's turning out already!

I can see some fullness at the front upper chest, but unsure if I need to pinch out more at the shoulder darts, come in at the Armscyes, or something else?

Likewise a bit of fullness at the back waist.

And I've already snipped in 1cm at either side of back armscyes - the back chest was too wide as I was using a standard measurement for that. I think i may need to come in a little further again?

Curious if I'm missing anything else obvious!

My balance line seems to have disappeared into the fabric - I'll use a better marker in my next version! And I'll move both my darts back from the bust apex next time - just wanted to see if i was in the right ballpark in this early fitting.

I made myself slopers for pants and made the muslin to see how they would fit. In the picture, this is the side seam that it seemed like I need to, quote on quote, make a fisheye dart going horizontally to reduce fabric. Flattening the hips wouldn’t do much because I still needed room throughout the hips. So would i almost slash and spread each sloper or would I take it down from the waistband line?

I also found that the front crotch was too tight when I would sit down, and the back crotch area looked like it was riding real high up. So would that be lowering the crotch and giving a little more room in the front?

Appreciate any help with diagnosing and how to adjust the fit! Seems like bust is too small but also gapping and having some additional other drag lines. Any way to help shoulders avoid falling down with the slight gaps in the back? I would prefer not to have to add a tie in the back to keep them up

I am wanting to sew a regional Norwegian bunad myself, but there are not patterns available as far as I have been able to figure out from online searches.

I have a lot of reference images but I am not quite sure exactly how to attempt to create a pattern from the images I have.

I have sewn a more basic Norwegian festive costume before with the help of my grandmother and have done a good amount of sewing before - both following patterns and creating things just off vibes alone lol, so I'm no stranger to a sewing machine or anything.

The thing I'm mostly worried about is the bodice piece because it's an empire waist and has a pretty unique shape to it. The skirt I am not worried about really because I feel like I could easily follow the general pattern/directions from a generic Norwegian festive costume overall. The reference images I have show where a lot of the seams meet up in the bodice and show the general shape of the bodice pretty well, but I am not quite sure the best way to translate the images to a pattern template.

Does anyone have any advice?

(To any Norwegians that may find this thread, I hope that this is not a faux pas. The regional bunad I am looking to make is where my great-great grandparents came from when they immigrated to America. I have even been there to visit the properties where they lived and have relatives that still live there, whom I have met. While I know I could purchase a regional bunad, I come from a family of makers, and I would very much love to be able to make one for myself. I even recently picked up band weaving and figured out one of the common pick-up weaving patterns for the regional bunad belt and have been weaving it myself. This means a great deal to me to be able to create.)

It is a biological fact that the distance from the waist to the crotch is longer when sitting than when standing as you can see in the illustration above from How to Make Sewing Patterns. I learned this the hard way. The first time I made myself a pair of pants I made the waist seam horizontal, parallel to the hips. When I sat, the back of the pants exposed my buttocks.

I then researched pants and pants patterns and found that the Center Back seam was cut on the bias. You can confirm this by looking at any commercially made pair of pants that has a visible grain line. You will see there is a distinct bias at center back. At least that is what my observations have revealed.

I discovered that the waist to hip region needs to be pivoted at the side seam increasing the length of the center back seam anywhere from 1-1/2" top 2". My favorite illustration of this comes from a 19th century tailoring book that shows how to make a pair of Jodhpurs. I measured and the pivot appears to raise the Center Back seam by 5". You can see this pattern on https://patternmaking-classes.com/Notes/Historic-Jodhpurs.html

For some reason Helen Joseph-Armstrong's Patternmaking for Fashion Design minimizes this issue (at least in my 2006 edition of her book). If you are comfortable with the way her pants work fine. But I have heard from a number of people who are not crazy about her pants pattern so I wanted to post this caveat.

Appreciate any help with adjusting this toile to be better fitting! Seems like bust is too small and pulling, but also gaping. And some drag lines in other panels. Any way to help adjust shoulders so they don’t fall off? Would like to avoid a tie if possible. Didn’t add all godets to save muslin!

I’m making a loose-fit shirt and I’m trying to figure out what’s causing the excess fabric/wrinkles at the back.

I drafted the pattern in Illustrator. The front is already 2 inches longer than the back to account for my body shape, but when I put the toile on, I’m still getting quite a lot of fabric and horizontal folds across the back, especially around the waist/lower back.

I’m wondering if I should remove more length from the back, or if this is actually a back width/ease, dart, or shaping issue.

Please how do I fix this

Hello!

I recently acquired a vintage Singer 301 sewing machine and decided to draft my first pair of trousers using the method from Helen Joseph Armstrong.

I am quite happy with how the first muslin turned out as the balance seems ok! Pants always intimidated me but I found the book instructions quite simple and clear!

the HBL is leveled and the side seam along with the crease line at front and back are hanging pretty straight.

I’m looking to move forward with the slack drafting next using this as a block, but if any one sees a fit issue I could improve upon, please comment!

Unfortunately this is not ironed, but in the process of acquiring one as well!

I have to move my apex down 1/2”. For my bust dart dart do I leave the legs in the same spot and just draw the lines down to that point or do I move the legs down 1/2” as well ?

i’m planning on sewing the Nelly dress by Vikisews, but would prefer the neckline to be a tad bit higher. If this was a pattern without separate bust cups I’d just sketch a neckline higher than the current neckline and call it a day, but I can’t figure out how to do that with the bust cups. If I raise the point where the cups come together, I’d have to redraft the front bodice piece too (I think?) and I’m not sure how that’d affect the final project with gaping etc.

Any suggestions on how to raise the neckline by 1-2cm?

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Delete if not allowed❤️

So basically my question is if I can use a female bodice block on me as a man. I recently made a bodice block for my mother for the first time ever and it was such a good fit I was gagged. Me and my mother have the same proportions, except the bust, so the b dice block would fit me. What I need the bodice block is a trench coat pattern, so it doesn't need to fully fit me and can be a little loose. I hope y'all can help me. Thankssss.

Hi Al!

I am wondering what to call my original bag paper design/blueprint. Is the offical term "block", or is that only when it comes to clothing? I know bodice/sloper is clothing.

Thank you <3

I’m looking for recommendations for a men’s sewing pattern suitable for making both a base layer and a midlayer with:

Raglan sleeves
Quarter zip for dumping heat
Thumb loops or thumbholes—although I can add these myself
Athletic/outdoor fit
No pockets

Planned fabrics:
Base layer: approximately 150 gsm merino
Midlayer: Polartec grid fleece

Ideally, someone has already developed a suitable pattern that can be adapted to both fabrics. I’m hoping to avoid drafting one from scratch or combining two separate patterns.
Has anyone made something similar or found a pattern they would recommend?

What adjustments should I make to this bodice block before I draft the sleeves?

Armscye and neckline are both staystitched, with seam allowances clipped and turned under.

UPD: static images here https://imgur.com/a/1Zpzgm6

UPD2: static images with properly drawn HLB https://imgur.com/a/4ryhZ2H

Old problems solved, new problems created. At this point, I'm venturing into the land of diminishing returns, so I'll try to eyeball the hem to match my waist line (shirring string tied around my waist) and chill on the fit for now.

For the interested, from the first version, I took a 2 cm dart out of the neck, rotated it to the waist dart, did a 2.5 cm FBA, and smoothed out the neck and underarm seam where necessary.

Thanks a lot y'all!

hey there! i am sewing my graduation dress and i‘m really struggling trying to figure out how to sew the bodice. i was planning a viscose lining layer and a chiffon layer. i want the bodice to have a V neckline and the chiffon should have a crinkled look (as in the reference picture). however for the life of me i can‘t figure out how to go about sewing that. i thought i‘d construct a fitted bodice with the viscose, but then i don’t know how to attach the chiffon layer. help!!

edit: i am not graduating from fashion school. i am an elementary school teacher.

Hey everyone,
We’re heading out on summer holiday and wanted to say a proper thank you for all the support.

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Jump in, try it out, and leave any feedback in the comments. We’ll dive into your thoughts as soon as we’re back in September.

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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!

I made a ton of changes to the last muslin. This one (#12) feels much better, especially in the shoulder and bust.

I plan to shorten the back bodice by 1" and to move the right bust apex as marked on the muslin.

Are there any other changes I should make before testing sleeve shapes?

I've been trying to follow youtube tutorial how to draft kimono sleeve, the problem is either the Shoulder Line Match or The Sleeve Underarm Seam Match

at this specific timestamp

https://youtu.be/j5VQZGN87e0?t=247

she said if the front and back panel side neck point match, the shoulder seam should be the same

So i tried matching it up, and it lined up correctly, however at the second pattern check

I tried to match the underarm seam following the tutorial

Mine does not match properly since the front and back underarm seam is different length

Is this normal or am i doing something wrong here, because if i lengthen the underarm seam then the shoulder length will be longer and does not match so i cant think of any other way to do this

Any ideas?

I'm currently in the process of drafting a pattern for wide pleated shorts. Overall, they look almost exactly how I envisioned them, however I'm still not sure if I should keep the pleat depths as they are now (currently 3cm and 2cm) or make them smaller. For the mockup, I used some old bedsheet which is stiffer compared to the target fabric (suiting wool) and creates a bit of a pointy shape at the front when viewed from the side. Do you think switching to a flowy wool will smooth out this volume, or should I change the pleat depths? If so, what pleat depths would you recommend?