Dear readers,
Welcome back to my series called Pattern Drafting theories, where I examine different components of pattern drafting and how I perceive them from paper to real life scenarios, asking questions and proposing solutions. Final conclusions of these theories will not necessarily be reached.
Today we will be examining three main Shoulder measurements often used in drafting the Basic Bodice. The Across Shoulder, the Shoulder and the Shoulder depth. Depending on the technique you use, you will probably encounter at least 2 of these measurements. Before we begin, true confession, attaining the shoulder slope is one of my personal peeves in drafting and the battle is still ongoing. That being said, I am comfortable with the method I use in my tutorials until something better comes along.
1. The Across Shoulder (Full Shoulder) - This is the measurement taken from the end of one shoulder to the end of the other. Either taken across the Back or across the Front. Now, I'm not going to say which is wrong or right, but I will say that I'd prefer that a person use only one way per draft rather than both. I have found that the difference in the two is marginal which is why I prefer to take it from the Back as this gives the widest possible measurement and in drafting, when in doubt, the bigger is usually the better.
I use this measurement to determine width of the bodice at neck level, without delving into darts and all that for now. First, this measurement is technically not a straight line (See below) as it follows the slope of the shoulders, but we draw it as a straight line when drafting. This means that for the draft, we probably need a slightly shorter measurement than the one taken (Which is accounted for in some text books). Frankly, the only way to be accurate would be to use Calipers just to get the distance from shoulder to shoulder while skipping all the anatomy.
But, I have found that you do need a little ease in the shoulders in general, because of movements from your scapulae (shoulder blades), and this is why you often have shoulder darts on the fitted back bodice.
Another use of this measurement, is that it creates a limit for drafting the shoulder itself, and naturally works out the shoulder slope for you, which is a slippery topic in itself. Thus, if it is too narrow, the slope will the steep and if it is too wide, the slope will be shallow. A few things to consider is that the across shoulder measurement should probably be slightly wider or not less than the width of the chest. Or it should be a little less than the sum of the 2 shoulders and the Back neck width. Of course this measurement is not used if the shoulder slope/depth measurement is already given.
2. The Shoulder - This is the length of the actual shoulder. It is quite straight forward to take once you have marked out the starting and ending points. At the neck a simple trick is to wear a necklace or use your measuring tape as one, to note where the neck meets the shoulder. At the top of the arm, anatomy will serve you well as you are looking for the prominent shoulder bone that does not move when you lift the arm up. If you are measuring yourself, do so in front of a mirror to keep from distorting your body and also envision where it looks like the shoulder should end, keeping in mind that the sleeve will also start from this point. I believe all techniques require this measurement.
3. The Shoulder Slope/depth - This refers to the depth of the tip of the shoulder from the neck level. It is not strictly a measurement that one can just take from the body, but there are a few ways to attain it.
a) Measure from centre front of waist to the end of the shoulder (I presume you need to go over the bust)
b) Measure from the apex of the bust to the end of the shoulder
c) Use a set square or L-square to take the measurement.
The true challenge of this measurement is that where the front and back shoulder points meet is not a clear sharp point as it would appear on paper, it is actually a curved hill. Which is why using a set square as illustrated above, would probably not be accurate as the true depth on paper would be shorter because of the curve of the shoulder.
Most text books would either use one of the first two methods above, or give a standard average measurement for the depth that varies by body size. Note that either A or B would need separate measurements for the front and back bodices. If I had to pick either of the two methods above, I'd pick B, as the distance is shorter with less interference and therefore more accurate.
At the moment I prefer to use the across shoulder measurement as it can be consistent and crosscheck it with one of these other measurements. I also prefer to use the same shoulder slope depths for both front and back, to keep things simple.
This is one area where a better solution can be found at some point, but for now, fixing things at the fitting stage is the best. On average the shoulder slope falls about mid neck-depth, so that is a good starting point if you are confused.
That is all for this discussion. I do hope you like it. As always let me know about your theories and questions about pattern drafting. Thanks for reading.