Introduction
In today's tutorial, we are going to remove the darts from the Basic Bodice and the Basic skirt to create a sloper for loose fitted dresses or shirts. Please refer to Sewing 302 for how to add ease as that is essential for this draft.
Tools you will need
1. Basic Skirt sloper (with ease)
2. Basic Bodice sloper (with ease)
3. Straight ruler
4. Set square
5. Curve ruler
6. Pencils / Eraser /Sharpener
7. Brown paper/ Drafting Paper – 1 sheet (45L x 50W inches) or (115cm x 130cm). It should be long enough to accommodate the bodice and skirt at least to the hip level and wide enough for both front and back. You can, of course, use separate sheets of paper for the front and back and tape sheets of paper together to get the right size.
BACK BODICE
1. Draw 2 guidelines on opposite sides of the paper. Distance between the lines should be at least half bust plus 4 inches (10cm). Label as Centre front and Centre back.
2. Place the back sloper (with ease) along the centre line and Trace and copy.
3. Measure the Bust line and adjust it to be a quarter of the Bust + ease. For example, the illustration above is 41in + 2in ease = 43inch Bust. Therefore, a quarter is 10.75in. I want to keep both the front and back equal
4. Again, measure the Waist line and adjust it to be a quarter of the waist + dart + ease. For example, the illustration above is 34in + 1in ease = 35inch waist. Therefore, a quarter is 8.75in. Remember to include the dart, which in this case is 1in. So the waist is 9.75in in total. I want to keep both the front and back equal
5. Ignore the presence of the dart at the waist and True (Straighten) the lines at the Waist and the sides
FRONT BODICE
1. The back shall be modified to create the front.
2. Copy and Flip the new Back bodice sloper onto the other side of the paper, aligning it with the Centre Front line.
3. Matching up the Front Bodice (with ease) to the centre front and shoulder, use it as a guide. Trace and Adjust the following points; (Drawn in red)
A) the neck line to match the front
B) the armhole at the chest line to match the front, blending it into the traced back bodice armhole.
C) the Centre front length to match the front (it might be longer, shorter or equal)
D) Highlight the rest of the back bodice, the Shoulder, side and waist to complete the front.
This completes the transformation. There is a bonus step to help the bodice hang well when worn. I find that it helps to lengthen the Front just a little. You can skip this of course if you do not need it for the garment you are making.
1) Add 3/8inch (1cm) to the centre front length, square out and blend to the waist.
2) For the fuller bust, it is advisable to insert a dart at the armhole or side for shaping. Otherwise the bodice will swing out away from the body too much.
TRANSFORM INTO DARTLESS DRESS SLOPER
FRONT DRESS
1. A to B - Hip Depth Measurement
2. B to C - Length of Dress
3. B to E - Hip measurement + 2inch (5cm) ease, divided by 4 e.g. (46 + 2) ÷ 4 = 12
4. E to F - Square a line down and connect to Point C.
5. D to E - Draw in side with shallow curve line.
6. Trace around everything to make new pattern.
BACK DRESS
Repeat steps 1- 6 above for the Back.
This completes the Dartless Bodice and Dress pattern. Please let me know how it works out for you. Thanks for reading.
Appendix.
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