Sunday, March 19, 2017

Comparing sloper and pattern

In a post some time ago I mentioned using my sloper as a tool to analyse the fit of a pattern. Today I did that again and took some pictures of the process.
To understand what I’m comparing it’s important to know what my sloper stands for. I made my sloper in Suzy Furrer’s Craftsy class The bodice sloper. You start with a moulage which is tightly fitted to your body. From this moulage you make the sloper which has the (minimum) amount of ease needed for a fitted blouse/dress/skirt etc. This sloper is the base for the pattern drafting you do.
The pattern I traced is a top from Knip mode, issue April 2017 that was in the shops this week. Some nice patterns in it! I like the neckline of this top for summer, not too sure about the dropped shoulder. On the other hand: sometimes you have to try something different. This is the line drawing and a picture form the Knip mode shop on their website, which has more pictures (front and back!) than you see in the magazine.

image   image
My first check was the hip. The center back lines from the pattern and my sloper are matched and you can see that the size for hip height should be a 44.
IMG_4865
In the same way I checked the upper part, but the pictures are not clear with all the lines from the pattern sheet in it. So here you see it after I traced the pattern. For the top part I traced a size 40, 2 sizes smaller than my hip. Something I expected to do.
You can see the front is wider than my sloper*, which is fine, as the style is wider. The bust dart is not at the same height but is pointing upwards more. The dart on the sloper is horizontal. So I’m fine there too probably. I like it the pattern still has a dart, gives a bit more shape.
image
The red line I added to the sloper is the bust line (strange it doesn’t look at a right angle here), the red line in the traced pattern indicated the opening line. Good to judge whether you’re fine with that point or want it changed (sloper shifted to the right to make the picture)
image
This is the back pattern and sloper. There will be no dart in the top so it will be a bit wide too due to the style. By the look of this I expect it to be fine. Though I consider making a center back seam and take it in. Adaption for my figure, nothing wrong in the pattern.
image
The length!! There is no indication on the Knip Mode picture how long it is. In the instructions it is indicated as 69,5 cm long (about 27 inches). That’s rather long for a top, my sloper ends at hip height (fullest part) and it’s much longer than that. I’m going to shorten it, this is tunic/short dress length. Will save on fabric too.
IMG_4878
This excercise does not tell me how the style will look on me or whether the fit is perfect, but for me it helps to define whether the pattern is not too small or much too wide.
I have two nice silk fabrics that I want to use but based on this comparison I feel it might be better to make it from another fabric first. I’m a little in doubt about the width of the neckline and that’s not to be judged by the flat pattern only.

NB: the sloper has no seam allowances. Knip mode doesn't have seam allowances to their patterns so it's easy to compare. If your pattern has seam allowances make sure you mark those first before doing the comparison!!

*Excuse all the lines on the sloper. I’ve adapted the first version I once made and just re-used it. As I’m the only one working with this it’s fine.

5 comments:

  1. Thank you for showing this. I have thought about making a sloper just for comparison purposes, and it is helpful to see how that might work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for doing this. Very helpful to see how you go about it and your thought process. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great post, thank you! I often get stuck at the next step, when there's a big gap between the sloper and the pattern 😀 but it's good to see what you are looking for.

    Incidentally I wouldn't have expected to see a bust dart on this pattern - I'm pretty sure Balenciaga would have incorporated it into the neckline folds without any fuss. You might consider doing that too in the interest of a cleaner design.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's so good to see you make the comparison but also nice to read your thought process when you look at the two.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I always find the comparison so interesting, one day I will get my sloper organised.

    ReplyDelete