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.

  
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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

Combining pattern and sloper

(Very picture heavy)

I love making jackets, as I answererd to Faye’s poll last week too. And you will know already if you’ve been following my blog for a while. If you click the tag “Jacket” in the side bar you’ll see most of them (though admit I sometimes forget to tag my posts). Time to make another one.

In May and early June I worked on the sloper for a jacket. Trying my muslin again a few days ago I was not completely satisfied with it, especially the position of the bust dart. I was so focussed on the sleeve that I did not see it. I changed it, made a new muslin, drafted a new sleeve pattern with less ease and it is good to go (photo later).

Next was the decision on the pattern and fabric to use. This is my fabric. A pretty stable knit in a weight suitable for a jacket.

 

Initially I planned to use it for this jacket, but decided against it.

I could only find suitable black faux leather trim and zippers with black tape and the contrast might not be good, even though there is black in the fabric. Also I considered that I will get more wear from that jacket if I use a color that’s more in my comfort zone. The above fabric is not really my usual color.

So after some deliberation I decided to work on the pattern that I showed in my previous post, from the 1993 Burda magazine.

Nice shape, nice details, not complicated (no collar) and I love shorter jackets. As I’ve started my journey drafting my own patterns partly because I don’t want to make muslins all the time, I used my sloper pattern and combined that with the Burda pattern. I actually traced the front of the Burda pattern and used it to make my pattern. Fingers crossed it will work without the muslin, as I’m not going to make one.

As it might be of interest for those of you working on drafting a sloper/pattern I took pictures of how I did it. It’s my way of doing it, there could be other ways. If you know other methods please chime in!

The front sloper without changes.

The Burda pattern on top, waistline and center front matching the sloper. You can see it’s too short and not matching the shoulder, which is what I expect. I used to make patterns longer above the waist. From this I traced the bottom part and the overlapping center front.

Then I shifted it up and traced the neckline.

Connected the lines with a slight curve, like the Burda pattern has too.

The armhole is very much like the pattern too.

Drafted the line for the princess seam.

Messed up a bit moving the dart into the princess seam, did not use pencil so could not erase :(

At this point I cut the two pattern pieces apart. Below is the side panel with the dart still in.

One leg of the dart is cut and closed to the other dart leg. The side panel is ready (though I will smooth the bust line a bit). 

The original and my pattern side by side. Mine is a bit wider, especially in the hip area.

I did the same to the back of my sloper pattern and turned the darts into princess seams. An important step is to check the length of the connecting seams: side seams, princess seams.

The main pattern pieces are ready. It was nice to see that my sleeve pattern is almost exactly the Burda pattern for the sleeve, only a bit longer.
I’ve still some work to do in drafting facings and some interfacing pieces. That’s for another day and not so interesting.

Combining sloper and pattern

While the weather here in The Netherlands gives the impression we are in another season with lots of wind and rain I finished a sleeveless summer blouse. This is actually my 5th iteration of this style. I have a white linen version, a white embroidered one, a bright colored one, a silk multi colored version and now this navy blue/off white silk.

 

This is a combination of a magazine pattern and sloper. I used my sloper, manipulated the shoulder and armhole dart into the bust dart, and then changed the bust dart to a French dart. That’s all I did to the basic draft. Then I took the Ottobre pattern and used the pattern for the collar. The shape of the collar is close to the shape of a lapel collar. I only had to shorten the length of the Ottobre collar. I had to do the pattern draft again because though I’m sure I have the old pattern somewhere, I could not find it when I needed it. It was easier to make the pattern again than keep trying to find it.

The Ottobre pattern I used, #4 from issue 2/2006.

A detail of the side where you see the French dart.

Sewing this is easy, it’s not a jacket so you sew the collar, sandwich it between front and facing and stitch it. I cut the under collar on the bias and made it a bit smaller than the upper collar to get a smooth collar that has a nice fold over the roll line. The fabric is slippery and frays easily too. Therefor I starched it a lot (with a spray starch) before cutting it, using the experience I had with my previous silk blouse. It helped so much to sew it, the layers did not shift any more and the fraying was minimal. Important too because I used French seams, you don’t want the threads coming out of those seams. 

I’m quite sure I’ll get a lot of wear out of this blouse, as I have had from the others too. It’s also so easy to combine with a cardigan on a cooler day.

Isn’t it nice how some fabrics can be a souvenir with memories of where you bought it. The blue/white silk of this new version I bought recently at the fabric market in Utrecht at a meetup with sewing friends (and a special friend from Canada too!) The multicolored version on the left below is a Paris souvenir from the trip there last year, the one on the right was bought with a sewing friend at the fabric market in Goes here in The Netherlands. All fond memories.

Moulage

In a previous post I mentioned I did not have the moulage/sloper class by Suzy Furrer because I already had a sloper. Watching the other courses I got intrigued though and when a good sale was offered I did take the moulage class too to see what her take on it was in the strong conviction I would always learn something from it. Again I was not disappointed. I heartily recommend Suzy Furrer’s classes on Craftsy. In the past months I have bought 5 of her classes and her book as well. If you are new to pattern drafting you might consider starting with the skirt sloper (one of the classes I did not take) because all pattern drafting classes in general start with the skirt, as it’s easier and therefor a good place to start to become familiar with the concept.
One of the things I have never done before is making a moulage. That is a “precise fabric blueprint of the upper body”. Very close fitting with no ease. Based on the moulage you make the sloper. That is the basic draft with ease from which you then make your patterns for a blouse, dress, jacket or a coat. Suzy explains very well (in the sleeves class) how to adapt the basic sloper to a sloper for a jacket or a coat. I’m not there yet, it all takes time but I did make the moulage. The bust point is a little too high so I will change that in the draft.

For comparison the photos of the moulage before my (small) alterations. I had too much space at the shoulder point and the waist was too wide. I also made the front armhole a very tiny bit wider at the bottom. In the photo above you can see the difference. The left armhole is changed, the right one unchanged.

You might wonder whether this is easy to do. The answer is yes, it’s not that difficult but good measurments are crucial. Most measurements needed were the same as in the other pattern drafting system I learned but a few were different and I had my daughter take my measurements. One of them was off so my first draft ended up strange as the side seam length was too long. With new measurements it went much, much better but then I made a small mistake in converting an imperial measurement to centimeters. I was not a lot off, but enought to re-draw that particular area of the bodice.
It made me decide to make an Excel sheet with all the measurements needed with conversion to centimeters and with front and back measurements in two columns instead of one as on the Craftsy information. I’m convinced that will make it easier for me.
My head is spinning with ideas, my closet well stocked with fabrics after a lovely weekend with a meetup with sewing friends at the Utrecht fabric market and a visit to the textile museum so I hope to do quite a bit of sewing in the next weeks. About 4 projects to finish or alter first, I’ll start with that first to clear the table.
Can you tell I’m enjoying my sewing again?