101 Bodice & Sleeve Sloper
This is a bodice sloper draft including a front, back and sleeve. It is adapted from the patternmaking methods found in Patternmaking for Fashion Design (5th Edition) by Helen Joseph-Armstrong. This book is used extensively in colleges and universities teaching fashion design. Its primary purpose is to teach students that will be working in the mass garment production industry using standard sizing.
I don't find this draft particularly conducive to personal measurements. It will fail using measurements outside the industry "norm".
- Category: Sloper
- Sizing: Standard Sizing Tables
- Adaptation: Patternmaking for Fashion Design (5th Ed)
- Drafting Difficulty: Beginner
- Sewing Difficulty: Intermediate (multiple darts, sleeve cap ease)
- Components: Front, Back, Sleeve
Ease Analysis
Wearing Ease
A small amount of wearing ease is integrated into this draft, except for the bust (see below). You can input these as fixed values during the drafting process (as written in the instructions), or add them directly to your measurement set so they can be easily adjusted on subsequent draft recalls in PatternMaker Pro.
The accumulated bust ease using the Body Type X Sizing Calculator #1 with the instructions below results in much more ease than I believe is appropriate for a sloper pattern. For example, I chose a bust measurement of 36" (914 mm) which returns a Bust Front of 20" (506 mm) and Bust Back of 17.25" (436 mm), which is 1.25" (32 mm) greater than the bust. Then the front draft adds 0.25" (6 mm) and the back draft adds 0.75" (19 mm). That adds 3.25" (82 mm) of total ease to the sloper at the bust, which is a lot for a basic block.
Design Ease
There is no intentional design ease, as this is a sloper.
Component Ease
My drafted bodice armhole was 16.68" (424 mm). My drafted sleeve cap was 18.06" (459 mm). This leaves the cap ease at 1.38" (35 mm). The referenced book recommends sleeve cap ease to be between 1.25" to 1.5" (32 mm to 38 mm). My draft fell within this range.
Testing & Fit Evaluation
Test Setup
- Measurement Set: Body Type X Sizing Calculator #1 (Imperial, 36" Bust with 1.25 (32 mm) Cup Size Adjustment)
- Dress Form / Model: 1/2-scale form (36" Bust)
Fit Analysis & Observations
- Bust: Excess wearing ease 3.25" (82 mm) creates a looser silhouette than standard block expectations.
- Sleeve Cap: Cap ease 1.38" (35 mm) falls within the recommended 1.25" - 1.5" (32 mm to 38 mm) range, though high for 1/2-scale sewing or beginners.
- Methodology Note: Optimized for commercial standard size tables rather than individual custom measurements.
Before You Begin
Making a few key decisions before you start drafting will save you a lot of time and fabric later:
- Seam Allowances: Decide on your default seam allowance values. While a standard 0.5" (13 mm) allowance works well for most seams, you may want to use wider allowances, such as 0.75" (19 mm), on major body seams since this is a fitting sloper. However, keep your armhole and sleeve cap seam allowances small (around 0.25" to 0.375" / 6 to 10 mm), or you will have a very difficult time easing in the sleeve.
- Sleeve Hem: Decide whether you want to add a hem directly to the sleeve draft now, or leave it at the natural wrist line to finish later during fitting.
- Fitting Closure: You will need to get into the garment for fitting, so decide which seam to leave open for entry. If you are fitting someone else, leaving the center back open interferes the least with the overall fit. If you are fitting yourself, you will need to use the center front. Whichever you choose, do not cut that opening seam on a fold, and consider adding extra seam allowance there to make pinning and alignment easier.
Practice Run
View the instructions in your browser or save to your computer.
View the instructions in your browser or save to your computer.
View the instructions in your browser or save to your computer.
Pattern Draft SVG Download
Download the completed draft and import it into PatternMaker Pro. Learn how to use the Import PMP SVG tool.
