Sloper is a mold of the body with wearing ease and they don’t have any design details and no seam allowances. Once you get a perfect fit in your sloper, you’ll get a perfect fit in any of your other patterns. The basic slopers are:
- Skirt Sloper
- Bodice Sloper
- Pants Sloper
- Sleeve Sloper
Pattern Making Supplies
To draft your bodice sloper (or any other sloper) you’ll need the following supplies:
- Tape Measure
- Pattern Paper
- tag or Poster Board
- 18″ Transparent Ruler with Grid
- Drafting Curve Ruler
- Pencils and Eraser
- Tracing Paper
- Tracing Wheel
- Transparent Tape
- Awl
- Paper Scissors
- Fabric Shears
- Fit fabric such as muslin
- Pins and pattern weights
- Pattern Notcher
- Pattern Hooks
- Pattern Punch
Taking the Measurements
Have a friend assist in measuring and recording your measurements.
Wear a bodysuit or leotard.
- Stand and look straight, with parallel feet about 4″ apart. (If you are making the sloper for yourself, you will need a helper)
- wrap 1/4″ elastic around the waist (1/4″ above the belly button)
- The measurements that you’ll need for the bodice sloper are:
Front
- Bust – around bust
- Waist – around waist
- Across shoulder – shoulder tip to center front neck
- Across chest – center front to mid-armhole
- Bust arc – Center front, over bust point, ending 2 inches below armhole
- Waist arc – Center front waist to side waist seam
- Dart placement – Center front to side form (princess line)
- Center length front
- Full length front
- side length – below arm to waist
- shoulder length – shoulder tip to neck
- bust radius – bust point to under bust (fullness of the bust)
- center length – neck to waist
- full length – waist to shoulder at neck (parallel to center line)
- shoulder slope – center line at waist to shoulder tip (diagonal line)
- Bust depth – shoulder tip to bust point (diagonal line)
- New strap – front shoulder/neck to waist at the side seam (diagonal line)
Back
- Back neck – center back neck to shoulder neck
- Across shoulder – shoulder tip to center back neck
- Across back – center back to mid-armhole
- Back arc – center back to bottom of arm
- Waist arc – Center back waist to side waist seam
- Dart placement – center back waist to side back (princess line)
- Center length back
- Full length back
Front Bodice Draft
A to B = Draw a line with your Full Length plus 1/8″
A to C = Across shoulder, less 1/8″
Square 3″ line down from C line
B to D = Center front lenght
Mark and square out 4″
B to E = Bust arc, plus 1/4″
B to G = Shoulder slope, plus 1/8″
G touches C line
G to I = Shoulder length
Square down from I to intersect with D line
J to K = Bust span, plus 1/4″
Square from J at center front through H – K
D to L = One half of D to J
Mark down from D
L to M = Across chest, plus 1/4″
Square a guideline up and down from M
B to F = Dart placement
Square down 3/16″ from F
I to N = New strap, plus 1/8″
Draw line from I to intersect E line
N to O = side length
N to P = Mark 7/8″ inch out from N – for B cup (1 1/4″ for C cup, 1 3/4″ for D cup)
O to P = Draw side line until it is the same as N to O. Draw line from P to F
Completing waist measurement:
P to Q = waist arc, plus 1/4″ less B to F
Draw dart legs = K to F and K to Q
Center a point 5/8″ from bust point – re-draw dart legs.
Draw armhole curve touching G, M and square line
Draw neck curve from I to D passing inside the angle line.
Back Bodice Draft
A to B = Full Back Length
A to C = Across shoulder
Square 3″ down from C
B to D = Center back length
Mark and square out 4″
B to E = Back arc, plus 3/4″
Square up from E
A to F = Back neck, plus 1/8″
B to G = Shoulder slope, plus 1/8″
F to H = Shoulder length, plus 1/2″
Square down from F to D
B to I = Dart placement
B to J = Waist Arc, plus 1 3/4″ (1 1/2″ dart intake, 1/4″ ease)
I to K = Dart Intake (1 1/2″ – use 1″ for junior sizes)
Mark and center a label L
J to M = Square down 3/16″
M to N = side length
L to O = Square up from L (M to N less 1″)
Draw dart legs from O, 1/*” past I and K
Draw slightly curved lines from K to M and from B to I
F to P = 1/2 of F to H
P to Q = 3″ line in the direction of point O
P to R = 1/4″
Draw dart legs from Q, 1/8″ past F-H
Connect to F and H
D to S = 1/4″ of D to B
S to T = Across back, plus 1/4″
Square up and down from T
Draw armhole touching T, N, and H
Draw neckline from F to D
Sew your bodice sloper and adjust the fit. I takes time to draft your bodice sloper, but the effort is worth it. You can use the sloper to make any top design and also to adjust the fit in any other patterns. There are many techniques to draft sloper – The technique shown in this tutorial is based on the book Patternmaking for Fashion Design
I hope you find this tutorial useful!
Happy Sewing,
Anabelle
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