The pattern I’m showing you today is a really straightforward one with darts, but it’ll give you an idea of what I mean by using a dress form to create your patterns. Afterwards it becomes a little easier to extrapolate the concept and start making more specialized bodice patterns, etc.
Supplies:
- Dress Form
- Muslin
- Ruler
- French Curve (I’m using my hip curve in the pictures because I can’t find my french curve)
- Pins
- Pencil
- String
Key:
- CF = Centerfront
- SS = Sideseam
First things first, pin some ribbon across from the apex of one side of the bust to the other, this is going to keep the pattern from dipping down in the center where it shouldn’t.
Second, mark off where you want your neckline, which can be any neckline you want in your finished product. In this case the finished design is going to have a pointed collar that’s fairly snug to the neck so that’s where I marked it off with string (you can use whatever is lying around the house, I use this because it’s thin enough to be easy to shape and round that you can feel for it under the muslin)
Before you cut your muslin, you’re going to take a measuring tape from a little more than an inch past the shoulder line and an inch past the waistline to measure out the length you’re going to need. It’s not important to make this an exact measurement, just make sure you have enough for seam allowance.
Your length grain (parallel to the selvedge like in the pic) is going to run along up an down the torso of the form. Grainlines get really important when you do more complicated things because you need to know where your stretch is going to be (even in regular fabrics, there is always a little stretch on the bias) so it’s good to get into the habit of working with the right grainlines right off the bat.
Mark off one inch even though CF is always a fold (unless there is a closure or something else decorative).
Start molding it to the form. Fold the one inch back and line it up from the centerfront line on the dressform and start pinning it down (neckline, waist, shoulders, side seams). Our darts are going to be mainly from the bust down, so make sure the shoulder is smooth and just gently pat the excess fabric flat.
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