Hello again. In our last lesson, you completed the back bodice block by drafting the waist dart, a crucial step in transforming a flat pattern into a three-dimensional shape. You've now created a complete pattern piece for the back of your top.
We will now turn our attention to drafting the front bodice. While many of the steps will feel familiar, the front presents a unique geometric challenge: accommodating the curve of the bust. This requires a different approach to shaping than the back. This lesson will focus on establishing the upper portion of the front pattern by plotting and drawing the front neckline and the shoulder slope. Your background in industrial design, particularly in translating 2D schematics into 3D forms, will be very useful here as we create shape and volume through careful drafting.
By the end of this lesson, you will have drafted the foundational lines of the upper front bodice, setting the stage for the detailed bust shaping that will follow.
Part 1: Establishing the Front Framework and Neckline
Just as we did for the back, we begin by creating a rectangular framework based on your key measurements. You'll need your centre front length, full front length, and front bust arc measurements from our first lesson.
The drafting process for the front neckline is similar to the back, but the curve is typically deeper. We will plot the neckline width at the top and the neckline depth along the center front line. The "Dresspatternmaking" guide provides a precise, measurement-driven method for this.
Drafting the Bodice Front (Metric Version) - Dresspatternmaking
This guide uses a clear, point-by-point system to plot the key landmarks for the upper bodice. Focus on how specific measurements are used to create the initial guidelines for the neckline and shoulder.
First, familiarize yourself with the initial setup by reviewing the steps to mark the center front neckline. This establishes the depth of your neckline. Next, you will define the starting point of your shoulder. Read the section that explains how to use your Across-Shoulder-Front measurement to plot the shoulder point. Finally, follow the instructions to draw the neckline curve itself. The guide explains how to use a French curve to connect the side neck point to the center front point, creating a smooth curve.
This process gives you the top edge of your pattern. You have the Center Front line, and now a neckline curving away from it to the point where the shoulder begins.
Part 2: The Shoulder Slope and the Bust Dart
Here is where the front block becomes fundamentally different from the back. On the back block, the shoulder was a simple straight line. On the front, the shoulder line's angle and length are directly related to the shaping required for the bust. To create a smooth fit over the curve of the chest, we need to build a dart into the pattern, and the most direct way to do this is with a shoulder dart.
Think of it as a system: the dart is a wedge that absorbs fabric, and its size directly impacts the angle of the adjoining shoulder line. The "Creative Bobbin" video provides an exceptionally clear explanation of this relationship. The instructor demonstrates how to draft the shoulder line in conjunction with the bust dart.
How to draft a bodice block (or sloper) from your own measurements. Detailed step by step tutorial.
This video offers a detailed, step-by-step walkthrough that explains the 'why' behind each line. It brilliantly connects the concept of bust shaping to the drafting of the shoulder.
Please watch the section from this segment. The instructor will guide you through: Locating the Bust Point: This is the anchor for all front shaping. Drawing the First Dart Leg: A line is drawn from the side neck point to the bust point. Creating the Dart Width: The size of your bust determines the width of this dart. Drawing the Shoulder: The shoulder line is drawn from the second dart leg to a sloped guideline. Pay close attention to her demonstration around this point, where she physically closes the paper dart to show how the steep, drafted shoulder line transforms into a normal-looking slope. This is a powerful visual that clarifies why the initial draft looks so angled.
This method of integrating the dart directly into the shoulder construction is a core patternmaking technique. It solves the geometric problem of adding 3D volume to a 2D plane right at the source.
The final action of drawing the shoulder line, as shown in the video, is to connect the start of the shoulder (at the dart leg) to the shoulder slope guideline. The diagram below illustrates this specific action.
You have now drafted a shoulder line that has the shaping for the bust built directly into it.
Conclusion
In this lesson, you've initiated the draft for the front bodice, tackling its most defining features. You have plotted and drawn the front neckline and, most importantly, constructed a shoulder line that works as part of a system with the bust dart to create three-dimensional shape.
Key Takeaways:
- The front bodice begins with a framework similar to the back, but its shaping is significantly different to accommodate the bust.
- The front neckline is defined by width and depth points, connected with a French curve.
- The front shoulder slope is not an independent line; it is drafted in direct relation to a shoulder bust dart.
- The Bust Point is the critical landmark from which all front darts and shaping radiate.
You have now laid the groundwork for the entire front pattern. In our next lesson, we will continue to work with this shaping by drafting the side bust dart. You will learn how this dart is created by rotating the shoulder dart you just drafted to a new position, a foundational skill in pattern adaptation and design.
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