bra and panties design, design and pattern cutting, designing lingerie, General Info, Lingerie Design, Pattern Cutting Techniques, size charts

The Contour Fitted Dress Block- my favourite block!

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The contour fitted dress block is one of my oldest blocks and one of my favourite blocks. I have used it over the years so many times that it’s pretty worn. I thought I had better digitize it and save a digital copy before it wore out! I didn’t stop there, as I only had the block in a size 12, I decided to develop a range of contour fitted dress blocks as I am no longer the size 12 I was as a 21 year old student at the London College of Fashion!

Over the years I have updated and modernised the block and it’s my go to block for any fitted styles, bra patterns, corsets etc.

Instead of the normal process I follow for drafting a block and grading the draft, I decided, as the grading would have been too messy, to draft and apply all the contour fitting lines to each individual size. The sizes available come in a size 8 UK (4 USA) to a size 18 UK (14 USA). Of course all the contour fitting lines can be ignored if you wish and the block can be used as a regular fitted dress block.

The contour fitting process involves taking extra suppression (darts) out at the cleavage, the neck line, around the full circumference of the bust, and also at the side seams. If you are interested in darts I have a whole workbook on them!

As with all my blocks, I sew up the draft after I have made any changes and make a fit assessment, I am really pleased with the fit of this block.

Fitting Photographs –

The images below shows the fit of the dress block – without the extra contour fitting applied – please note this dress block can be used as a fitted dress block – simply use the darts without the extra contour fitting.

As is also my custom, I measure every single area of the blocks I draft, and having done that to the 10th of a millimetre, I also then convert the measurements into inches for my ‘inch’ customers.

Sometimes maybe I go into too much detail, an old habit from working as a garment technologist!

This dress block is drafted to the hip, I prefer this as I can then lengthen the block as I need to according to the sketch I am working from, I simply have to add a rectangle below the hip line.

As the contour fitted dress block can be quite daunting, I have produced a ‘pattern sheet’ to illustrate how the block can be used to create a fitted evening top with bra cups. I supply this as a free sheet with the contour fitted dress blocks when customers buy the whole range of sizes, With this blocks set you can just buy the size you need as a single block and sleeve.

The evening bodice sewn up as a toile gives you an idea of the type of fit and the styles that this block can produce, once the contour fitting is applied.

I hope this post has inspired those of you who have the block to go ahead and make some contour fitted styles, I would love to see what you make so please send me the photos!

I have this block as a physical pattern sheet and also as a PDF instant download available in my Etsy shop.

Happy Pattern Cutting!

Nicola

 

 

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Beginners Pattern Drafting Info, Free Downloads, General Info, Pattern Cutting Techniques

Garment Ease – Pattern Ease- Explained

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Ease – Explained – What is ease?

There is a lot of confusion out there about ‘ease’. I have read some rather misleading definitions on many a web page. Here I will give a detailed explanation about ease. You can also download your free PDF Ease Allowance Chart below –

Why have ease?

Ease is incorporated into a block or a pattern to allow the wearer to move, therefore ease is “allowance for movement”. Ease allows the wearer to breath, bend, sit down and move around. Ease is particularly important in children’s’ and babies wear and again becomes important in older peoples clothing.  If there is too little ease in a garment then the “look” of the garment may also be compromised, skirts will ride up, trousers will wrinkle and jackets will be restrictive. Therefore getting the right quantity of ease in your patterns and garments is important.

Ease Allowance Chart Free Download

Hopefully the above chart will give you a guideline for classifying the quantity of ease that a garment contains but lets look at the meaning of ease.

Ease is the difference between the measurement of the body (without clothes) and the measurement of the block, pattern and ultimately the garment that fits over the body.

Lets look at a real example – Using my basic bodice block in the Modeliste Creative Range available on Etsy.

The bust measurement the size 12 block is designed to fit is a 90.5 cm bust (34 1/16 inches). That is the measurement from the size chart I used to draft the block and relates the the measurement of the actual body the block is drafted to fit.

When I drafted the block I allowed 6.9 cm ( 2 3/4″)  ease over the bust as ease in this block range, as its developed for a curvy figure.

Therefore if we measure the block itself the measurement will be 94.4 cm (38 3/4″). This is the body measurement plus the ease.

If we produced a pattern from this blocks and made no changes to the block, then this quantity of ease would stay the same. However, usually during the course of making a pattern, we either reduce or increase the quantity of ease as we create the pattern. The extra we add in or take away during the pattern making process is called design ease.

We now have 2 types of ease –

  • Block Ease
  • Design Ease

There is a third type of ease, we will come onto that in a moment. The information above relates to woven fabrics or stable knits. If we are dealing with stretch fabric then this is where we come onto another type of ease.

  • Negative ease

Negative ease occurs when a block or pattern is smaller than the body it is designed to fit. Negative ease becomes important when drafting patterns with over 18 – 20 % stretch percentage. If you are drafting patterns with a stretch percentage of under that amount then you can use a woven fabric pattern.

Adjusting patterns and blocks for stretch percentage and negative ease percentages is a book in itself and I have come across many different methods in my career. That’s a topic for another day!

I hope this helps and as always, if you have any questions or comments then please let me know.

Happy Sewing,

Nicola

 

 

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General Info

The Story Of How Our Pattern Blocks Are Created.

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All my blocks are created either from scratch, or they are blocks that I have developed throughout my career, they are all tried and tested.

We use the most up to date size charts that we can and all our latest blocks have centimetres and inches with both UK and USA sizing and the EU equivalents too!

I revisit my tried and tested blocks constantly to review the sizing, ladies waists have become larger, so that’s a measurement we always keep our eye on.

We start with a set of basic measurements and a sheet of pattern paper, from there our years of practice allow us to draft the block in a size 12 or sometimes a size 14 to begin with.

 

Once I am satisfied with the draft, I then make a sample and fit this to my concept stand, made by Kennett & Lindsell. I bought this stand because of its measurements, they are almost identical to the latest data for size 14 (UK) measurements, within a couple of millimetres. It was only after I bought the stand from Saville Row in London that they told me it had only been used once to make a dress for Byonce. She obviously has a perfect figure, nice and shapely. The deficiencies of modern dress stands are a subject for another day!

I then fit and perfect the block on the dress stand and make any amendments necessary, this is commonly referred to as ‘toiling’ in the fashion industry.

We Have One Size – How do we then make the full range of sizes we supply –

 

Once we are satisfied with the ‘base size’ we can then ‘grade’ the block. Grading is the term used to create a range of sizes from a base size; in this case our base size is a size 12. (In the case of our outsize blocks our base size will be larger).

Pattern grading uses a set of mathematical formulas to grow a pattern piece by a specific amount and small movements in a positive of negative X or Y direction are made. This is how the various sizes of a pattern or design are developed. Every company has its own set of grade rules, and these are usually guarded closely as a trade secret because they take a lot of time and effort to develop. Once a company has an established set of grade rules, they tend to keep top secret. There are many variations of grading that exist in the industry. On your pattern block size guide you will see that I have indicated the total grading increment. This is the amount your block increases or decreases per size. For example there is usually a 5 cm difference between a size 12 and a size 14 bust. The same difference applies to the waist and hips. Some companies use a 4 cm difference.

Each small increase or decrease of the pattern is carried out in millimetres.

Hopefully this has given you an idea of the time, skill and effort that has gone into creating these blocks for you. If you have one of my blocks then hopefully I have saved you a great deal of time and stress!

If you have any question, comments or ideas please email me at onitnotinit@mail.com

Please see our shops page within the blog for places you can purchase our blocks, we have over 100 different blocks sets. Ranges include Ladies Blocks, Plus Sized Block, Baby, Child and Teen Blocks, and Menswear Blocks.

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