My first bodice block! Finally! I am still lowkey proud of the fact that I didn't fuck it up too much on my 1st try, and that I actually got it pretty close. Yes, I used my measurements sure but there's a lot that can go wrong from the first time you pin down the pattern onto your fabric to finally pulling the piece out from your sewing machine.
I know I don't have any pics of the actual pattern drafts I made, but FYI I used dollar store wrapping paper to draw my drafts onto... which was annoying bc the paper kept curling up so before I could even draw my lines down I actually had to pull out my ironing board and literally iron down paper. Lmao.
Anyways! Without further ado, here's how my first bodice block turned out
Dirty mirror and shitty lighting aside, it's really not bad for a first time pattern drafter! I used this youtube tutorial however I noticed something was missing, which I noticed on other tutorials of the same manner but didn't realize until I was actually trying my bodice vest on: The chest darts were missing on this tutorial.
Another small adjustment I needed to make was making the arm holes smaller since I kinda freehanded it, as I didn't have a french curve at the time (I do now tho!!)
So, I made the armscye adjustment and then hunted for another easy-to-follow tutorial that included the darts on the upper bust that would pull the arm hole a lil closer to the body so it can fit better. The chest darts are p important for ppl who are a bit bustier... which I'm not, but I figured I should learn how to manipulate fabric with darts and I also wanted to practice sewing darts! So why not!
I found this tutorial which was amazing because I made only 1 bodice block, used some muslin to make it and... perfect fit. Aside from the armscye adjustments, I found that the darts on my chest really helped out the weirdness that was going on in my shoulder/armhole area.
I also looked up TheClosetHistorian's bodice tutorial which yeah she goes into a pretty detailed explanation on how to draft your own bodice with measurements from scratch but the tutorial was loooong and I knew it really didn't have to be when there were already so many other tutorials that covered the basics in 30 mins or less. Ofc I appreciate her, she was very honest about how many times it would take to get the bodice correct but she was going for more of a sloper, not to mention she relies a lot on a book that I uh... don't have lmfao. I wanted to go purely by my measurements not to mention that I'm a beginner.
Anyways the 2nd bodice block turned out great except for the hip area being too tight, which I corrected quickly by adding a 1/2 inch on both my back and front pattern. But I was shocked at how those little darts made the bust area fit so damn well! I have no idea why I forgot to take pics of me wearing the damn thing but trust me bro... it fit great.
My bodice block isn't quite a sloper, it does have my measurements and fits the bust and waist area very nicely but I wanted to just have an idealized fit down on a pattern that I could use as a reference any time I need to adjust future patterns I buy. I'm a visual learner after all, I'm planning on drawing down my pattern onto poster board for longevity and using that to compare patterns onto. Pattern adjustment is also another thing I'm gonna have to get good at, but I haven't actually sewn with a pattern since 2015 so we'll see if I even have to make so many adjustments after all! I know I have a pretty good waist size, I'm not gonna have any trouble finding patterns with my measurements... I just have to make clothes that flatter my plank of a body lmfao
Anyways, thanks for checking this out! I will hopefully be updating my first skirt block post soon