Comments on: Lazy pattern making

By: Fashion Incubator » Where is ease permissible?

Fashion Incubator » Where is ease permissible? — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:33:18 +0000

[...] post comes in continuation of Lazy pattern making. The latter was inspired by Candi who wrote and asked me where ease is permissible in a pattern. I [...]

By: Valerie

Valerie — Sun, 15 May 2011 10:42:05 +0000

In our patternmaking class, once we closed the side dart and cut the princess line, we would ‘blend’ the curve on the side piece so that it is smooth between the gap, which would shave off a slight amount. I suppose this also meant to reduce the length and better match the center panel length…I’ll have to revisit those class notes again. But I like seeing your method as another solution

By: Jennifer Bailey

Jennifer Bailey — Tue, 18 May 2010 07:50:48 +0000

Thanks for the tips. I will keep them in mind!

By: Jeanette

Jeanette — Sat, 20 May 2006 01:16:23 +0000

My instructor, a professional patternamker, did teach us that we did not need to add ease to the side panel. However, he taught us to develop the princess block from the single verticle dart block. Do you have any thoughts on this?

By: Alison Cummins

Alison Cummins — Tue, 16 May 2006 13:51:54 +0000

Kathleen, you’re absolutely right. About pattern-making goes without saying – I mean about the wooly thinking that had me marching so pedantically down the wrong path. Of course: ease against the princess seam can only add length. And while there might be a theoretical need for extra length to flow over the bulge at the side of the breast, in practice this is avoided by fitting correctly instead of overfitting. Got it.

Thank you!

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Mon, 15 May 2006 15:55:02 +0000

Five things.
First, home sewing is often over-fitted; hence some of the problems in developing blocks.

Second, the back shoulder is going from small to large. The small area -shoulder line- is eased to compensate for the larger area to come over the shoulder blade. The reverse is true over the bust point. At the bust, the ease point is going from large to small (bust point to side seam) which is the opposite of the shoulder line. Were you to apply the same logic and reasoning, the side seam would be longer -and eased- to cover the upcoming fuller bust point.

Third, not everybody seems to remember this but this (existing) ease in the side panel is only adding length -not girth. If you need more girth at the bust point to cover roundness, you’d add it there by moving the bust point out. If one is simply adding length in that side panel, adding length does not correct for additional fullness at the fullest part of the bust.

Fourth, often you do need that length to permit sufficient fabric to travel over the fullest part of the bust; it gives nicer shaping. If you’ve restrained that length by easing the side panel onto a shorter front panel, you’ve subverted the need of the additional length. You’ll get a nicer line if you add length to the front panel.

Fifth, I really wish more of you worked in stiffer, heavier fabrics. Lightweight goods have a lot of give which conceal the dynamics of a draft. If it will look good in heavier goods, it’ll look even better in lighter weight goods. Why rely on the weight of goods to compensate for pattern problems? It doesn’t seem entirely honest to me. You can’t “cheat” in heavier goods.

By: Cherry

Cherry — Mon, 15 May 2006 14:23:00 +0000

Hi, I’m a recent reader, occasional costume maker and home sewer, with an interest in patternmaking, especially historical.
I don’t altogether understand what you are saying about princess-line ease. If the bust is at all rounded, there is going to be a breast-tissue bulge at the side of the bust. So the side panel will be covering a greater area, just as the shoulder blade makes the back shoulder bigger. Only in the youngest firmest figure will there be three flat planes of the front..or did I misunderstand?

By: Christina

Christina — Mon, 15 May 2006 12:58:36 +0000

I’ve gotta say, I am a little lost. I have never heard, or seen, ease in a princess line. Ease for the sleeve insert, yes, but here, no. Maybe this is one difference for me, residing and being taught in Australia. To be honest, I cannot remember what we did in pattern making class, but I will pull out my books and have a look. Most interesting topic. I still use all my old blocks from college and I have a princess line block, so just use that of course.
I could be mistaken though, was quite a while ago I made those.
Christina.

By: Alison Cummins

Alison Cummins — Sun, 14 May 2006 04:16:20 +0000

Gidget, thank you for the compliment – I think asking good questions is about the highest state one could aspire to.

Joni, it’s true that for full-breasted women the fit of undergarments has a great effect on the fit of the clothes. Technically speaking, the “sisters” are supposed to be as in 1), dangling in our laps to feed our children conveniently. Since we don’t have long fur to grasp like our great-grandmothers did, and since our babies are too weak and big-headed anyway to just cling to our bodies and nurse, we have to sit still and put our babies in our laps to feed them. This introduces a technical difficulty: our laps are rather far away from our upper chests. If our breasts are small and perky baby-feeding requires workarounds. Long dangly breasts are much more convenient. Breast size and shape remain a compromise though – long and flapping breasts interfere with a lot of other activities like farming, which is why there’s so much variation – no shape is perfect, so as a population we’ve got a bit of everything.

Because we have culture, we make decisions about how we want to present ourselves. And because we have elastic, bras come into the decision-making process. We can choose to have pointy breasts, flat chests, voluptuous cleavage or a natural droop.

Comfort also comes into the decision-making process. Many women can’t tolerate the restrictiveness of a supportive bra no matter what they’d prefer to look like. Other women can’t tolerate the unsupported weight.

None of this is about where the breasts are “supposed” to be – I’d have a lot of trouble knowing where that was anyway. For myself I choose to present each of the four profiles I outlined at different times.

But yes, getting body proportions, undergarments and clothing all coordinated and working together is essential for a good look.

By: Gidget

Gidget — Sat, 13 May 2006 20:08:06 +0000

Alison, I sewed a dress for a lady once that was exactly as you described in 1. I split the front panel into three (mainly to ‘break up’ the landscape). I then added horizontal fitting darts onto the side panels. It looked nice, but I am not sure that was the correct solution. I just remember from the vintage pattern site to think in terms of flat panels and in this case, there were three seperate flat planes to deal with before coming to the side profile. I would be interested knowing what the solution to that particular fit is. Great question!