I’ve been playing with pattern drafting again - mainly just in my head and reading for now.
I’m trying to understand how blocks are drafted and why. Please understand - I’m a total novice to all of this…. this is just for play…and probably has more to do with my being visual.

Carol Kimball has some drawings where she discusses a hypothetical jacket design. I’ve been kicking around fit issues for the more plus side of the aging set for a short time now, and several good points have been brought up by Kathleen and Carol concerning changes to body as we age and/or gain weight.

So, I couldn’t resist drawing on the Carols (:) to get some of this stuff out of my head. I’m not sure who it values other than me, but if anyone wants to comment on it… please do.

Kathleen had a great post on thoracic shaping. I understand that some are built with breast points further away and how this is compounded as aging and/or illness takes over… but what about the appearance of flat or convex areas that appear on other parts of the body, and what does this do to the formulas for drafting?

The reason I’m wondering is…

The first draft I did from the Vintage Sewing Info site, the bodice was nice, sleeves sucked, and it became really clear for the first time why centerpoints on back of neck and fronts are so dang critical. Reading the instructions, I recall something about sides being flat planes for instance… seeing the body in a series of curves and flats…. That’s kind of how one is taught to draw the human figure, shading, highlighting, curves, flats, midgrounds…

Is the issue of fit for the aging set one of flat and concave planes where once there were convex areas of tissue? Traditional pattern creation seems to rely on certain areas for fitting based on flat areas, is this true? If so, would the points have shifted - when I make a pattern - am I missing points (no pun intended) or am I rehashing a dead issue? lol.ahhh… okay it’s late gotta go to bed.

Okay, so center point is always the starting point. Things are measured down and across based on portions of measurements, then darts are added, curves added… I wonder what that does to fit when certain flat planes are presumed?

Just say goodnight gracie……