Drafting Basic Bodice Block

I’ve heard quite many times about how hard it is to draft basic blocks because it’s not always easy to follow the instructions in the book. I believe a picture is worth a thousand words, and better yet, catch the drafting in action! So I’ve captured the steps for a simple ladies’ basic bodice block into a videoclip, hope it’s useful to crafters/hobby sewers who wants to make something for themselves 🙂

So, just to explain a bit about this block. It’s a simplified one that’s easy for beginners to use, where the waist, bust and hips are equally distributed between the front and back. The waist darts (3cm) are the same for front and back as well. It’s in centimetres by the way.

Some acronyms that I’ve used in the video:

1. CF – centre front

2. CB – centre back

3. ‘L‘ – It looks like the letter ‘L’, it’s to denote the corner where a right angle is required.

The measurements required in order to draft this block:

1. Neck (around)

2. Bust (around)

3. Waist (around) at Natural Waist position

4. Armhole (around)

5. Front Waist Length (High Point Shoulder aka HPS to natural waist)

6. Bust Height (HPS to apex of bust aka Bust Point)

7. Bust Point distance

8. Centre Back Length

9. Shoulder to Shoulder