Curving the Waist (Bodice)

Miscelleneous

When creating the Bodice Block, both the one-dart and the two-dart Block, we created a curved waist line.

This page shows

how that curve was achieved
why we have this curve, and
how you can create/check the curve whenever you need to when creating your own patterns.

Both the 1-Dart Block and the 2-Dart Block are used to cover these aims in the examples below.

Curving the Waist, Bodice Front – Figure 01

In the instructions for creating the 1-Dart Block, dart leg A is extended below the waistline, and dart leg B is drawn to be the same length as dart leg A. This is shown in Figure 1.

Curving the Waist, Bodice Front – Figure 01b

This is just a close-up of Figure 1, showing the final curve. What this final curve looks like may not be obvious, and how to draw the curve from dart leg B to the side seam might also not be obvious.

This is why will will go back to the beginning and work through creating the curve, showing also how to create or check any waistline curve.

Curving the Waist, Bodice Front – Figure 02

In Figure 02, I have taken dart leg A only to the waist, then made dart leg B the same length as dart leg A (as both dart legs must be the same length).

Curving the Waist, Bodice Front – Figure 03

Figure 3 shows the resulting angular line when the dart is closed.

As this isn’t a reflection of what the body looks like, we need to amend that line.

Curving the Waist, Bodice Front – Figure 04

Figure 4 shows a more practical waistline with a curve.

Curving the Waist, Bodice Front – Figure 05

In Figure 5, I have cut the curve at the dart point, and moved the side panel back to the original position, together with the portion of the curve.

You can see then how we can create the curve; by extending the dart legs down about 3/16-inch, and then blending back to the original line. This is what was shown in Figure 1, up the top of the page.

Curving the Waist, Bodice Front – Figure 06

In Figure 6, I have just placed Figure 5 on top of the image in Figure 1. So now you can see why, when creating the block, we extended the dart leg below the waistline, and that when the dart is closed, the waistline has a curve rather than angles.

Although you may now understand that, you may still have a few issues, which we will look at from Figure 7.

Curving the Waist, Bodice Front – Figure 07

Looking at Figure 7, it might be obvious how to draw the curve from the CF to dart leg A point which is 3/16-inch below the waistline, but drawing the curve from dart leg B to the side seam line may not be so obvious. In Figure-7 it is currently a straight line).

In Figure7, the dart leg B to side-seam line is currently a straight line.

Curving the Waist, Bodice Front – Figure 08

To determine the curve from dart leg B to the side seam, you can do what I did in Figure 3: trace a portion of the block, pivot it and work out the curve, then pivot it back and complete the line. This is shown step-by-step in the next few figures below.

Figure 8: trace out the portion to pivot – shown in green.

Curving the Waist, Bodice Front – Figure 09

Pivot the traced portion (pivot on the Bust Point), until the dart is closed.
Draw the curve on the tracing paper

Curving the Waist, Bodice Front – Figure 10

Pivot it back to the original position, and draw the curve on the block/pattern.

Curving the Waist, Bodice Front – Figure 11

IMPORTANT!

Make sure you don’t end up with this kind of angle on the side seam; the side seam curve needs to blend into a 90-degree angle at the corner – as is the case for the CF.

Curving the Waist, Bodice Front – Figure 12

You can use the same method to check and draw any waist curve – one examples shown in Figure 12.

Not shown is the Bodice Back, but you can use this method to check that curve also.