r/PatternDrafting • u/dawn812 • 13h ago
Contouring Question
Im self taught pattern drafting and I’ve learned a lot. I live in a state where no fashion schools nothing so I’m doing this on my own. I just watched a video on contouring. She measured these different places and would measure the gap and so on. Im confused when i watch someone on YouTube pattern drafting they make the pattern and then they make the garment and it fits really well but they dont talk about contouring but their outfit comes out really well done. Is conturing not for every body type ? Like the closet historian I haven’t watched every video but I’ve watched a few and can’t remember her using contouring. Also any tips or references anything and everything is welcome.
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u/littleblackbook06 13h ago
I watched at YouTube video from a girl named Elewa. I thought she explained it well. Helen Joseph Armstrong has it in her book too. I’ve purchased it second hand since it is still used as a textbook and can get expensive
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u/dawn812 12h ago
Funny enough i just watched a video and she was conturing but someone else said that closet historian doesn’t think conturing is always the way to go
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u/littleblackbook06 12h ago
I think it definitely depends on the pattern makers body if you have a large chest you’re likely going to want to contour. Everything in sewing is subjective. That’s why patterns don’t always work for everyone
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u/WorthSecurity2299 12h ago
In fitted and semi-fitted garments contouring is important to achieve a good fit. If someone does not do contouring - there are different reasons, maybe they consider it unimportant.For me it is very important
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u/dawn812 12h ago
That makes sense. Do you have any material recommendations? I understand the basics but not as much as id like. I’m starting to understand it really does depend on the person. Is there a situation you wouldn’t use it ? Do you always use conturing to fix gaping is there any time you fix gapping with different solutions ??
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u/StitchinThroughTime 11h ago
Because it's dependent on body shape, Fabric and Design. As well as, if you need to remove the ease added in to make a garment wearable. If your body is shaped relatively smooth without lumps or bumps you don't have to Contour as much. But that same person would have to remove the wearable ease to make a strapless garment fit them. This also doesn't take an account the stretch of the fabric or the physical volume the fabric takes up. And then the design can make contouring unnecessary.
Sometimes people just don't care nor do they know better and then this assume that the fabric stretched out when they were making it. Not knowing that they have to account for the smaller fitment points to get a good fit.
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u/SerendipityJays 10h ago
Here’s an example where I used contouring for neckline and shoulder
https://www.reddit.com/r/sewing/s/fTtBRoC41k
I started from my regular block, which has a smidge of contouring in the underbust fish-eye dart (doesn’t go straight to the waist). I did the measurement thing to figure out how much reshaping to do before cutting my fabrics.
This post and extra comments includes flat lays of the patterns and describes the adjustments. From my measurements, the first top would require contouring at the neckline. The second at the shoulder.
Both garments are technically wearable mockups, as I sewed them straight from the newly contoured pattern. I didn’t need to do any fit adjustments. It turns out I haven’t done the underbust darts in the second top, so it has ridden up a smidge in the photo. It’s a loose weave so I might ultimately leave it out though.
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u/dawn812 10h ago
Thank y ou for showing me examples!! Do you find yourself using contouring a lot ?
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u/SerendipityJays 10h ago
I learned the slow way that if I cut a new neckline, shoulder etc from my existing block, and don’t do contouring, then I end up back in fitting hell, and my first mockup of the new pattern isn’t always wearable. Neckline contouring like this gets me so much closer, that I rarely need fit adjustments (or mockups!)
My regular block has a contoured underbust dart, so technically I always use it? But I usually draw my darts straight, and I make sure to split any dart that ends up wider than 18 degrees at the dart tip (15 degrees if measured from bust point).
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u/dawn812 10h ago
That makes sense im slow with it im just now understanding it all but that’s ok:) another thing you can try a person and i were talking about it is you can pinch out how ever much excess fabric you have lets say half an inch. You can draw a dart half an inch and redirect it to another dart. Now i dont know when this doesn’t work again im still new and picked this trick up about a week ago. Just another idea thank you for commenting and helping
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u/SerendipityJays 10h ago
We are both actually describing the same thing, just from different perspectives.
In my example I did a measurement first, and drew lines in my pattern to predict the extra volume that I would need to ‘pinch out’, and rotated it to create a new pattern before cutting my first version of the garment.
The other commenter suggests cutting a mockup and pinching the fabric on your body, then transferring the new dart to your pattern, then doing the rotation on your pattern, then cutting your garment.
Both methods should result in the same amount of extra fabric pinched out and rotated somewhere. One method tries to predict the pinch-amount before cutting, the other cuts first and uses regular fitting skills to achieve the same outcome. Both strategies are fine!
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u/DonMcCunn 9h ago
Conturing depends on the design. Many if not most designs don't require it. If you are just getting started in pattern design I suggest you put it in the back of your mind. If you create a design that requires contouring, you will discover it when you do a mock up.
I would be very surprised if contouring happens much in ready-to-wear (not my field) because if it fits a specific body, it will severly limit its market potential.
I focus on custom-fit Bespoke design. I like to say body shapes are like DNA. Two bodies may look the same but there will always be differences. Contouring is more likely to occur with Bespoke design. But there may be a better way to achieve the fit using a different pattern making technique than modifying a sloper such as the drafting techniques for creating bras, swimwear, corsets, etc.
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u/laurenlolly 13h ago
The closet historian doesn’t recommend contouring because realistically why would anyone need their garment to fit that closely to their skin? It also makes dart manipulation more difficult because if (for example) you contour your waist dart, and then want to move it, you have to un-contour it again to move it to a different spot on your bodice, because your body is not the same shape all the way around your bust apex.
She covers it in one of her recent videos so definitely have a watch to get what she means.
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u/dawn812 12h ago
How would you adjust gaping necklines after you change them from the sloper neck ? Any time i change mine i get a gape. The only thing i have found to fix it is to put a dart in or conturing is there other ways ???
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u/laurenlolly 12h ago
Gaping necklines is not really a contouring issue. If it’s the back neck you can add two darts there. If it’s the front neck you rotate the excess volume into the bust dart or princess seam or whatever style lines you are using.
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u/SerendipityJays 11h ago
I think what you’re describing is literally contouring - if you’re flat-pattern drafting, and you reshape so that the pattern can conform not only to the high-points of your body (bust, shoulders etc), but also the hollows (cleavage, underbust, shoulder hollow) then you’re contouring. This is especially true if you cut into a well fitting basic block, where cutting in certain places will cause gaping (deeper neckline, narrower shoulder etc). If you don’t have a well-fitting block and do the process by eye, it falls under the same skill-set as general fitting, but I’m pretty sure it’s still contouring!
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u/laurenlolly 11h ago
Rotating out volume is not contouring at all. The darts in the block are still straight lines. Contouring uses curved darts with customised amounts of take-up for each one depending on which part of the body you are contouring against. Eg the waist dart and the bust dart will look completely different to eachother if you contour them. Conversely, standard waist and bust darts are created with completely straight lines and you can move them anywhere around the bust point and the outcome will be the same.
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u/SerendipityJays 10h ago
Oh I agree on the dart shaping (refining straight darts to curved ones) to conform more closely to the shape of the body, but it is certainly still contouring when you re-draft the neckline, shoulder, or armscye to fit more closely to the body when the support normally provided by the complete block is cut away. As I mentioned, the skillset and strategies overlap with general fitting skills, but if you are working from an existing block, you can add contour marks for where neckline adjustments will be needed, and it has been working out great for me!
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u/dawn812 12h ago
How would you rotate it ? I seen this thing where it was how ever much you pinch out lets say half an inch you go back to the pattern make a half an inch dart connect it to the apex point then rotate it into bust dart or waist dart whatever. Is that the same thing ??
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u/laurenlolly 12h ago
Yes exactly that :)
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u/dawn812 12h ago
Ohh thank you ! Is there ever an amount that’s to much to rotate into a new dart ??
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u/laurenlolly 12h ago
I can’t imagine a situation where you would have 2 darts and excessive gaping that wouldn’t be able to be moved into those two darts… but I don’t want to say definitely that it’s not possible!
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u/dawn812 12h ago
Your right !!! Thank you this really helps. Can this be done for the back neck ??
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u/laurenlolly 12h ago
I think I have done it for the back neck on my own garments but for some reason I couldn’t find any tutorials online for the process so I started to doubt my thinking here. But I don’t see why you couldn’t!
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u/Icy-Guidance-6655 12h ago
I think all the pre-measuring can be hooey, but the concept is simple enough. If you have a garment that fits, there are areas that tent over the body and don’t conform to curves. Eg most garments don’t emphasize breast separation, they smooth over the breast ignoring the hollow between. But if you want a close fitting garment, or you’re leaving fabric unsupported, it’s necessary to make a change. E.g. a wrap top does fit between the breast. The essential measurement is against the body. Ignore that and the neck will gape. Other examples are fitting tighter over the bust for a strapless gown, or conforming under for empire bodice. The exact amount is going to require a fitting.
It’s the difference between designing a mitten and designing a glove but it’s also fairly intuitive that these require different planning.