Bra cut Blouse-Front

Bracut Blouse Pattern

Hello Everyone,
First of all a very big thank you to all you subscribed and visited my blog. It keeps me motivated. Its been a long time since my last post but I finally managed to find the time to get the draft done for the bra cut blouse pattern.There are many different methods to drafting this pattern, one of which is what I'm going to explain in this post. Measurements taken are pretty much the same.However I would touch on that subject again. For those who have tried to make the basic blouse pattern would find this draft easy to do. If you haven't looked into the basic blouse /dart blouse draft , I would strongly recommend that you do. Another thing I would be adding to the post this time and I'm sure many of you would find it helpful is pictures.

How to cut and sew the opening

In the front draft the AB part which is 2 " should be cut separately and not with the pattern. This will be later used as an extension to the left side  which will have the spaces for hooks to attach on to. The right side will have the hooks. The right side overlaps the left side. In the left side hook loops are located near where the extension AB and the left mid side of the blouse meet. I will be posting a picture of this very soon for everyone to understand  clearly. If you decide to have a front opening you do as explained above or if you wish to have back opening  you apply the same concept to the back side.

Things to note when drawing and cutting the patterns

When cutting the back blouse pattern on your fabric you have to do it two times.Once without the 2" extension and then with the 2" extension,since this is a blouse with the back opening. Also remember to flip the patten according to the right and left side.


When cutting the front blouse pattern you need to do it only once.Fold the fabric and place the front blouse pattern with the midside aligned with the fold of the fabric and cut along the pattern.To mark the darts I found that making slits through the pattern till the dart point ,allows me to insert the pencil to draw till the end point. Again flip the fabric and the pattern to the other side and draw the darts.Three in each side. The longer you make the blouse the longer the dart at the waist is going to be.

How to draw the sleeve pattern

• A-C: From point A measure 4.5" and mark point C .This is a standard measurement.
• C-B: From point C measure  [sleeve length  minus 4.5"] =3.5"
• B-F: From point B measure 1.5" and mark point F.This for the fold.
• C-D:From point C measure [shoulder /2=8] and  mark point D
• B-E: From point B measure[base of sleeve /2  +0.5"=6.5"] and mark point E
• A-D: Join point A and D
• D-E: Join point D and E
• H: Find the midpoint of line A-D and mark point H
• I:  Find the mid point in line H-D and mark point I
• J: Now measure 0.5 inches from point H upwards in 90 degree angle  and mark J
• A-J-I: Now join point A ,J and I  in a curved line
• F-G: Measure 1.5" from point B upwards and then find the width from that point to line D-E. Use that measurement and measure from point F and mark point G. The idea behind in doing this is ; we want line E-G  to align with line D-E when we fold the pattern at line B-E upwards.

The final step is to cut the pattern .Therefore you cut along line A-J-I-D-E-G-F-B-C-A.


Congratulations !You have made your first saree blouse pattern.You can  now tweek the pattern to incorporate any kind of neck design or sleeve design to make your very own custom made blouse.

Measurements and Calculations

Before showing the steps to draw the sleeve pattern,we have to do some calculations.Here are the measurements I used earlier for the sleeve in the general template.

Sleeve Length: 6"
Base of Sleeve: 12"

How to take the measurements:
Sleeve length: Measure how long you would like the sleeve to be from the edge of the shoulder where you can feel the joint.

Base of sleeve: Measure around your arm at the point your sleeve length ends.

Calculation:

Sleeve length:Measured Sleeve length + 0.5+1.5[stitching allowance]= 6+0.5+1.5=8

Shoulder/2= 16/2=8

Base of Sleeve= base of sleeve measurement /2+0.5=12/2+0.5=6.5

Sleeve Pattern

How to draw the back blouse pattern

As you can see I have used the front blouse pattern but outlined a few lines in red. This is where the back blouse pattern differs from the front blouse pattern. Another point to note is that there are no darts in the back so its even easier to draw than the front pattern.
So basically you draw the pattern like the front with these differences.

1. Back neck depth is 0.5 inches lower than the front neck.But if you wish you can make it even lower.The difference between line J-I and J1-I1 is 0.5 inch.
2. Now from line B-W measure 0.5 inch inward and draw a straight line starting from line J1-I1
3. Next the length of the blouse in the back is 1 inch shorter than the front.Therefore measure 1inch inward from line W-X and draw line W1-X1
4. The length of  W1-X1 is the back waist length.
5. Join point X1 and point H
6. As you can see I extended J1-I1 and line W1-X1 to meet line A. When cutting the pattern and if you decide to have a back opening;one half of the back pattern should get the 2 inch part extension attatched and the other side should be cut according to the pattern. This is for the opening and I will discuss it in a later post.

To cut the pattern cut along E-I-J1[not till the point where it meets AB  but 0.5 '" in wards]-W1-X1-H1-M[curve]-D-E. Well thats how you draw the back pattern. I hope it has not been too confusing. If you have any questions please post it on my blog . My next post will be on the final part of the pattern making which is the sleeve part.

Back Blouse Pattern

How to draw the pattern

Steps:

1. A-B:Draw a 2" straight line from A TO B.




2. B-C: Shoulder measurement divided by 2 plus 0.5" constant.




3. C-D:From point C mark 1.75"below and this will give you point D




4. D-B:Attach point D to B.




5. D-E:Shoulder band[4"]




6. B-F:3" constant.sh-bracut and sh-blouse length is measured from point f not from point B




7. B-G:ragal line height




8. G-H:ragal line width




9. E-I:front neck depth




10. I-J:join I to J




11. D-H:attach points and find midpoint which is k




12. K:mark the midpoint of D-H




13. K-L:Draw a straight line from K to the line B-W to meet at L




14. L-M:Subtract 0.75" from the measurement in B-C and mark on the straight line K-L to give you the point M




15. D-M:Draw a straight line from D to M




16. M-N:From M draw a straight line to the line G-H to join at N




17. M-H:Draw a curved line from M to H




18. F-O:From the point F meassure straight down the measurement of sh-bust to arrive at point O




19. G-O:Extend the line from point G to meet at O




20. O-P:maeasure 5.25 inches and join o to p




21. P-Q:From P measure 1inch and mark Q.




22. P-R:From point p measure 1inch and mark R




23. P-S:From point P measure 1inch and mark S




24. F-W:From point F measure the lenght of the blouse and mark W




25. W-X:Front Waist measurement[See Calculations]




26. X-H:Join X and H




27. R-U:Draw a straight line for point R to meet the line X-H.That point becomes U




28. U-V:measure 0.75 inches from point u and mark point v on line x-h




29. V-R:Join point V and R




30. S-Y:From point S draw a vertical line to line w-x.that point becomes Y




31. Y-Z:from point Y measure 1.25 inches and mark Z




32. Y-Z':From point Y measure 1.25 inches and mark z'

From point 0 measure 0.75 inches and mark the dart point on line o-w

After marking point Q,R and S erase the line Q-P.

This is how you draw the pattern for the front part.

Front blouse pattern

Calculation

Here is a general template we will be using to create this pattern.All measurements are in inches.

Measurements:

Shoulder[sh]-[sh]:16"

Bust:38"[bust minus1.5]=38"-1.5=36.5

waist:30"
Shoulder to bust:[sh] to bust:11" [Refer to my earlier post to see how to measure]

Sh-bracut: 13.25"

Sh-blouse length:16". [You have to add 1" to allow for seem allowance so the measurement to be taking will be 17"]

Sleeve length:6"
Base of sleeve:12"

Front neck depth[FN]: 6"
Back Neck depth[BN]:6.5"

shoulder band:4"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Calculation:

shoulder/2=16/2=8 plus a constant[0.5]=8+.05=8.5

Ragal line length:
sh/2=16/2=8"

Ragal line width:
bust measurement plus 8[constant] divided by 4=36.5 +8=44.5/4=11.1

Sh to bust=11" have to add 0.5constant=11 +0.5 =11.5
Sh to bra cut=13.25 have to add 0.5 constant=13.25+ .5=13.75
Sh to blouse length=16 have to add 1"=16+1=17


Waist[front]=waist/4 plus 0.5 constant plus 3" for dart=30/4 +0.+3=
7.5+0.5+3=11

Waist [Back]=waist /4 plus 0.5 constant=7.5+.5=8
length of dart=sh to bust minus 0.5 divided by 2=11-.5=10.5/2=5.25[this tells u the midpoint from which u have to situate the 3 darts.

sleeve calculation:

sleeve length:6+0.5[constant]+1.5[constant]=8

base of sleeve:12/2+0.5constant=6.5

Dart allowance

1. Bust measurement= 28"-32" Dart allowance= 1.5"
2. Bust =32"-36" Dart= 2"
3. 36" and above Dart=2.5"-3"

Dart allowance should not be below 1.5"

In my next post we will dwell into the calculaton part.

Things to take note of before calculation

When subtracting 1.5" from the bust measurement and the answer comes out as 34" or less the blouse pattern to be made is size SMALL. If the answer is 34 or 36" then the blouse pattern to be made is size LARGE.
A ragal line is the name used for the lines drawn horizontally and vertically when beginning to create the pattern.This will be illustrated later in the diagram.The vertical line indicates the height of the ragal line.
The height of the ragal line is measured differently for small and large sizes.For small sizes the ragal line height would be the bust measurement divided by 4.For lager sizes it would be the shoulder to shoulder measurement divide by 2.

Measurements to be Taken:

When taking the measurements wear a properly fitted Saree blouse or a bra.

• Shoulder[sh]:Measure from one shoulder to the other.
• Bust measurement:
• Shoulder to Bust[sh -bust]:measure from your shoulder to the highest point of your bust.
• Shoulder to Bra cut[sh-bra cut]:measure from your shoulder to the highest point of your bust and continue along the line to where your bra ends.
• Shoulder to Blouse length[sh -blouse length]: this measurement gives the length of the blouse . Measure from the sh-bust-bra cut-where you want your blouse to end. You only need to measure the front side. The back length can be determined by calculations discussed later on.
• Waist:Measure around your body from the point where you wanted your blouse length to end. This will give a tight fit.

For the Sleeve measurement:

• Sleeve length:measure how long you would like your sleeve to be.
• Base of sleeve:measure around the arm at the point your sleeve length ends.

Basic saree blouse:Introduction

The Saree blouse discussed here comprises of three darts and can be made both with front and back open.It could also be referred to as the corset blouse. I'm of the opinion that the back open Saree blouse is easier to make.The pattern making method described here takes into account the sewing allowances too.Therefore when cutting the pattern place it on the fabric and cut exactly around the pattern border.After cutting the pattern jot a 1/2" dotted line from the edge of the fabric for the sewing allowance.