This is just the base sloper from the HJA book. It only consists of the bodice back & front and the sleeve. Since the front has the most adjustments that can be made to the sloper, I’ve hidden the back & sleeve.
As you can see in the Variables Table, I have full descriptions at each item so that I don’t forget what to change when I do need to change something. I try to keep the variables down to the bare minimum, and only the most important, so that I don’t get lost in long lists of variables, especially when choosing which one to use in the Formula Wizard. I also use very descriptive names for this same reason.
As you can see, I try to draft with the minimum of construction objects and, in this case, it isn’t necessary to have a separate group for these since the pattern presents a clean picture. I use dotted lines and a lighter line weight for construction lines, heavier line weights for main (stitch line) objects, solid lines for cut (stitch) lines and dash-dot-dot lines for darts.
I’ve put all of the dart rotation marks into a group of their own, so that I can hide them if I wish:
For each dart rotation, I have the most important lines in a group:
I haven’t done the dart outer cut lines yet or completed all of the dart rotations.
I did this pattern while studying the HJA (Helen Joseph-Armstrong) book and, at this point, I realized that I used the original bust points for the rotations and I still need to go back to fix this.
This brings us to the Bust Cup Size Adjustments, which I should have done before the rotations…
As you can see below, a zero in the Variables Table is equal to a B Cup:
By changing this value to one of the other amounts in the list, the cup size changes. Here, I’ve entered a 1 which is equal to a DD cup:
Formulas that are only specific to 1 place are in that places formula, whether it is trig or not. As you can see, the Variable is used to rotate the Bust Point to a lower position in a rotation that moves the side seam outwards and the front is made longer, to accommodate the larger bust, and the waist dart is also widened. The armhole shape is still maintained by the use of formulas in the curve:
Here is the bodice with both the original and the cup size visible so that you can see the changes:
I’m attaching this file here for anyone who would like to play around with it and see exactly how I created it. Please remember that this was my learning curve and that it does contain errors and is only meant to show how I work:
Armstrong Basic Blocks with Bust Adjustment Bodice with Rotations and Sleeve A.sm2d (71.6 KB)
HJA Size 6 - 34.smis (3.9 KB)