I just made a knit sloper, and I wanted to share it here to get any feedback on anything I can improve.
This is the file:
bodice_sloper_knit_S.Furrer.sm2d (73.6 KB)
The innermost green line is the knit sloper (I couldn’t find a way to change the color of a line/curve that used the ‘move objects’ operation), and the yellow/black lines form the woven sloper from which I drafted the knit sloper off of.
I see that you’re using the proper grading rules as opposed to the resizing rules, so I really can’t comment because I’ve never really studied them.
The only concern that I have is at the bottom hemline where it meets the side seam on the front bodice… The angle of the curve is pointing downwards, and the back bodice hasn’t been completed in this area, so I can’t picture how it’s going to look in the completed garment. It could be a design feature or it should flow into the back bodice hemline, in which case, it will need to be angled to suit the back hemline:
I also added a Knit Sleeve Sloper. I worked off of the alterations @Grace made to my Sleeve Sloper, but I had to make some changes to the curves while adding measurements to the sloper, so could check if there is anything I messed up or could do better?
It all looks good to me. Somewhere in the instructions it should tell you to ‘walk the seams’ and to shorten the left side to fit the right side. Then you curve the wrist edge to be slightly longer at the top of the wrist and slightly shorter underneath.
With this in mind, you may actually angle the curve handles at the wrist, on the side seams, if you wish. Then when you draw in the wrist curves, you can angle them at 90° from the wrist-edge seam curve handle.
The method of doing this could be that you first shorten the left a bit & then do the wrist-edge curve and only then do the seam curves. In which case, you will do the side curves after the wrist curves and use the wrist side angles to direct the sleeve end angles.
The closest thing I could find to walking the seams in the instructions was Step 39:
Measure VT and WU. Check the lengths of VT and WU. If there is a discrepancy, make sure V and W are on the same plane as M,
then make a note on the sleeve to ease the longer seam into the shorter one.
But this doesn’t tell me to adjust the lengths, so I didn’t quite understand what you meant by curving the wrist edge to be slightly longer at the top of the wrist and slightly shorter underneath. Could you show me through pictures?
Okay, now I see what you mean. Though I don’t have anything like this in my sleeve sloper instructions, there is an alteration called the “Tailor’s Sleeve” that seems similar to what you are talking about.
The instructions say that making this adjustment will make the elbow more flexible, but do you know of any other benefits from adjusting this? For example, why is it necessary?
Yes, adding an elbow dart will make room for the elbow when the arm is bent, so it makes it allows for more movement of the arm, and since the dart is on the underarm seam on the back side of the sleeve, it places the dart at the elbow.
It’s often used in jackets and coats (in various forms) that are made from quite firm fabric and then lined, as well.
Yes that’s what @Grace is talking about… although I wouldn’t call it a tailor’s sleeve. To me it’s just a one piece sleeve with an elbow dart.
Tailoring is more of a process than it is any given pattern. A tailored jacket is one that has special interlinings, canvases, felts, etc, and (hand?) techniques to give the jacket structure and fit. Generally though when I think of a tailored jacket it has a 2 part sleeve… which incidentally has the elbow dart built in.
