How to Draft a Bodice Sloper in Adobe Illustrator

If you love sewing your own clothes and have been wanting to learn how to draft your own sloper, I'm here to help!

In this class, I'm walking you through my workflow for drafting a bodice sloper on a computer using the Adobe Illustrator design program. I’ll show you how to take your own body measurements and draft a custom sloper pattern from scratch with those measurements. Then we'll set up a printing template so that you can create a tiled sheet PDF pattern to print from home or with a copyshop.

A measurements worksheet is available in the class project section.

This is a great place to start if you want to start drafting and printing your own custom-fit sewing patterns at home. Drafting in Adobe Illustrator allows you to get very precise measurements and make changes quickly without wasting paper or needing a huge space to spread out while working. This also means that you can design new patterns easily by modifying your sloper block digitally.

If you don't have Adobe Illustrator, you can get a free 7 day trial here: https://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator.html?promoid=PGRQQLFS&mv=other

So what is a sloper?

Simply put, a sloper is a very basic, close-fitting garment without any design details that is constructed to your exact measurements. 

A sloper can be used primarily in two ways:

1. To evaluate the fit of existing patterns by comparing them to your custom sloper to identify potential fit alterations.
2. As a base pattern--or block--for designing your own sewing patterns.

A sloper is another tool in your garment sewing and designing toolbox (and is not a necessarily a finished garment).

Who is this class for?

This class is ideal for intermediate to experienced home sewers who want to draft and print their own bodice sloper pattern using Adobe Illustrator as a drafting tool. You also need a basic understanding of garment construction, as that will not be taught in this class.

We won’t be drafting skirt, pant, or sleeve slopers in this class, just the bodice from the waist up to give you a feel for pattern drafting in Illustrator.

Who is this class NOT for?

This class is not ideal for those completely new to sewing, sewers who have no desire to draft or alter patterns, or sewers who prefer analog methods of pattern drafting. 

Additionally, you don't have to create a custom sloper from scratch at all! Many pattern companies offer sloper patterns that you can use in the same way. Just search for "bodice sloper pattern" online and you'll find many to choose from.

Will you teach me how to sew and assess the fit of my sloper?

No. This class is not a comprehensive overview of slopers, fitting principles, or sewing techniques. I won't be showing any sewing steps, only how to draft and cut out the sloper pattern. My primary goal with this class is to teach you how to draft a pattern in Adobe Illustrator.

I’ll be showing you one method of taking your measurements and translating those measurements into a bodice sloper. There are many different ways to do this (and I encourage you to explore many resources on this topic). Today I’m showing you the methods that have worked for me.

What if I don't know how to use Adobe Illustrator?

Experience with Adobe Illustrator is useful, but not crucial, as I’ll be walking you through each step in detail as we move through drafting the sloper. And we'll only be learning the tools required for this drafting exercise.

You can get a free 7 day trial of Illustrator here: https://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator.html?promoid=PGRQQLFS&mv=other

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

The following resources have been especially helpful to me for pattern drafting and addressing fitting issues:

• Christopher Sartorial Sloper series on YouTube
• Made to Sew on YouTube
• Alexandra Morgan on YouTube

And I have a Pinterest board where I save some of my favorite online sewing and fitting resources here: https://www.pinterest.com/caseydsibley/sewing-%2B-fitting/

Your local library is also an excellent FREE resource for fitting and sewing books! I am always amazed at the books that are available, and if they don't have the book I am looking for, they can get it for me. The book Patternmaking for Fashion Design by Helen Joseph Armstrong is a great resource and I was able to request it from my local library.

ABOUT ME

You can learn more about me and my business, Pattern Scout, by going to patternscoutstudio.com and following along on Instagram @patternscout. You can also check out my other Skillshare classes by clicking on my profile photo!

(all music by Podington Bear)