After starting a SewAlong for the Bonfit Bodice on PatternReview.com, I decided it would be neat to compare the results of a basic bodice sloper with Kenneth King's Moulage. Here's the first post on the progress of that comparison.
Bonfit is a plastic patterner with sliding panels and knobs that tighten to hold them in place. It's supposedly a basic pattern that can be used to make nearly anything you want. This one is for the Bodice and can be used for tops, shirts, and uh.... bottomless dresses? It says you need the skirt patterner in order to make a dress. IMHO, probably not... though I have that one too. It provides you with a ready made framework of a pattern that you can just draft out and add your design details to.
Kenneth King's Moulage serves a different purpose. It's like having a 2D frame of your own body that you use to create your designs from. Kinda like a 2D dress form. You'd have to add your own ease and design details, but the basic placements of the bulges and bumps should be in the right places so you'll know where to skim over them.
Below is the Bonfit bodice draft I made for a basic fitted shirt. Using the basic measurements as directed by the book, I drafted out the basic bodice pattern. There is ease calculated into the pattern, it's made to be a "ready made" shirt pattern once drafted. Here's my basic bodice for the basic fitted shirt BEFORE I did any fittings and made any adjustments other than what was stated in the book. For my body, that was the narrow shoulder. Remember, it does NOT serve the same purpose as the moulage, but it should follow the shape of it.
Then I tried making a pattern using Kenneth King's CD for the Basic Bodice. Here's what it looks like before I made any alterations to that one. Funny shaped armholes, and the shoulder slope looks very different, but we'll have to see a muslin before we decide which one fits best.
Bonfit
Pros:
Basic sloper just needs transferring to paper and can be used for any body within a given range.
Cons: There are some mistakes and omissions in the book. Since this system is meant to be used by a range of learning levels, nothing should be left out.
The Moulage CD by Kenneth King
Pros: I like that this CD provides a more personalized fit. He also offers many explanations regarding why we do certain strange adjustments... like subracting a 1/4" for bias. You don't get that explanation in most drafting books. It also has a video clip on the proper way to measure your model. It would be great if measuring could be done alone, but this is great info for your not-so-adept-at-sewing helper, like DH.
CONS: Hmmmmm.... wait... I'm thinking.... Maybe you need to be able to do basic math? Is that a con? I don't think so, it keeps my brain from going soggy. Ah... one thing, an solution is provided for adjusting most deviations you might find while drafting, but I did not see one for my situation. My shoulder point was higher than the one on the framework. There is a solution stated in the book regarding lowering it, but not raising it. It could be that it's the same process though. I did the alteration as he stated in the book, but it did make my shoulder slope look a little weird.
To be continued...
Next chapter: The Muslins
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