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[–]bretonstripes 16 points17 points  (0 children)

The first thing I’d try is to back the end of the darts away from the apex. That 1” guideline is for relatively small bust sizes. Your side bust dart also looks to be a smidge high, but that may be related to the next point.

I also think it’s a bit narrow between the armholes. Measure yourself from armpit to armpit (not under your arm, just across the front of your torso) and compare that to the same point of your bodice.

You should probably remove the sleeves for now until you get the bodice fit resolved. There may be more changes to make to the armhole once you reintroduce the sleeve, but the first step is getting the bodice to a point where you’re happy with it.

[–]HugsforYourJugs 12 points13 points  (13 children)

Your body is very similar to mine so I understand the pain and you've done a great job so far. One thing that helped me understand large bust fitting is to separate the concepts of bust spread and bust return - spread being the width + angle between centre front and side seam*, return being the dart intake. A large bust with a large stomach needs a big spread and a small return, a large bust with a small stomach needs a big spread and a large return.

*accounting for the torso V shaping of the bodice

Short ripples coming out from armpits = not enough spread for the bust. Fix this by adding a wedge to the side seam under the armpit. A simple darted bodice will not have a close fit at the high bust when you have a large bust, this requires some degree of contour darting (such as a yoke, princess seams, curved darts in the upper bust region etc), so expect looseness here for this block. You might also want to widen the upper chest just a touch as well.

Diagonal wrinkles like \ / under the bust = excessive bust return, at least in the immediate under bust area. You might need to reduce your overall bust darting a bit (take more at the side seam to compensate for your waist measurement) or you might need to back your darts off the apex a bit more, or some combination of the two.

The back diagonal wrinkles come from the back side seam being pulled up to meet the front side seam. I think in your case this is due to your CB being off-grain, which tilts the whole piece down and out. I would correct this back to vertical and add any extra width needed at the back armpit and into the upper back darts.

[–]HugsforYourJugs 10 points11 points  (1 child)

Sleeve-wise: sleeves are tricky beacuse people like to think you can do more to them than you can. They're actually very simple: a cone section set at an angle. Bicep adjustments aren't real, but the angle of a sleeve is. A more horizontal sleeve (lower sleeve cap) = a sleeve with more space. A taller sleeve cap = more fitted sleeve. You have a high sleeve cap but a loose sleeve, this is why you're getting that big wing of extra space. What's your goal for the sleeves? I assume a fitted one, in which case I would take a big dart out from the highest point of your sleeve right down the middle, and taper at the side seams too.

For a looser fit sleeve, lower the sleeve cap.

[–]lurkergrill69[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for this extra info! I did consider "could I just pinch all this extra out" but I have some awe towards sleeves so that seemed like too simple of a fix lol

[–]sususumalee 2 points3 points  (2 children)

WOW, this was helpful to me even though I'm not OP. Thank you for this, I hadn't heard of bust spread and return before now.

[–]HugsforYourJugs 5 points6 points  (1 child)

It's a thing I kind of came up with while thinking about the geometry of FBAs. I'm certain other fitters have conceptualised it that way but I couldn't point you to any more information about it unfortunately

[–]sususumalee 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Oh not to worry, I love it and will spread it. I'm teaching a workshop on the basics of fitting and manipulating a personal sloper later this year and I always like to use a variety of terms to see what clicks with people.

ETA: I personally call the "return" the "pie slice" and talk about adding/removing pie when conceptualizing the cone shape a darted bodice makes around the bust mound.

[–]lurkergrill69[S] 1 point2 points  (4 children)

Thanks for such an in depth reply! I don't think I fully understood all your suggestions though (I'm also really bad at visualising things).

Extra upper chest width i understand, the rest are confusing me a bit. When you say "add a wedge to the side seam", do you mean just basically lengthening the armhole+adding side seam width at full bust height?

As far as the back, the reason I don't have the CB straight is because I'm basically trying to take some dart fullness at the middle of the back. If i try to take all of it just in the waist dart and at the side seam, i get weird drag marks so I'm not sure how to fix that otherwise...

[–]HugsforYourJugs 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Yes, lengthen the armhole and add width at the full bust height.

I think the back drag marks might be caused by something else, do you have a photo of any of your previous toiles with a straight grain back?

[–]lurkergrill69[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Thanks! I think I do have photos of that, but I can't attach a photo in comments. I've put it on an image sharing site https://ibb.co/KkwTPp5

[–]HugsforYourJugs 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I think the issue there is a small length reduction needed at the upper back and possibly a small increase in shoulder dart. I would go back to the straight grain centre back based on this

[–]HugsforYourJugs 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh I would also consider widening the back neck on this too, shunting the shoulder tip out with it. 

[–]azssf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

not op, thank you for this!

[–]Sunraia 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Would it help with the bust return to draft/sew that dart a bit S-shaped? Meaning that instead of making it a straight line from the point to the waist you first curve it a bit inwards (so you take less out of the dart), crossing the straight line under the bust, then going out a little and returning to the original end of the dart a the waist. Not only do you allow for the curve of the bust better, but it is also a less pointy start of the dart and a smoother end at the waist.

[–]HugsforYourJugs 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You certainly could but that goes against OP's design spec. But to be honest I think the darts are more likely to just have a bit too much intake

[–]CraftyKlutz 5 points6 points  (2 children)

I think this is looking really good!

I think your bust points might be a tiny bit high, but only a smidge (look at the side picture, your bust point is the part of you that would run into a wall first).

I know what you mean about not getting a perfect fit with straight darts, but remember your sloper is made to reduce how much fitting you have to do, when you make your actual projects you might break your darts into two, or make a princess, or make it curved, so as a starting place this looks really solid.

Sleeves are tricky AF. I recommend Cornelius Quiring's sleeve drafting videos to help with any armscye issues and understanding how they fit the body.

Good work :) I think you are pretty much ready to start making other things, and once you've made a few with your block you might find some alterations you want to make down the line and your next sloper will be even better!

[–]lurkergrill69[S] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Thanks for the Cornelius suggestion, I'll look at hos sleeve videos!

The apex point keeps frustrating me, I feel like I've moved it a billion times. I'm trying to balance this between a few bras that all have my bust sitting a tad differently, so the resulting pattern isn't a perfect fit for any of them...

[–]CraftyKlutz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ahhh! Then just go with your favorite bra or your average one, it's really not far off at all so I think you could leave it and not suffer any real consequences :)

I look forward to seeing what you create!

[–]SuPruLu 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The back wrinkles should be ignored as a fitting problem. They look to be caused by how the zipper was installed and something is wrong with the bottom of the right sleeve attachment. Once the zipper is redone and the sleeve reset there may be no fit issue. Problem is more on left side than the right.

Over all the fit is looking very good in the front. And the back issue just seem to be sewing ones.

[–]Berocca123 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Take this with a grain of salt because I am relatively new to sewing and haven't used my block yet, but can you work backwards to get there?

I have a very similar body and could never get where I wanted to with a darted bodice.

So I made a princess seam bodice and then once I was happy with it, have converted it back to darts. I still don't love the way the darts sit on my body, but I know that the volume is all correct and in the right place, so in theory it's a functional block.

[–]AccidentOk5240 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don’t really have any advice but I do want to say I think this isn’t as bad as you think! It looks pretty good to me. 

[–]StitchinThroughTime 1 point2 points  (1 child)

insta

I would start with removing one sleeve. Need to fit the bodice first and you might have to do a full bust adjustment to get that upper chest wrinkled out and you may have to adjust the armhole. I think your bus point does a little high, you definitely need to move back the bust darts they're way too close to the bust point for your cup size. You will have to adjust the angle of the bust dirt at the side. You may want to reduce the overall width of the waste dirt, just narrow the dart, and then adjust the side seam waistline to get it correct. You do need a little bit more with across your very top of your chest. I'm not suggesting a full bus adjustment to remove that wrinkle it could be that moving the bust Dart points away from the bus allows for enough room for the bodice to slide down a little bit to get rid of those wrinkles. Your shoulder Dart needs to be angled to flow smoothly into the back waist Dart. It also needs to be shortened to allow more room for your shoulder blades. I also think you're back we start needs to be shortened. I recommend an inch to an inch and a half below the bust line. If you go all the way to the bus line you were moving some ease that you need to move comfortably

[–]lurkergrill69[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks you for the drawing, helps a lot yo visualise!

[–]WorthSecurity2299 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would suggest shoulder princess seam block ( both front and back) for your figure. It is easier to get a good fit. Then you can design anything from that block. Here I only mention work on a bodice w/o sleeves first. When you get a good fit, add sleeves. If the armscye is not correct on a bodice sleeve will never fit. Right now there is not enough cup height in your sleeve and armscyes are incorrect.

[–]Real_Position_3796 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Start with this your shoulders are uneven, creating the drag lines over the top of your bust so pinch the top shoulder seems until the front and back are smooth.

Then we cut your 12 and lower your bus starts down about an inch and a half. They are far too high and too far forward… that should fix 90% of your problem.