You might think you’ll never have to deal with leggings when it comes to swimwear, but you’d be wrong. One third of the Australian coastline, for example, has seasonal jelly fish that can cause serious injury if you’re not wearing a stinger suit. Some surfers and divers wear lycra “wet suits” instead of neoprene in warmer waters. There is a huge movement towards full coverage sun protection swimwear for children. And of course there’s always the excursion into the dancewear arena.
The one piece block with legs added (and sometimes arms) is called a catsuit. There are two styles of leg blocks. Each is distinctly different and each serves a specific function. All catsuit or leggings patterns, no matter how different, are based on one of these block styles.
The first block is very much like a pair of close fit jeans (see image below). It is characterised by a center front seam and center back seam. Final patterns based on this block may or may not have side seams. It may have a separate gusset added. If it’s part of a full catsuit, it may have a full length center front or center back zipper.
This style of block is the easiest to construct and the most forgiving to fit. Due to the way the seams come together under the crotch, there will usually be a gap between the crotch and the garment. The panels also join at a point which some people consider aesthetically and anatomically incorrect. This gap is, however, necessary to allow the wearer to walk without cutting themself in half!
The great advantage of having no vertical reduction in your blocks and patterns is being able to insert a center front or center back zipper. Keep in mind that non metal zips tend to be bulky and look even more bulky when pulled tightly to the body with thin swimwear fabrics.
The second block is much like adding sleeves to the leg holes of a one piece block (see image below). It maintains all of the gusset area of the one piece and so is much closer fitting and offers a significantly better range of movement. It’s certainly a better looking garment, and offers the potential to move the “leg line” pretty much anywhere because it will always stay located in the garment. On the other hand, it’s much more difficult to construct the block and certainly involves more sewing to put it together.
This block is referred to as the gymnast block because it looks like a gymnast wearing a leotard over the top of tights. Ironically, most tights are center seam blocks with a gusset added!
Thigh and calf measurments vary a great deal within each size. More so than waist and hips. I have no idea why this is. It seems slightly related to height and weight, but still varies for similar values. I’m guessing it’s more an issue of lifestyle. For this reason, if you want to test the block (as opposed to just learning how to do it), I suggest measuring the person you’re going to test it on and use those measurements rather than the set in my size tables. That way if you’ve made a mistake somewhere along the line you’ll be more able to identify it. Also you’ll more clearly see the advantages and disdvantages of each type of leg block.
Both blocks are initialy constructed the same way by completing steps 1 to 6. Then, for the center seam block continue with steps 7 through 12. For the gymnast block skip steps 7 through 11 and jump to step 12. These instructions will tell you this again at the end of step 6.
Transfer your one piece block from the waist down, maintaining the distance of half hip measurement between the center front and the center back.
| 1-2 | Draw down waist to floor without any reduction. Draw down the same distance on the center front. Square across at floor line. |
| 1-3 | Measure down waist to knee without any reduction. Square across to center front |
Step Two
| 1-4 | Measure down 1/3 of waist to floor measurement and square across. This line corresponds to the widest point of the thigh and more often than not seems to line up with the half gusset line (base line) on the one piece block. |
| 4-5 | Measure down another 1/3 of waist to floor measurement and square across. This line corresponds to the widest point of the calf. |
| 2-6 | Floor to cuff and square across. This is an arbitary measurement based on style. It represents the smallest part of the legjust above the ankle. 11cm seems to be about right for most sizes, but measure if you have that opportunity. |
Step Three
| 7 | Divide hip line in half and mark it as point 7. Square down to floor. Extend both front and back side seams to point 7 on the hip line. |
| 8, 9 | Divide hip line in half again and mark back as point 8 and front as point 9. Square down to floor from both 8 and 9. These vertical lines are referred to as the quarter lines which mark the center of the leg. |
Step Four
| 10-11 | Point 10 is centered on the thigh line directly below point 7. Square out either side half the thigh measurement with no reduction to points 11 and 12. |
| 13-14 | Half calf measurement with only half the reduction. eg; if you are normally using 12% reduction for this fabric then only use 6% to allow for more movement. Center this distance on both the front and back quarter lines as illustrated. The calf measurement is used for both the knee and the calf. |
| 15-16 | Half calf measurement with only half the reduction. Center this distance on both the front and back quarter lines as illustrated. |
| 17-18 | Half ankle measurement with only half the reduction. Center this distance on both the front and back quarter lines as illustrated. |
Step Five
Join all the points on the front and back leg panels as illustrated.
Step Six
Carefully smooth off the side seams all the way up to the waist line. Do the same with the front and back inseams. All front and back seams should mirror each other perfectly at this stage. All curves should be long and gradual.
To summarise the tensions, so far we have 12% reduction at the waist, 0% at the hips and thigh and then 6% from the knee down. There should be no vertical reduction anywhere. If you recall the one piece block we didn’t apply reduction because the hip line was cut by the leg hole. Now there are leggings it’s reasonable to apply reduction again, however consider how much movement occurs in this part of the garment. Applying the whole 12% would be too restrictive to movement. If you feel you really must, apply up to half reduction to the hips and thigh but no more. You apply it at this step and not earlier in order to keep the quarter lines in the right place. The dotted orange line represents 6% reduction at the thigh and hips.
At this point you need to decide which type of block you are going to construct. If you want a center seam leggings block then continue with steps 7 through 11. If you want a gymnast leggings block then skip steps 7 through 11 and jump straight to step 12.
Step Seven
| 21 | Mark point 21 halfway between 19 and 20. This represents the height of the seam as it passes under the crotch. If you place it higher it’ll cut your client in half, if you place it lower it’ll restrict movement. It is an arbitrary position however. Square across the entire sheet. |
| 22-23 | Measure this line. It is waist to crotch plus half gusset. This is the length of the center front seam in the next step. |
Step Eight
| 22-23 | Draft in a curve the exact length of the center front seam as determined in the previous step. If you’re drafting on paper this is easier to do with a flexicurve ruler. Mark the distance on your ruler and then bend it to a nice smooth curve which ends on the halfway line. If you’re using a CAD program there are a number of bezier features in most programs that’ll help you maintain the line length while you curve. |
| 23-24 | Draw down a straight line from point 23 to point 24 about halfway between the thigh and knee. If you’ve drafted an even curve for the center front seam, point 23 should be a right angle. |
Step Nine
Mirror the curve from the center front to the center back and mark in points 25 and 26. Now look at the illustration below. The left image shows a lengthwise cross section through the the body. The dotted line represents the height of the thigh at its widest point. The new dotted line on the center image represents the line between the cheeks. The right image shows how the garment should sit on the body. Note it pulls between the cheeks and then sits down below the crotch. What you should also note is that the center back seam is slightly longer than the center front seam. It’s not much, about half of the measurement 20-21 in step seven, but it’s significant if you want the inseam to sit in the right place.
Step Ten
Pivot the line 25-26 by rotating it around point 26 in order to lengthen the center back seam the amount determined in the last step. This is advisable, but only really necessary, if you’re making ull length leggings because the inside seam needs to sit in the right place. In shorts, the garment will ride and self adjust because nothing is locking it down. Recurve the center back seam as shown. I would leave the original line 25-26 on the block for when making shorts. Lastly, curve off the ankle cuffs so that they make right angles with the seams.
Step Eleven
Remove unnecessary guidelines, points and numbers. Cut out or retrace the front and back blocks and true up all curves. Make sure you clearly label your block with a title, panel name, size, date, author’s name and version number. Do not add seam allowance to the block!
Option – Cut Off Leggings/Longer Boy Leg Shorts
I want people to look very carefully at the illustration for this step. The perfectly horizontal grey lines behind all that colour are guides at 7.5cm, 10cm, 12.5cm, 15cm, and 17.5cm (or 3 to 7 inches) down from the centre front inside seam hieght (not along the seam, but vertically down) … of course where you put your guides is arbitrary, just make sure they are horizontal and match front to back. I have always done it from this position and so I will keep doing so in case I ever need to go back to my old patterns … choose a method and be consistent!
OK now here’s the difficult part. Typically most patterns will simply do a nice even curve which is slightly higher in the center but even from front to back (see the front block). In most cases that will be just fine. But people aren’t the same from front to back at the top of the leg. Most ladies carry a little more weight in the outside back of the leg as part of a transition down from the cheek to the leg. I hope that makes sense because I’m not sure how else to explain it. If you look at yourself from behind in a mirror (easier said than done) and follow the direction of the black arrow in the illustration then either you’ll immediately see what I’m getting at or you’ll be shaking your head asking ‘what is he getting at?’ … if it’s the latter then you probably can make the back match the front, but if you see the area I mean then you’ll need to depress the line in the back curve a certain amount. The more weight you carry there the more you’ll need to tweak the pattern … sometimes you’ll even need to tweak it so much that it will completely change the angle that the hem line crosses the side seam (almost like the boy leg pattern). As an indication, you may actually need to make up the garment a couple of times to get this right!
There is a really difficult area between 0 and 7.5cm (0-3 inches) inside which the garment doesn’t have any inside leg to really hold on to which can cause the garment to distort, ride up or some other perculiar things that are really the area of somewhat advanced made to fit techniques. This range is not often used in ready-to-wear for this reason and also because even if you do get it right, it makes the hips look much, much wider (especially in dark colours contrary to popular belief). Avoid it unless you need coverage for a specific reason and don’t want to go longer.
You may notice that as you go down the leg (beyond 15cm/6 inches) the amount of curve decreases until all we’re concerned about is truing up the pattern to a right angle at the seams. The leg lines I’ve shown on the illustration are a moderate amount that I add to my ready-to-wear patterns to improve the range of fit. But let me state for the record that personally I think these kind of cut off leggings are the ugliest things on the planet and also the most difficult to tweak to get perfect. From a retail point of view, most larger customers will ask if you stock them but never try them on or buy them no matter how well they might fit or look … inevitably they go for a conservatively cut one piece garment. I’ve never sold a single pair of longer boy leg shorts to anyone under size 14 … ever!
Step Twelve
| 20-21 | Draw down a line between points 20 and 21 |
| 23-24 | The distance between points 22 and 23 is the same as between points 19 and 20. Draw down a line between points 23 and 24. |
The leg hole on the one piece block was designed for use without legs. When attaching legs to the one piece block you can create the look of a higher cut leg without any fitting problems arising. Draw a horizontal line about halfway between the waist and the existing leg line. This will become the top of the new leg line
Step Thirteen
Draw a line horizontally across the sheet halfway between the hip line and thigh line. This distance should equate to 1/4 gusset below the hip line. Continue the front and back inseam up to this line.
Step Fourteen
Draft in new leg lines from points 21 and 24 to the new top leg line position on the bodice side seams. You’ll note that the new leg lines are square to the bodice side seam instead of peaking on the front bodice (like the old leg line). Try to keep the leg line square at the crotch also.
Step Fifteen
Find the center of the front waist line and draw down a line to connect the leg quarter line. Repeat for the back leg.
Step Sixteen
On the front block measure the length of the leg line between the quarter line and the thigh line (marked in blue). Mark this distance on your flexicurve and recurve it to create the leg scye (marked in red). These two lines must be the same length. Repeat for the back block.
Curve off the ankle cuffs so that they make right angles with the seams.
Step Seventeen
Trace and separate all the panels maintaining the guidelines as illustrated.
Step Eighteen
Draw a horizontal line 1/4 gusset above the thigh line. Pivot the head of the front leg panel up to the raised line as illustrated. Repeat with the back leg panel.
Step Nineteen
Recurve the leg blocks with long gradual curves.
Step Twenty
Remove unnecessary guidelines, points and numbers. Cut out or retrace the front and back blocks and true up all curves. Make sure you clearly label your block with a title, panel name, size, date, author’s name and version number. Do not add seam allowance to the block!
Hello Stuart,
I have lost all my email addresses so I am leaving a comment here. I know that you do not add to this blog anymore, and I see that you have not posted on your other blog for a while…so perhaps life has taken you on other adventures. I have noticed that on this blog the children’s blocks do not come up anymore ( page id 197). I have been clicking around to see if there were other issues and I also get a blank page for page id 54 (how to use this blog) and page id 164 (one piece blocks). You may know this already, but I thought that I would mention it in case you were not aware.
I hope that life is treating you well, Katherine
Hi angiej. From your website I can see you have way more experience than me, but I’m intrigued by that step too so I’ll share my thoughts. To me it looks like the pivot would allow for better movement. Without it, the resulting garment should sit perfectly as long as you stand up straight, but start to frog-kick or do the splits or what have you, and it might not sit so well. Doing the pivot seems like it would allow the leg to move further outward before the garment starts to shift or bind.
I think it’s related to step 13, too. Stuart extends the inseam only half way from the thigh line to the hip line, rather than extending it all the way to the hip line where the crotch actually is. I suspect that’s because he knows the pivot step later on will lengthen the inseam and make up for the shortfall here. When I tried to draft a design with the inseam going all the way up to the hip line (and omitting the pivot step), I found it required a sharp turn in the leg curve at step 16, which was hard to get right.
So I think the reasons are freedom of movement and ease of getting the design right. I’d like to hear that confirmed or denied by someone with actual experience though.
Hi Stuart,
I was wondering if you could explain why the pattern is tilted in stage 18/19 please?
I am learning so much from this site (it’s fantastic, thank you!) but do like to understand why certain procedures are required.
Hi there. I came across your site a few years ago when I was making a custom dance/stage combat outfit for a client. Your tips and information on percentage reductions was very helpful. My drafted patterns came very close compared to the off the rack patterns ( way too big!) and only needed minor changes. I have returned with a new challenge. I wear medically prescribed compression garments ( stockings/leggings) for control of my lymphedema. First I tried off the rack and then custom garments that were not made right ( 3 sets) . The reoccurring problem was the placement of the knee ( too low) and it seemed that the manufacturer was not taking into account the length wise stretch of the material they use. My other issue has been the material sliding and gathering at the knee creating a tourniquet. In frustration I am starting to make my own and I hope you can give me a starting range of reduction to draft with. My target is 40 – 50 mmHg ( millimeters of mercury) but how to convert this information into a percentage I can use leaves me puzzled. The stockings also fit a size range.For the range I will have to call my fitter since the information is not printed on the box. The knee highs I have now measure 29cm at below the knee and 20.5cm at the ankle freshly washed and not being worn. Folded flat the 14.5cm below the knee stretches to 20cm max the ankle 10.5cm stretches to 17cm . The total length is 39cm that stretches to 56cm. I’ve been making do with Under Armor compression leggings over the knee highs but they are not tight enough to hold. I’ve even gone down 5 sizes to where I could barely squeeze into them with no luck. I’m thinking about creating a design that laces up ( corset style) so adjustment is possible. I hope you can shed some light on these figures.
Hello,
I was interested in making a pair of the gymnast leggings for men (standard model size 32). Do I just follow this tutorial step by step? Or would there be slight differences? Also, are there any other men’s blocks I could trace off to start with other than a one piece block?
Thank you so much for your help.
hi
are you making front and back crotch extensions the same?
Hi Kristie. There is a way to draft a leggings block such that there’s no side seam and only a center seam that runs waist to waist (with or without a gusset). Essentially you would be slicing several horizontal slashes through the front and back leg blocks and aligning them to a vertical line where the side seam would otherwise be, and then simply recurving everything. This is fairly common in the fetish community where latex rubber seams are difficult and uncomfortable down the outside leg. I don’t particularly like this method for lycra garments as it doesn’t sit as well as a four panel set of leggings and there really isn’t too much justification besides less machining costs for doing this.
How do i proceed to convert the centre front seam legging block i have drafted above with no side seam? Do i draft the crotch area then keep the centre line 10 to floor as the centre of the 2 halfs and draft the calf and ankle out from that centre point smooth up to the croth points? Is it possible to convert that pattern with a diamond gusset in the centre??
Thanks Kristie
Hi Stuart, i am near the end of the gymnastics version of the leggings and hope to have this, a monokini and a pair of briefs made up sometime this week
i have a slight problem
on step 16, changing the blue line position into the red line position, i can’t work out how to do it using corel draw
i have x3 and use it all the time for cutting garment vinyl so am quite adept with it,
but is there a way to restict the line from altering length whilst moving the node to a new position a and then reshaping it?
i can print it out on my plotter, but then i would have to do the rest by hand,
not that i don’t want to do it that way but i’d rather finish the block to keep the file as a completed cdr file rather than part way through, and also i can then add the allowance
ps thanks for your help and i’ll send some photos if things turn out as i hope
mikki
hi, jane here from dons group on yahoo. just want to say a big thankyou. I just love this site. it makes me think and is very helpful thanks again jane england
Thanks so much, this is giving me a lot to work with, and thanks for putting it on the list. It made me think that suppose I want to do the inner-leg to inner-leg strip gusset, and it’s about 10cm wide, I can just cut the 10cm wide strip, and cut 5cm away from 23-24 and 25-26 (If the lenght of the shorts end at 24 and 26). Haha this might not work but it sounds so logical all of a sudden …
Hi Maritha. I really should add gusset techniques to my list of special fitting techniques (I’ll add it to my new To Do list now). Let me illustrate the fastest way to decide the shape of your gusset … put the garment on and then cut a straight line down the seam into which you want to add the gusset. Keep in mind you have negative ease in there on the horizontal. Now before everyone freaks out at me, what I’m trying to do is illustrate the shape the gusset needs to be, albeit a destructive way. If you were to trace this cutaway section out and shrink it by the negative ease amount and add seams to it you’d have a pretty good start point. If you take apart the garment and trace the cutaway section to your pattern you’ll have the corresponding “bits to cut off” lines. The gusset should have mirror symmetry so you can cut on the fold. Of course you can chop bits off the final gusset shape and add them back to the pattern and vice vesra to create more visually appealing seam lines. With a bit of practice you can create so pretty tailored shapes and create tension or lack of it anywhere you like along the gusset axis to change the shape of the overall garment.
This isn’t how I’d recommend to do it in a teaching environment but it’s quite effective for the home sewist trying to see what happens when you relieve tension somewhere in a garment … it’s quite eye opening (no pon intended) … I’ll illustrate the way to do it on a flat pattern a bit later.
OK I’ve just come back to this question and see that it’s not clear.
” For cut off leggings, I don’t know how much “bits” to cut off and exactly where”
I mean cut of bits where the gusset should be to form the gusset. Cutting of to make the leggings short is more than clear in your illustration.
Hi Stuart, it’s me and my gusset issues again – feel free to sigh very hard there on your side
. For cut off leggings, I don’t know how much “bits” to cut off and exactly where. I need to make movement easier in them, and also stop it from riding up – although that might mean it’s too tight over the thighs? Would the pattern go all wrong if I don’t use negative ease and make the short exactly according to my measurements, or a bit bigger even? I’m thinking the “leg to leg”-gusset might be easier because the oval shaped one is just greek to me.