The Low Back Maillot

This design is not unlike the basic tanksuit in appearance, but it holds a valuable lesson in tension. When a stretch garment completely wraps the bust, wasit and hips it can be pulled in tightly to reveal the wearer's shape in intimate detail. If you remember, when we created the one piece block we did not reduce the hip measurement because the hipline was cut on both sides by the leg holes. In other words, because it could not be held under tension we could not shrink the measurement. If we did, the garment would shrink (albeit predictably) in the areas where it wasn't anchored down.

Now let's consider the tanksuit on a model. If we were to suddenly cut the pattern down the centerback and in a straight line all the way to the waist, that line would gape open until a new balance in tension occured. How much it opens is what is of interest. On the tanksuit there are initially two tension lines to think about ... the bust line and a line running vertically down from the shoulder. The shoulder line is really not under a great deal of tension, until we cut the center back down through the bust line. Once this happens the vertical shoulder tension line is made longer by the bust trying to pull toward center front. When one tension is balanced by the other, the garment stops moving toward center front. So how much does it pull in? It doesn't shrink up the whole 12% it was reduced. It only shrinks back up to about one third to one half of the 12% negative ease. If you were to have applied vertical negative ease to the original block then it would have shrunk back even less!! Fascinating this concept of tension lines, isn't it?

What this means for our low back tank suit is we need to relieve the horizontal negative ease from 12% back to 4-6% for all areas that are cut at center back. If we had cut below the waist line then we'd need to relieve the negative ease there also. This will be demonstrated in the pattern below so it'll make more sense as we do it.

The sketch above represents the pattern we're about to make. This pattern is based on the size 10B/C one piece block we created previously. Before you start each step, click on the link marked "Illustration for this Step". A pop up window with an illustration for that step will help guide you through the instructions. At the end of each step your draft should match the illustration.

Step One

Illustration for this Step

As we're not cutting the back line below the waist line we only need to relieve the tension above the waist. Rather than redraw the entire block you remove one third of the 12% reduction by stretching the top of the block by 92/88 or 104.5%. You could do this on a photocopier or by measuring if you're doing your patterns on paper. If you're using CAD then it's simply a matter of scaling up 104.% horizontally. Then simply ease it back into the original waistline as shown.

Step Two

Illustration for this Step

Just like we did for the tanksuit, draft in a guide line from the bust point to create a right angle with the front shoulder line. Draw a rectangle the width of your shoulder strap around this guide (this example is 3cm wide). Transfer the point at which the guide intersects the front shoulder to the back shoulder and draft a guide vertically straight down to the back bust line. Draw a rectangle the width of the strap around the back guide line. Draft in the front neck line and armhole design.

Step Three

Illustration for this Step

We need to take a little length out of the back shoulder strap as we have done previously. This is because as the strap gets thinner it loses it's rebound strength. About 3 to 4cm should be enough. Draft in a very gradual back line from the shoulder strap to the center back waist. Draft in the back armhole ... later you can true up the armhole by placing the front and back panels together. Draft in a guide from the bust point to square with the front neck line. Draft in a second guide line from the bust point to the, side seam about 4cm below the bust line.

Step Four

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Remove all the guides from the back panel. Cut the guide to the front neckline and rotate the front strap to vertical. This should close out a dart of about 1-1.5cm. Don't go all the way to the vertical if it's more than 2cm.

Step Five

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Cut the guide to the front side seam and rotate the bust dart closed to create a new bust dart angled more steeply downward (we also did this for the tanksuit pattern). Pull back the dart about 1-1.5cm from the bust point. Remove unnecessary guide lines.

Step Six

Illustration for this Step

Retrace the panels if necessary. Be sure to clearly label your patterns with a title, panel name, size, cutting instructions, author’s name, date and revision number. Finaly, add seam allowance to the pattern based on how you intend to assemble it. I've shown this pattern with 10mm allowance for overlocked seams (8mm to blade, 2mm off cut) and 10mm for fold over elastics.