V4 Ease Percentages and what is Proportional Ease!
This is a very kewl feature and may be misunderstood!!!
For a while it was thought not to release this information as it will create numerous requests of why doesn�t it exactly add up at all body points.
I am convinced that Dress Shop users are very intelligent people and if given the reason can work this out to their great satisfaction.
If you are having trouble with this contact me directly and Ill try and help you by email.
BUT.. before writing me en masse do try it and see your results then make minor changes on the sewing options pages to get exactly the results you want.
Hidden ease is the DESIGN ease.. that which takes the garment from a basic block or sloper to the silhouette you have chosen. Only now its not HIDDEN any more.. you can pretty easily figure out by using the percentage table what was added!!!!
The WEAR ease is what you can add or subtract on the sewing options page.
Proportional ease is something that has been around for a while but the only software making use of it is Dress Shop!!!
A woman who is a petite size 5 and one of our super sized beautiful gals need varying amounts of ease at key body points.
The gal with 36 inch hips needs just a few inches maximum in a straight skirt at the hips.. where the gal with 50+ inches hips is going to �spread� more and will need more sitting ease.
Makes sense doesn�t it?!!
So why put in 2 inches as a default at the hips...??? Well, Annette and Bob didnt! .. they used a percentage of the hip and you get better results.
The gal with 36� hips will get at 10% a total of 3.6 inches half of which will go to the front pattern half to the back.
Where the gal with say 54 inches hips at 10% is going to get a total of 5.40 inches half to the front and half to the back!
This ease is currently being applied 50% to the front and 50 % to the back. ( this may change slightly in the future giving a bit more to the back than front.. you will be advised via the discussion list, from the LivingSoft update page and/or from my own pages..
So this is an attempt to make it the chart more clear . IF you understand the dynamics behind it you will quickly understand what it�s doing and can get the results you want. EVEN FOR PICKY PEOPLE!!!!
You will find in your user manual an EASE Percentage Chart and its very straight forward.(it is also copied below!)
Then some of you are going to print a bodice and measure the key points and find different results from a straight up computation.
It SAYS 10% was added to the waist on the unfitted shirt.. I know my waist is 30 inches that means add 3 and get 33 inches. WHY isn�t it measuring a total of 33 inches front and back???!!!
Why.. the program is smart..really really smart te hee.. !
When we have a fitted garment.. ie. the basic bodice or the fitted shirt or even the princess dress.. the side seam line will wave in and out for the waist area.. darts also add to the total width dimension of the printed flat pattern. and will get taken in during construction giving you the shaping.
The side seam line will be smoothed so in some areas it may be slightly more ease on the final pattern than is indicated by simply measuring the around body at that point plus ease as calculated by the percentage.
When we have an unfitted garment.. ie shell, unfitted shirt, A line dress, boxy blazer the side seam line drafts from the widest UPPER torso position plus ease to the widest LOWER torso position plus ease in a straight or angled straight line. This means it CAN and does ignore the intermediate measuring points cause its has already figured out the widest upper body and widest lower body points!
It will NOT be narrower than a measurement on your chart along the way cause it already chose the largest!
But when it says 10% has been added to your 30 inch waist.. instead of 33 it will be somewhere between the bust plus ease angled side seam line and the hip plus ease point...if those are the widest upper and lower torso measurements.
Fronts and backs draft separately.
This does mean that some truing at the side seam to reflect the difference in shapes with those who have a rounder front than back or vice versa.
I suggest truing to the wider shape in general.
I also suggest truing the hem... because straight side seams use a straight hem.. but angled side seams require an CURVED hem.
Since the front and back draft according to the measurements set forth for that size and SHAPE.. the front may be curved slightly and the back straight.. to get the garment to hang and hem right you need to true the hem! A very small micro alteration with a pencil for incredible results! ( Even I cant find room to complain about that!!!)
Have fun!!!!
KAARen
[email protected]
� 2001 Kaaren Hoback, Dryden, New York