Start from a basic dress block without shoulder darts (with or without waist darts is not important as we’ll not use them). Wearing ease should be at least 10cm on bust, not important at waist, 4cm at hips.*

*Our method for drafting perfectly made to measure basic blocks, choosing wearing ease and for fitting them is included in our basic blocks course/module 1.

Measure front and back waist length and find the average, then use this measurement to find new high point shoulder on both back and front (their length should be identical). Square a perpendicular to center front and back.

Now adjust dress length to the measurement you want (here we made it ground length) and add 4 to 7cm at sides, all the way from hemline to armpit level. The more flowy your fabric, the more cm you can add 😉

Trace also a copy of your basic sleeve, lengthen it by 5 to 8cm and square down from armpit to hemline for a wide style – then we’ll create a cuff to gather the sleeve.

Again on upper part of the dress:

• on both back and front, draw a slanted line (marked in green) dropping 2cm from the red horizontal line at 20cm span from center back and front. This will give the slope for shoulder lines and sleeves
• on back, widen neckline by 3 to 5cm and drop 3 to 6cm from nape point, draw the new neckline (purple line)
• on front, widen neckline as done on back and draw a V neckline to waist level or 2cm below it (purple line).