Bella: FreeSewing's Bella Body Block
About Bella
Bella is a basic body block for people with breasts.
- 🤯🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵( difficulty = 3/5 )
- 🏷️blockstops( 2 tags )
- 🪡dartblock( 2 techniques )
- 📐Bella Incognito, Joost De Cock( designers )
- 🧑💻Joost De Cock( developer )
- 💡Sewing Instructions for Bella
- ✂️Generate a bespoke sewing pattern for Bella
- ❤️#FreeSewingBella( Hashtag for social media )
- Linedrawing
- Measurements
- Design Options
- Design Parts
- Armhole
- Armhole depth
Controls the depth of the armhole - Back armhole curvature
Controls how deep the armhole is scooped out at the back bottom - Back armhole pitch depth
Tweaks the horizontal placement of the back armhole pitch point - Back armhole slant
Slightly rotates the armhole around its pitch point - Front armhole curvature
Controls how deep the armhole is scooped out at the front bottom - Front armhole pitch depth
Tweaks the horizontal placement of the front armhole pitch point
- Armhole depth
- Darts
- Back dart height
Controls the height of the back dart - Bust dart angle
The angle of the bust dart - Bust dart curve
Controls the curvature of the bust dart - Bust dart length
Controls the length of the bust dart - Bust dart minimum fabric
The minimum amount of side seam above and below the bust dart - Waist dart curve
Controls the curvature of the waist dart - Waist dart length
Controls the length of the waist dart
- Back dart height
- Fit
- Bust span ease
Controls the amount of (horizontal) ease added to your bust span when locating the bust point. - Chest ease
Controls the amount of ease at the fullest part of your chest - Full chest ease reduction
Allows you to independently reduce the ease around the chest to make it fit tight(er) in that area - Shoulder to Shoulder ease
Controls the amount of ease between your shoulders. Initially set to -.5% because Bella implements a block that is used in the industry. - Waist ease
Controls the amount of ease at your waist
- Bust span ease
- Advanced
- Back hem slope
Controls the slope of the hem at the back - Back neck cutout
Controls how deep the neck opening is scooped out at at the back - Front shoulder width
Controls the narrowness of the front shoulders relative to the back - High bust width
Allows you to tweak the hight bust width at the front
- Back hem slope
| ID | Description |
|---|---|
bella.back | Back |
bella.frontSideDart | Front |
Designer Notes
This block was a collaboration between myself and an industry insider who prefers to remain anonymous because of her profession.
It is the parametric version of a base block for womenswear that is used in the industry in Italy to design womenswear. However, while the block will adapt to your measurements, the original block that it is based on is in really not suitable for a very wide sizing range.
So your mileage may very here, especially when you are further from the kind of skinny ladies Italians tend to design for.
See also this FAQ on womenswear blocks for more background info.
joost
What You Need
To make Bella, you will need the following:
- Basic sewing supplies
- About 0.5 metres (0.6 yards) of a suitable fabric (see Bella Fabric options)
This list is for a default Bella Block. If you have/are making changes to the block you may need to get additional items such as closures, binding etc.
Bella is a block, not a pattern
A block is a basic shape on which other patterns are based. They are sometimes also called slopers, although purists will argue that a block and a sloper are different things.
Blocks are typically not made as-is but rather serve as a basis for other patterns.
Fabric Options
If you are making a default Bella to see how it fits we recommend a fabric such as Calico (Muslin) or a cheaper fabric that matches the drape and stretch of the fabric you intend to make a finalised version of Bella with.
You can use scraps of fabrics from your stash so don't worry about buying fabric specifically for Bella.
Cutting Instructions
Main fabric
- Cut 1 Front part on the fold.
- Cut 2 Back parts.
These cutting instructions are just for the default Bella block. Adjust your cutting accordingly if you have/are making changes to the block.
If you do not have someone to help pin you into Bella then you may find it easier to Cut 2 Front parts with seam allowance and sew the backs up when constructing so you can pin in the front.