Half breast contour

Half contour measured around the widest part of the upper trunk. It passes over the nipples.

This measurement crosses the sagittal plane that divides the human body into two symmetrical halves. Pattern making only considers one of the two parts of the body. That is why we will only take half of the dimension of this measurement.

This measurement is the main measurement of the upper garments, all patterns are based on it

The half tripartite  breast contour

We can break down the measurement into three measurements.

We start measuring in the middle of the back, above the spine, to return at the end to the same point. We will pass through the widest part of the upper trunk, taking the nipples as a reference. The arms are above the tape measure.

The tripartite chest contour is taken in the same way, but we note the point where the tape measure disappears under the arm and the point where the tape is visible again.

The upper garments are generally open at the front and have two holes to let the arms through, which are the armholes. The three parts of the tripartite measurement have to do with the armhole.

The first measurement is the distance between the spine and the place where we find the arm: therefore the distance of the back.

The second measurement is the part of the tape that is under the arm. This second measurement is the armhole width.

The third is the rest of the half contour. This measurement represents the width of the front.

The tripartite breast contour as a generator of pattern pieces

In tailoring, a jacket have two pieces: back and the front ones. The front piece includes the armhole.

Many upper garments have three pieces: the back, the armhole piece, which we call the side piece, and the rest of the front, which we call the front piece.

The tripartite measurement helps the good distribution of the pieces widths in the total width of the breast contour because it regulates the horizontal conformations of the breast.

 

It makes the width reserved for the armhole and therefore for the side piece move inside the width of the pattern, regulating exactly the back and front part.

 

In fact, the width of the back piece refers to the half back width measurement from the mid-back seam to the vertical line where begins the armhole. But from this line, which is called the seside line, the second and third measurements of the tripartite contour are applied.

The armhole rectangle width can be measured directly with millimetered L-squares or by taking the proportion of the bicep contour.

The distribution of the parts of the breast contour is very important to give comfort to the garments of male morphology.

However, it is essential in female morphology garments due to the development of the breast which is located in the front part, after the armhole.

Breast contour and corset breast contour

In the female morphology there is a variation of the breast contour that is of relevance as a check for corset garments.

The breast contour takes the distance between the nipples so it does not take the whole breast development.

The corset contour, between the two nipples, follows the shape of the breast and rests on top of the sternum. Therefore, it has a longer length.

 

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