I recently received a request to make a bamboo-bodice -tutorial. That fits perfectly in my latest theme: TR-cutting. As I’ve said before, you can find a bamboo-bodice also in the Pattern Magic -series, but I prefer Shingo Sato’s version.
Bamboo-bodice is an origami-technique that you can develop further into all kinds of different designs. In my previous post I added many pictures of origami-designs I’ve made if you want some inspiration.
https://www.theshapesoffabric.com/2018/06/04/after-masterclass/
As usual, it takes some time to prepare the pattern. More folds you want, more time it’ll take.
I was actually going to add a few videos to this tutorial, too, but in the end the files were too large for my blog! So you get a ton of pictures instead. Anyways, this is the resulting bodice.
Bamboo-bodice pattern
The starting point is a basic bodice like this. You’ll need the whole front-piece. It’ll be easier to make a symmetrical design if you draw the central-line. Cut the pattern-piece following the edges.
Draw lines where you want the folds to go. Two of them will stop at the dart-points, the others must reach the edge of the bodice.
Now you’ll need to add volume to each line so that you can fold them. Think of the folds as if they’re darts. They even have the same shape.
In this case, you start at the bottom. Cut the first bit, reaching the dart-point and close the dart.
This is kind of like moving the dart. Add some paper underneath the hole you created and close the new dart, folding it upwards to cut off extra paper from the waist-line. Lengthen the following line so that it reaches the middle of the dart. You should have something like this now:
Here’s how you make the second cut to reach the remaining dart-point.
Close the dart and fill the hole, leaving some extra paper.
To get the right shape, close the new dart and look at this picture (too difficult to explain by words!)
The result.
The next cut goes like this.
Now you get to decide the size of the fold. I added 8cm here.
Continue like this to finish adding all the folds. Just remember to always do the folds upwards. In the end your pattern will look like this. If you made smaller folds, it won’t be so wide.
Sewing the bamboo-bodice
Don’t add any seam-allowance in the middle, where the origami-folds are. Cut the fabric carefully, following the exact shape of the edge because that’ll be an important reference-point. Clip also the ending-points of the folds at the outer-edge. Here’s my bamboo-bodice right after cutting it. I marked the points I clipped. What a mess, right?
Don’t worry. With the help of your pattern, you’ll be able to put it together! So keep it at hand and use it when needed to see where you’re going. You just have to close all the folds again, in reverse order.
So, start by finding the reference-points of the last fold and close it.
Flip the following fold over it, matching the edges, and stitch. This will fix the first fold in place.
Close the second fold following the reference-points and stitch it in place the same way you did the one before.
Continue like this to finish all the folds. You’ll see the bodice starting to take the right shape as you go on. This is how it looks like when you’re done:
Other ideas
Just to give you some ideas to try next.
You might like to use two different colors or -textures.
This means you must split the pattern in two:
The bamboo-bodice can also be done in the other direction. The folds go downwards.
It doesn’t have to be a bodice. Here’s a sleeve.
I hope you enjoyed the tutorial. I’m always open for suggestions, so if there’s some topic you’d want me to write about, just send me a message!
39 Comments
Are we actually supposed to fill the spaces with extra fabrics? I am confused and I think a video will do me more good.
You fill the spaces with paper when preparing the pattern and then cut the fabric in the final shape with the help of the pattern. You can try searching “bamboo bodice” from youtube. I’m sure there are some videos that might help. 🙂
Excellent
This is amazing…you explained it so well. I can’t wait to try it!
Thanks! Have fun! 🙂
Very nice and helpful for me ,i always want to learn creative patternmaking like this .thank you .
You’re welcome! 🙂
Great crafts
من از شما بابت اموزشتون ممنونم
دوست دارم هر چ جدید است یاد بگیرم و از یاد گیری بامبو و اوریگامی لذت میبرم
منرا راهنمایی کنید
چگونه الگوی یقهای اوریگامی را بیاموزم
🥰کدام سایت بروم
You’re welcome. 🙂 You should definitely check out Shingo Sato and his TR Cutting School for origami patterns.
Hi, thanks so much for the tutorial. First, could you recommend a simple bodice pattern to start with? And second, do you have a sense of how much fabric one will need to sew the bamboo bodice (say, for a 36” bust)?
You’re welcome. 🙂 There are various ways to draft the basic bodice pattern. In fact each book has their own method. Many people seem to recommend the Metric Pattern Cutting for Women’s wear by Winifred Aldrich and Patternmaking for fashion design by Helen Joseph Armstrong (uses inches). The bamboo bodice pattern is quite wide, so you’ll probably need about twice the height of the bodice-measurement: the front- and back pieces won’t fit one next to the other on the fabric. But once you have the pattern, you can easily calculate how much fabric you’ll need. I usually always draft the pattern before buying fabric. 🙂
Absolutely FANTASTIC explanation!!! Thank you!!!
You’re welcome! 🙂
Lovely… Got lots to learn
Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed the tutorial. 🙂
Thanks for your explanation. Please when preparing my bodice to create my pattern how much dart do I need to take out
You’re welcome. 🙂 you mean the darts of the basic bodice? It depends on how fitted you want the piece to be. if you follow the instructions on how to draft the basic bodice (in whichever patternmaking book you’re using), it says how many cm to take out with the darts, but you can adjust it yourself, too. in case you mean the “bamboo darts” you insert after, you could try 6-8cm. I hope I managed to explain everything.
Hi. Your explanation is a 100%! Thank you so much! I actually just finished making my first bamboo bodice pattern following your instructions thoroughly and I sit here very proud?. Can’t wait to sew it and see…
That’s awesome! Well done! Proud of you, too. 🙂
Hi
This tutorial looks great and I’d love to try it. I thought I could use your basic bodice tutorial to make the bodice for the starting point. But in the basic bodice you have indicate a 3 cm dart at the wait, and also a shoulder dart. It seem like the darts in your starting bodice in this tutorial is quite a bit wider than 3 cm? And what do you do about shoulder darts, do you just fill them in? Thank you so much for these great guides.
Happy holidays 🙂
Hello Tina. 🙂 You can unite the shoulder dart to the waist dart, so together they will make one bigger dart. Check out my Dart manipulation tutorial to see how to do that. Happy holidays for you too. 🙂
Thank you for your response! That is what I did, I moved the shoulder dart and joined it with the waist dart. I made a toile bodice to check the fit of the basic bodice before I expanded the pattern as you have shown in this guide. (and then made a new toile test) The top folds work well. But when I try on the bodice, the two bottom folds dont stay in place, but gape open exposing the seam. Do you have any idea why that happens? Maybe this is a pattern that works best for small-chested women?
Yeah, I can see how large bust might cause problems here. I think you need to just close the bottom folds completely by sewing. Another thing that comes to my mind is that the gaping has to do with the bodice being too fitted. Maybe you could try leaving it a bit larger?
Excellent! Please there is a challenge am having drafting pattern, for plus size with bust 116cm and chest 38cm.
What kind of challenge? In the end you can distribute the bamboo lines in various different ways. Whatever looks good on your bodice pattern. Or do you have a big bust dart? I think that might be a problem for this design, as it works best with a rather flat figure, or anyways less curvy. 🙁 Have you tried making the bamboo lines in the opposite direction?
This is fantastic! Thank you. I’d like to make it hip length. What shall I do with the lower darts? Thanks for your help!
Hi! I’m glad you find it helpful. 🙂 Well, the easiest way would be to first draw the basic bodice only up to the waistline and rotate the bust dart to the side so that it isn’t where you’ll draw the bamboo lines. Then continue free-hand, drawing the side seam until you reach the hip line. This way you won’t have lower darts. Just make sure you add enough width to fit the hips. It would also be better to not make the waist too tight, otherwise there’ll be too much difference between the waist and hips and without the lower darts the bodice will pull towards the sides. When I have time, I can try making one with the lower darts included and post it either here or on Instagram.
Many thanks for the response and your kind offer! I look forward to the new post with lower darts included:)
Thank u so much ma, have been looking forward for d pattern before now thank u once again .pls can u recommend books on bamboo n TR cutting.
You’re welcome. 🙂 I don’t think there are many books on bamboo and TR cutting. Just the ones Shingo Sato wrote himself, but I’m not sure if they are available anymore. Last time I checked they were not selling. Pattern Magic -books have similar techniques and they are easy to find, so check those out, too.
Goodness remains no matter how long. I’m here reading in 2021 and it’s absolutely amazing. I understood it, I love it and I’m going to try it. Thank you so much. God bless you
Thank you! 🙂 Yeah, I made this tutorial quite a few years ago. I’m glad that it continues being useful.
Hi this has been so invaluable in helping me! How do you finish the back as I’ve got raw edges ?
I’d simply create a lining to cover the wrong side completely. It would be too much of a hassle to finish the seam allowances separately. 🙂
there’s a great tuturial here showing Shingo in action
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARk-S4QdAuU
It’s always great to see Shingo’s videos. 🙂
Tesoro mio!!!!!, gracias por existir, en algún lugar dices que en las redes se habla mucho sobre los dardos y, si, es verdad, pero hasta ahora, en los leídos, me quedaban grandes lagunas al punto que no me atrevía a cortar, contigo se me ha abierto todo un horizonte. Muy agradecida, en deuda, desde Cuba. Clio
Thank you so much for your lovely comment. 🙂 I’m very pleased that my tutorial managed to clear your doubts on the subject.