The Sloper Dialog
 
Once you have taken your body measurements, you are ready to use the Sloper dialog. This is accessed through the Sloper menu. You can either create a new sloper or you can edit an existing one. There are three levels at which you can work and these relate to the number of measurements you use. Your three options are:

• The Simple-Fit sloper which requires 12 measurements.
  
  
• The complete Refined-Fit sloper which requires 36 measurements.
  
  
• The Refined-Fit sloper in which you pick and choose which custom measurements you want to add. You may use between 12 and 36 measurements in this mode and you may choose which ones you want, according to your body's shape and needs, and according to the complexity of the pattern.
  

 
You may move back and forth between a Simple-Fit and Refined-Fit sloper. This allows you the freedom to design some patterns where symmetry exists in the pattern pieces, and thus the garments are simpler to design and construct. Then, with the next project, you may choose to customize the pattern more precisely to your body shape.
 
To explore the sloper, let's begin by choosing a Women's Standard Size 10 sloper and view the measurements in the Simple Fit dialog box.

1. Select Misses Size 10 from the Standard Size pop-up menus.
   
   
2. Go to the Sloper menu and choose the Edit command. The Simple-Fit sloper dialog will open and you will see the 12 measurements used for a Simple-Fit sloper. Each measurement appears in a rectangle called a field. You may edit any of these measurements. Simply place your cursor into the field and double-click to select the text (numbers) that exists. The text should highlight, which means it's ready to be edited. If you type a new number, it will overwrite the old instantly.
   
   
3. Now, click on the Switch to Refined Fit button that appears in the lower right corner of the dialog window. This will move you into the Refined-Fit mode of the Sloper dialog.
   

Compare the two dialogs above to see the initial differences between the two sloper modes. You will see that there are several new elements that have appeared in the Refined-Fit Sloper dialog. Let's explore the check boxes dialog buttons.