# Teach me to make patterns



## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

I've always wanted to be able to make my own patterns. Nowadays they're so expensive plus it would be nice to make patterns for dresses I like. 

If anybody knows where I should start I'd appreciate it. Since our internet is limited I cannot use youtube. 

TIA


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

Joshie

do you hhave some commercial patterns at your place? What i started is just take one that is closest to what you want to make. Take a piece from one pattern, and another piece from some other pattern, and a bit of paper or pellon between the two, and make lines match.

Once you've done that a little bit, then you can get the sleeve cap off an existing pattern, then sketch down to what you want the rest of the arm to look like.

Or get a solid basic pattern, slash it, add a big of seam allowance then cut of different colors and make a color blocked fabric, then place your pattern whole and cut it out.

As to making a pattern from a draft. I actually have the tools and almost never use them, I do the pattern pieces and sketching more.

Hope this gives you some ideas to start with.


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## Garnet (Sep 19, 2003)

A T top that fits the way you like is an easy first project, with simple setin sleeves.

I have used the least expensive, non-woven interfacing for tracing a pattern from a garment. here's how I do it.

Turn the T top inside out and lay it smoothly on the interfacing. Trace around the body, lifting the sleeve to trace the arm opening. Trace the neck back (top of ribbing for crew or faced opening.) Sketch the neck front, too.

Fold your IF pattern to establish a center fold line, holding it against a window. See how well the sides line up. If not perfect, choose a happy medium and mark that for your pattern. 

T shirts usually have a 1/4" seam allowance, and your traced pattern now includes that. Add an additional 1" at the bottom for a turn up hem.

For a crew neck, draw a cutting line 3/4" from the top of the crew that you traced - both back and front. 

For a faced neck, draw a line 1/4" above the top of the neck that you traced. This will be the cutting line, including 1/4" for seam allowance. Now you have to draft a facing pattern. Place another piece of IF on top of your pattern top and trace the cutting line of the neck back ... and the shoulder line out 2". Draw a line 2" from the neck back cutting line. This is the back facing piece. 

Place another piece of IF on top of your pattern top and trace the cutting line of the neck front ... and the shoulder line out 2". Draw a line 2" from the neck front cutting line. this is the front facing piece.

Lay the sleeve on another piece of IF and trace around the fold, hem, and seams, following the sleeve seam allowance carefully. Mark FOLD on the fold line. Add 1" to the hem. This is your sleeve pattern.

For a crew neck, you will need a strip of ribbing 2 1/2" wide. You have to measure the pattern neck and use shorter length. I would have to check on how to calculate that length, depending on the amount of stretch in the rib fabric. 

If you try this method, let us know how it works for you. I know there are T shirt patterns, but I have found the best success lifting a pattern from a garment I have worn and like. 

Good Luck with whatever you do for your first pattern project.


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## Garnet (Sep 19, 2003)

Why make your own patterns? Patterns are very expensive, and they are very trendy in ways that may quickly look dated. There was the era of football shoulders, which some of us could not use even with huge shoulderpads. There was the Aline era, with almost no shoulders. Now the set in sleeves are nipped really short, and many patterns have asymmetric lines and strange dart placements and necklines that look like designer mistakes.

Pattern sizes are not always dependable, and the measurements they do give may require pulling the pattern to find them on the envelope. The general size guides were not as good as the measurements printed on the major pattern piece - bust, hip waist. Those gave a good guide for which size or combination of sizes to use in a multisize pattern. But the patterns were showing up without those measurements.

The down side of pattern drafting is that it takes some patience and motivation to develop the skill. It has been worth it for me. A good pattern can give different looks with different fabrics and a detail of your own. There was a TV series with a lady who was a master of using one pattern for a wardrobe of garments. 

You will have to decide.

You just may not find a basic pattern. I went back to a pattern that was no longer in print that was close to what I wanted and did some modification. It is my best basic dress and always gets compliments. Comfortable and good for travel, too.

If you do find a really good pattern or draft one you like, hang on to it.


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## Garnet (Sep 19, 2003)

Scrub top pattern. I like scrub tops for casual work tops that don't look as wrinkled in the heat of summer. I have 2 that are ideal, a cap sleeve style and one with simple set in sleeves. I'm drafting patterns from each. They have V-necks with bands that will be a little tricky to duplicate. So I may just face them if I need to finish a top quickly. 

It takes some shopping to find a scrub in an attractive print; a lot are juvenile or seasonal. I have a stash of nice blouse prints, but didn't want to do button and buttonhole fronts. I have the skill to do that, but it's time consuming. I like the simplicity and look of a slipover top. So I am going to draft the scrub patterns and make up some of the blouse fabric that way.

The scrub tops are a good 4" longer than I need, so I can make a pattern adjustment for that.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

I used to make DH's vests from a pattern I made from his favorite. 
Basically, I just insided it out, traced it onto newsprint and made sure I had enough of a seam allowance. Same thing with decorative accents like the western yoke on it.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Can you take a class?


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## Garnet (Sep 19, 2003)

Pattern drafting is not readily available as a class. But take a look at this pin board to see if some of the directions and information here are what you are looking for.

http://www.pinterest.com/donnast99/all-things-pattern-drafting/

I once ran across a very good book by Adele P Margolis, I think, at a public library. Some years later I wanted to check it out again, and sadly it had been discarded. I have not been able to find it again.

Well, guess what. I decided to do a search on her name and got several results. So you may want to do a search yourself. 

I'm going back to check those results myself.


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## Garnet (Sep 19, 2003)

Ease

Patterns should be drafted with ease - some extra added to a body measurement to allow ease of movement and prevent binding, pulling, or gaping. A rule of thumb for pattern sizes 12-16 is 4" of ease for bust and hip measurements. About 1" for fitted waist.

Patterns used to be published with a small chart of finished garment measurements for all the sizes in a multisize pattern. Using a garment with a good fit, it was easy to measure the bust, waist, and hip and refer to the small chart to select the right size for your project.

Bottom width of blouse, jacket, skirt, and pant leg are other measurements that used to be included with patterns. I remember pattern catalogs having that information. Later, it became necessary to pull the pattern to find it. 

I remember making a semi tailored jacket that was too slim. That happened before I learned about the finished garment measurements. And before I knew to pin the pieces together and measure to see if I needed to go up a size from waist to hem ... if the measurements weren't available on the pattern.

Skirt and pants patterns vary; some are slimmer style than others. So it's a good idea to check for the amount of ease. 

The amount of stretch in the fabric can change the amount of ease needed.


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## Ms. D (Sep 30, 2007)

Save up your money and buy a copy of this text book. "Patternmaking for Fashion Design" by Helen Armstrong. It is a text for pattern drafting for the garment industry. If you can find an earlier edition, it could be cheaper. (suggest several family members contribute together for a Christmas or birthday gift) 

(In my opinion...and I'm very opinionated...this is the one and only text you will need for a lifetime of pattern adaptations for the home sewer. I have dozens of books for "home sewing" pattern drafting and all are lacking in one area or another. Each author has their own pet areas and none cover everything.) Note: This is a textbook for drafting for industry standards. It will show you how flat patterns are developed for hundreds of different clothing shapes. It will not deal with fitting problems. 

Pattern drafting and fitting go hand in hand for the home sewer. You are making a unique garment for a special person, you. Begin your work in pattern drafting by understanding your own fitting problems and changing the patterns you already have to make them fit for you.

Get yourself a full length mirror, a camera and a tripod. Well, at least the mirror...the camera and tripod is very unforgiving in judging yourself about fitting problems. (Nothing like a photo to make me run for the rice cakes and treadmill.) Make some of your tried and true patterns and look critically at yourself. Work on your own fitting problems.

Use that text book and draft yourself some personal slopers and begin by studying from the text book how different garment styles are catagorized. Example, SKIRTS: straight, a-line, drindl, gored, circle ect. Look at a catalog or fashion magazine and identify some of the garments using that textbook. Look and see how the garments are built up out of the individual style elements.

Start small....use one of your tried and true patterns and make changes. Draft a new collar, add a pocket, change the neckline. Use those slopers that you have drafted to fix fitting problems on patterns you already own.

Buying patterns can be an investment, instead of looking for the newest and the best. Some of the them are great builder patterns. Think about what you've already got. I have in my "standard starter" patterns a straight skirt, an A-line skirt, a plain blouse with gathered sleeve head, a woman's shirt, a sheath dress, a princess line dress, and a standard blazer. Some of these are decades old. I use them as a beginning point for my own drafts. 

This being said about buying patterns...be equally ruthless about your "disaster" patterns. Weed them out ruthlessly, regardless of cost. If you don't like them, they are too dated, badly drafted, or just plain awful....toss....TOSS....TOSSS!!! Nothing is worth holding on to that will waste time and fabric in your sewing future.

This is what I have done for decades. Recently, I've begun to draft completely from scratch. I started with a drindl skirt. It was three rectangles, but I had to get them to fit my very round middle-aged body.  I moved on to a circle skirt with a curved waistband. I'm happy enough with that project to do it a second time in a fall fabric. http://needlewomanswork.blogspot.be/

HTH. Ms. D


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## Garnet (Sep 19, 2003)

TFS Ms. D. Lots of good information and tips.


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