It has been a long time since my last post – life has been super busy with a few business trips and a couple of family birthdays. However, that is not to say that I have not been busy on the sewing front. I have squeezed in the odd hour and afternoon here and there when I can. After my miserable experience with the Colette Peony I decided to go back to basics. One of the things I enjoy most in the whole process of sewing my own clothes is drafting my own patterns. Instead of fiddling endlessly with a pattern in order to get a good fit which usually entails at least two if not three muslins I wanted to increase my chances of success with drafting from a basic block which I know fits me well. It also made me realise that this is the direction I wanted to take my blog i.e. focus on pattern drafting and showing anyone who is interested in how to manipulate patterns to get the design elements they want. Now I do not profess to be an expert in any shape or fashion but perhaps my journey may inspire others to get on the bandwagon and start creating their own patterns. For one thing think of all the money you would save!
To that end I want to firstly, recommend my pattern creation bibles:
The first is Winifred Aldrich’s Metric Cutting for Womenswear – this book is quite expensive at £27.29 on Amazon but the tutor who gave me my first pattern drafting lessons told me that this was the standard text book for college fashion courses.
The book shows you how to measure yourself and then take those measurements to draft your basic blocks – there are easy fitting blocks, close fitting blocks, jacket and coat blocks as well as trouser blocks you can draft from your own measurements. I started with the basic skirt block:
From these blocks the book also shows you how to manipulate the basic block for other designs:
I made 2 skirts from this block which I will blog about separately. I also drafted out the close fitting bodice block and made a muslin:
They are not quite perfect – I need to take the waist dart down about half an inch and release it slightly but other than that I was quite pleased with the first go at it. It is certainly better than the peony muslin attempt!
The other book is Make Your Own Dress Patterns by Adele Margolis and is a bit cheaper on Amazon at £10.00:
This book doesn’t tell you how to draft a basic block but it does show you some good ideas on how to manipulate your pattern to get the results you want. The book was written in the 80′s but still has some ideas that could be applied to today’s patterns. You can also take these ideas and use them on a commercial pattern if you wish and this is probably the basis of this book.
I have other books on pattern drafting but these are the two that I use the most and which I find most useful. I would be interested to hear if anyone else drafts their own patterns and can recommend resources or tips.
Oh, Gilly, I’m so happy you made this post!! I’ve done *some* pattern drafting because I took a course at TAFE on making a skirt block. I’m super happy with it and use it all the time! I don’t have a bodice block though, the main stumbling block is fitting the sloper on myself. I also have found that pattern drafting is very satisfying, and once you have a good set of blocks (skirt, bodice, sleeve)…you’re golden! I plan on taking the bodice block course, where the teacher fits you and makes it with you and you end up with a block to take home. Your muslin fit wayyyyy better than the Peony ever did, so very well done. You must be over the moon!! I have “Make your own Sewing Patterns” By Donald McCunn (which I find great) and Harriett Pippen’s Moden Pattern Design (you can find a link to a pdf on my blog).
Sorry Kat – for some reason my reply has been posted as a separate comment! See below
I so agree with you on having the basic blocks. I honestly don’t think there would be many patterns you would want or need to buy once you have those. Fitting yourself is an absolute nightmare. Taking photos is a really good idea. However once you have those blocks there is really no need to do muslins unless you are a bit nervous about the pattern. Putting that bodice together took me less time than all the fanning around with the peony! The only thing I wish for is a sewing buddy who is local where we can do mutual fitting sessions. I went to the Sewing for Pleasure expo last year at the NEC and watched a fabulous tutor make a pattern out of cling film. I am going to give it a go and put up a post as it was fantastic. I can see the glint in Steve’s eye when I bound into the lounge with a roll of cling film and tell him I am going to take my clothes off and I want him to cover me in cling film and take photos!