Beginners Pattern Drafting Info, design and pattern cutting, Pattern Cutting Techniques

Shaping darts on a draft without cutting out

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Mirroring Darts Technique

It’s time consuming to keep cutting and tracing a pattern you have drafted, but that’s what a lot of pattern cutter do to get the correct dart shape at the mouth of the dart. If the dart ‘top’ or mouth is not correctly shaped, this can lead to the garment pulling and tightening for a dart that has too little shaping, or the dart will bulge for darts that have too much fabric at the mouth shaping.

It is important that the upper edge of the dart is in line with the fabric on the side it is folded to.

I have worked with people that fold their darts both ways, for example towards side seams or towards center front or center back. I always fold my darts towards center front or center back.

Here is my method for planning the correct shape at the dart mouth without having to cut out the paper and fold the dart.

  1. Extend a mirror line up from the dart leg on the side you want to fold to – this line is simply a continuation of the dart ‘leg’ line.
  2. Use this line to mirror the curve or angle of the line of the pattern in the direction the dart is to be folded, the blue line in this example is a mirror of the shoulder line to the left.
  3. Draw a center line up the middle of the dart until it touches the mirrored line.
  4. Now draw in the rest of the dart shape at the mouth  by connecting the intersection of the mirror line to the right dart leg.

This technique can be used on any dart.

Want to know more about darts? I have a booklet just on dart theory!

Hope this saves your precious time!

Nicola

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design and pattern cutting, Pattern Cutting Techniques

Understanding Circular Skirts – Be More Creative!

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Circular Skirts – Making the most of your pattern

Circular skirts are wonderful garments, quite simple in one way, but quite complex in others. The simplicity of the final garment and its wonderful folds of fullness at the hem disguise the mathematical calculations of Pi and the complexities of dealing with the varying behaviours of the fabric grain.

The garment utilises all the advantages and disadvantages of the warp, weft and bias grain, each fabric you choose will give you a different silhouette and form different folds.

Whether you have drafted your own circular skirt pattern, or whether you have one of my patterns sheets, the information below will help you understand and make the most of your skirt.

A PDF instant download of my full circle skirt and a fully illustrated sew along can be found here:

Full Circle Skirt PDF Version

Physical Full Circle Skirt Block Sheet Size  ( There is also an option for a half circle version in this listing)

I also offer a bespoke made to measure circle skirt service if you would like a skirt pattern made to your own waist measurement for just ten pounds per draft! The skirt will be e-mailed to you as a PDF file for you to print at home.

GRAIN LINE EXPLANATION:

Due to the nature of a circular skirt pattern piece, the pattern section encompasses all the grains within the fabric, that is the straight grain, the cross grain and the bias grain.

The three alternative grainlines illustrated below will each give the skirt a different appearance in terms of where the folds of fullness appear.

  • GRAINLINE 1 – has two major points of fullness, one to the side of
    the center front and one at the side seam in each quarter section.
  • GRAINLINE 2- one main area of fullness between center front and
    side seam in each quarter section
  • GRAINLINE 3-has three points of fullness, at the front, the middle
    and the side in each quarter section.

I hope this has helped you understand and also make the most of your circular skirt!

Nicola x

Please feel free to ask me any questions!

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Beginners Pattern Drafting Info, design and pattern cutting, Pattern Cutting Techniques

How do I Increase or Decrease Sleeve Head Ease?

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What is sleeve head ease?

Sleeve head ease is the difference between the armhole measurement and the sleeve itself. The sleeve can never be smaller than the armhole, it can be the same size and contain no ease at all, or it can be larger. The difference between the two is the quantity of sleeve head ease. Leather patterns require no ease at all while woven wool garments require a substantial quantity of ease in this area.

Do I need ease in my sleeve?

Firstly there is a lot of discussion out there about sleeve head or sleeve cap ease. Some ask the question – Is it needed at all?

Many believe that it is needed and that around 4 cm (almost 2 inches) ease in a sleeve head is required for a basic block (for a basic size 12 UK / 8 USA). For a regular woven loose fit shirt the ease in a sleeve head can be anything from no ease at all to up to 6 cm. Around 4.5 cm is usual on a fitted blouse (for a basic size 12 UK).

In an industrial setting minimal ease is added in order to make inserting the sleeve easier and faster but this does compromise the fit. The large the size the more ease you require to enable the sleeve to hang correctly and not be too tight over the bicep. Older people require more ease than younger people.

I have studied many a pattern and block pattern draft and the quantity of ease allowed varies widely from pattern to pattern and from block to block.

I was taught that ease in the sleeve head allows the sleeve to hang as a tube and improves the appearance of the sleeve around the bicep line. There are in fact many factors that influence the quantity of ease. Instead of discussing the ease or no ease debate, lets take a look at how to increase the quantity of ease there is in your sleeve head, or decrease the amount. You then have the skills to make your own choice! It is far better to start with more ease than you need and take out the extra than be in a position where you have too little ease and the sleeve is tight and has pull lines over the top of the arm.

Ease in a sleeve head should be planned over the crown of the sleeve, above the notches.

The sections from the underarm to the notches on the sleeve, usually 1 notch at the front and 2 at the back, should fit to the armhole perfectly as illustrated below. All the ease should be above the notches at the crown.

Increasing or decreasing the quantity of ease in the sleeve head.

The first step for both methods is the same – slash in across the bicep line and up the center line, keep attached at the underarm points. Either close out to reduce sleeve head ease by dropping the left and right sleeve head sections down slightly, or to increase sleeve head ease, open up the sections.

Now trace the new sleeve shape, check and transfer the notches to the new sleeve.

There are other methods of doing this, but I have found this one works the best for me. This method allows the width of the sleeve to remain the same, whilst reducing the ease through the crown height.

Keep posted for my upcoming post on the best way to ease the sleeve into the armhole.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

I hope this has helped.

Happy pattern drafting,

Nicola x

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Beginners Pattern Drafting Info, Pattern Cutting Techniques

Making a Basic Shirt or Casual Dress Block From the Fitted Bodice Block

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Today we are going to take a look at how to make a basic blouse block or a casual dress block, from a basic bodice bock. The dress block would be suitable for unstructured and looser shirt style dresses. If you are looking for a fitted dress then I would recommend using a dedicated fitted dress block.

Step One – Prepare the front bodice block

We need to adapt the front bodice a little before we begin the draft. The basic bodice has a great deal of suppression (dart) at the front shoulder, to accommodate the bust. As we are producing a looser, casual block we can eliminate some of that dart.

  1.  First measure the amount of suppression in the back shoulder blade dart, make a note of this.
  2. Mark in a new dart position at the front armhole – about 4 cm along from the underarm point as shown.
  3. Slash along this line and close out the front shoulder dart, leave the same quantity you measured in the back shoulder blade dart or just over 1 cm (3/8″). This dart can be left as ease at the shoulder and ignored.

 

4. Place the front and back bodice blocks on a sheet of paper side by side – line up at the underarm points.

 

5. Drop a straight line from the center front 21 cm (8 1/4″) to form a new hip line – square across and up to the center back.

6. Drop each armhole point by 1 cm and extend out by 1 cm. Drop vertical lines parallel to CF and CB from these new points to touch the hip line. Draw in new armhole curves.

At this point you can decide if you would like to keep the front armhole dart, for a more fitted look, or if you would like to allow the dart to be absorbed into the armhole shaping to create a looser style.

7. Measure up from the hip line 21 cm (8 1/4″) and square out each side of this point. Measure in from the vertical side seam – Purple line- 2.5 cm each side. Create the new side seam shape as shown with the orange line. Curve gently at the side seam so the shape is not so severe.

8. To create the fish darts, drop a line from the bust point, and extend this line 10 cm below the waist level. Make the dart 2.5 cm wide at the waist level and complete the shape of the dart.

9. For the back fish dart extend a line 13 cm below the waist level and make this dart 2 cm wide at the waist. Join the lines to form the fish dart.

10. Trace off each block from the main draft and transfer all the pattern marking and notches.

Now on to the sleeve…

  1. Trace your sleeve block and measure the sleeve head – assess the front and back measurements.
  2. Also measure your new armholes. If you chose to leave the dart as ease in the armhole then the front armhole will be larger. In this example I have chosen to still sew the dart in to gain a little more shaping over the bust so I will not measure the dart mouth.

At this point in the draft it all depends how much ease there was originally in your sleeve head and if you are sewing in the armhole dart at the front or leaving it as ease.

What we need to achieve here is a sleeve head that fits into the armhole. If the sleeve head is slightly bigger than the armhole then this is fine as the excess can be eased in over the sleeve head.

If the sleeve is smaller than the armhole then there are a couple of adaptations we can make to add in the extra.

We can extend the sleeve out at the scye line, as demonstrated below to add in some extra.

The notches will need to be re-positioned if you do this. From the underarm point on the bodice front (red line) to the single notch must match the underarm point on the sleeve to the first notch exactly. Ease is not added here. At the back the green portions must match also – up to the double notch. All ease is inserted over the crown on the sleeve.

If you need to add more ease into the sleeve again and want a flatter sleeve head the following method is also suitable, particularly if you have chosen not to sew in the armhole dart in the front bodice.

Slash up the center of the sleeve and across to each underarm point, spread the sleeve put and allow the crown to collapse down as shown. Trace the new sleeve shape, measuring the notches as previously shown.

Making this draft into a dress

If you want to use this draft as a shirt style dress then its quite simple – just add a rectangle below the hip line on both the front and back!

When I get a moment I will make up this draft as a toile and pop the photos on.

I hope this helps you make the very most of your bodice block!

Nicola x

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Beginners Pattern Drafting Info, Pattern Cutting Techniques

Fitting Lines & Button Stands

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Understanding Fitting Lines

Firstly – what is a fitting line? A fitting line is anywhere where a pattern closes, with a closure, for example a zip, or a button stand. It is very important to maintain the fit of the garment, when adding a zip or button stand or any other type of closure. For example the center front of the pattern must still close to the opposite center front line. Fitting lines can be anywhere on a garment, the most common place is center front or center back and sleeve cuff openings, but they can be placed anywhere at all on a garment.

A common mistake that pattern cutters and sewers make in that they apply a zip or button stand and don’t take note of the exact fitting line.

Let’s look at an example:

An open ended zip inserted into the center front skirt –

The skirt must end up being the same width it is when placed as shown below with the CF to the CF after the zip or button stand has been added.

If the finished zip width, for example 0.5 cm (3/16″), is not subtracted from the pattern at the center front, then the skirt will be that width bigger and will not fit perfectly.

It may seem obvious, but it’s a mistake I have seen many times.

Let’s look at a shirt example…

A shirt may have a button stand added to the center front to close the garment. When a pattern cutter adds a button stand, it is important that the center front of the garment still meets, so center front still needs to close to center front.

Button stands need a little planning and thought. The button ideally will need to be measured before the button stand is planned. Also a decision as to which way the button holes will be placed on the button stand needs to be made, that is will they be vertical or horizontal. Horizontal button holes are stronger, however the design of the garment may call for vertical button holes for example plackets have vertical button holes.

Buttons are also required at stress points, so for example over the bust, it’s quite common to see a blouse where the front gapes on the wearer, this is due to poor planning of button locations, or the blouse is too small! Buttons are also placed at the waistline of a garment.

Buttons should always be placed a buttons width down from the neckline of a garment to begin with.

Buttons will always sit in the last 3 millimetres (1/8th of an inch) of a button hole.

To calculate the size of the button hole required for a particular button

Measure the button and add 3 mm (1/8th inch) for a button of normal depth. Increase this for thicker buttons. Always make a test button hole on a scrap of fabric to test the size first before sewing the button holes on the garment.

Wrapping Directions

Ladies garments have the buttons on the left side and the button holes on the right side. Men have the opposite.

Ladies wrap RIGHT over LEFT.

It can be a little confusing with jeans as some brands have ladies zips wrapping in the wrong direction, this is because they have their production set up to make both men’s and ladies jeans and they don’t change their machinery.

Let’s look at a button stand close up…

Important points:

  • The first button hole is a buttons width down from the neck
  • The button stand is the same width as the button used
  • Button Holes are planned 3 mm over the center front as the button will sit in the last 3 mm
  • Buttons are sewn directly to the center front
  • Button stands require fusible interfacing for strength

Place a cross where the button sits ( in the last 3 mm of the button hole) The button hole is marked as a line with a bar at each end. The button placement cross’s are marked directly on the center front line.

As you can see the right and left side of the pattern are exactly the same. The only difference is the placement of the markings for button holes on the right hand side and the placement of the cross marks for the button placement on the left hand side of the pattern.

I could write a book on this topic, but I have to stop somewhere, I hope this little bit of clarification helps. I will be adding more information on this topic in the form of different methods for buttons stands and plackets and how to construct the patterns.

Happy Pattern Making!

Nicola

 

 

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Beginners Pattern Drafting Info, design and pattern cutting, Pattern Cutting Techniques

Work Flow for creating a pattern from a basic block

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New pattern cutters have the advantage of adopting good working practices right from the start. If you can adapt to follow this process your work flow will be smooth and you will save time.

  1. Trace the relevant block onto your pattern paper – use plain white tracing paper or spot and cross paper  Follow the links for a supplier that will post starter pattern cutting paper packs all over the world !
  2. Transfer all grain lines and construction lines such as hip line, dart lines, notches etc.
  3. Make any changes to the shape of the basic block first, for example adding more flare or moving darts. More paper can always be taped on to extend the first draft.
  4. Plan any new seam lines on the draft. Take care not to plan seam lines unevenly over darts. You can move darts to a temporary position if they are in the way, or measure carefully across the dart as shown in the images below.
  5. Mark each pattern section on the draft with a grain line, add balance marks and notches and any special instructions.
  6. Plan and draft button stands, now draft any off parts such as collars and cuffs.
  7. Plan facing lines, facings are best produced from the final pattern sections but they can be planned now.
  8. Trace each pattern piece off the main draft- never cut the main draft up!
  9. Add seam allowance – only when you are certain you have completed your pattern, adding seam allowance is the last thing you do. See my post on suggested seam allowance quantities.
  10. Label the pattern, see my post on labelling your pattern.
  11. Finally cut out your first pattern – you are ready to test your pattern with a toile.

If you plan across without measuring, the pattern piece you trace off will not be correct, as illustrated below. This is a common mistake people make and it results in an ill fitting pattern.

Planning across a dart results in a jagged pattern piece!

I hope this helps.

Happy pattern drafting,

Nicola

 

 

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Beginners Pattern Drafting Info, Pattern Cutting Techniques

Pattern Language – Abbreviations you may come across

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As with any hobby or subject area, patterns have their own language and abbreviations.

This post is one I will add to as time goes on and I think of other things to add, but lets start today by listing the main abbreviations you may come across and what they mean.

  • CB – Center Back
  • CF – Center Front
  • CBF- Center Back Fold
  • CFF- Center Front Fold
  • CH – Crown Height ( on a sleeve)
  • RS – Right Side
  • RDS – Right Side Down
  • WS – Wrong Side
  • WSD – Wrong Side Down
  • SS – Side Seam
  • SA – Seam Allowance
  • RHSAW – Right Hand Side As Worn
  • LHSAW – Left Hand Side As Worn
  • OL – Overlock (serge)
  • GL – Grainline
  • RST – Right Sides Together
  • WST – Wrong Sides Together
  • WL – Waistline
  • ZZ – Zigzag Stitch
  • S/F – Side Front
  • S/B – Side Back
  • W/L – Waist Line
  • B/L – Bust Line
  • B/P – Bust Point
  • H/L – Hip Line
  • E/L – Elbow Line
  • K/L – Knee Line
  • A/H – Armhole
  • CBL – Cross Back Line
  • U/L Underarm Line
  • SHLDR or SH – Shoulder
  • NCK – Neck
  • SLV – Sleeve
  • FCNG –Facing
  • W/BAND  – Waistband
  • CLR – Collar
  • TR – Trousers
  • TP – Top (blouses, shirts and t-shirts any upper body section)
  • SK – Skirt
  • JKT – Jacket (coats)
  • DRS – Dress

It is useful for pattern cutters to have a consistent way of labelling and saving pattern pieces. I use a number of CAD systems and I find that consistent accurate labelling saves me a great deal of time.

If you can think of any more abbreviations then please let me know and the list can grow!

Happy pattern making

Nicola

 

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Beginners Pattern Drafting Info, Pattern Cutting Techniques

Good Working Practice – For a Pattern Cutter.

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Developing good working practice and good habits saves time.

As a professional pattern cutter, you soon learn that if you don’t have a good working practice, it costs you time, and time is something you rarely have in the fashion industry. If you are a self employed designer/pattern cutter, it also costs you money!

I worked with a wonderful Japanese designer many years ago in Copenhagen. He could only speak Japanese and unfortunately I could only speak a few words to him but he left a lasting impression on me. The reason I still remember him so well over 26 years later is because his working methods and his patterns were faultless and I do mean faultless. In fact it became a daily ritual that we would check his patterns, and see if we could spot any mistake he had made, and we never could, ever, not even once!

He also produced all his designs with the wooden end of a paintbrush, not the brush end, and they were beautiful!

Back to the topic in hand!

This is  broadly the way he worked –

He always used a 4H pencil.

He also only used a set square, no fancy pattern rulers, just a set square and a meter rule.

Pattern Labelling…

When pattern sections are traced from a draft pattern all information needs to be transferred too.

For example:

  • All pattern markings, sewing notches and balance notches. I wonder if you are thinking ” I know what sewing notches are (notches to help you match pieces when you sew) but what are balance notches. Balance notches on a pattern are there to help you ‘balance’ the pattern. For example a notch at center front and also at center back, lets you know that the garment is sitting correctly on the stand when you assess the fit of the pattern.
  • Fold lines or indications where a pattern is to be mirrored – please take note that ‘cut on fold’ is not a practice adopted in the industry. Pattern sections are mirrored and cut flat and open as a whole piece.
  • Grain lines, size of pattern, name of pattern piece, style number if required, the number of pieces to be cut and in which fabric, for example main fabric, lining, fusing, a note of the quantity of seam allowance added to the pattern, indicate the CF (center front) and CB (center back), name of cutter, small sketch or technical sketch of the garment, button and button hole positions, pocket positions, and any other important design or construction detail, for example areas you need to gather and how much to gather back to.
  • There are also a range of pattern symbols you need to know

Buttons and button holes

A solid line with a dash at each end is used to mark a button hole position

Large X’s mark button positions (I intend to do a blog post on button stands very soon and there will be a lot of information on button hole and button placement in the post)

Drill Holes – are sometimes indicated by a + but can also be marked as a circle, they can be filled or empty.

Drill holes are used in industry to indicate pocket placement positions and also indicate where to taper the dart, they are placed a set distance from the end of the dart i.e. the dart apex  (1.5 cm is a good distance).

In an industrial setting drill holes are an actual hole, a small one, but still a hole, a home sewer will mark the point with a fabric pen or a pin.

 

A place on fold or cut on fold symbol is indicated as illustrated below –

Grain lines are placed on pattern pieces to indicate the way a pattern piece should be placed on the fabric. Strictly speaking blocks should not have grain lines placed on them, if they do then the line should not have arrows on the ends.

The arrows on a grain line have meaning. An arrow indicates which direction the pattern piece should be placed on the fabric in relation to the ‘selvedge’ i.e. the finished edge of the fabric.

Knit pattern piece should be labelled with a grain line with an arrow on one end only as knit garment sections should be cut all facing one way. This is also the case with fabrics that have a nap, for example velvet. If velvet is cut with pattern sections facing different ways then the garment will look as though it has been made from different colour fabrics for each panel, as the light hits the pieces in different ways.

Grain lines can also be placed at 45 degrees and this indicates the pattern pieces should be cut on the bias grain.

DOGS

Stretch pattern pieces may need to be labelled with an instruction to cut the pattern piece in the direction of greatest stretch, particularly important with all in one garments and swim suits. This again is a topic in itself and a particular area of interest for me and I will be covering this in detail soon.

You may also need to use the following abbreviations, particularly for A-symmetrical pattern pieces.

RSU – Right Side Up

This is an instruction to cut the pattern piece with the right side up, so the cutter knows not to flip the pattern piece in an attempt to save fabric.

The opposite of RSU is RSD – Right Side Down.

Good Working Practice…

  • Use the edge of your tape measure when measuring curves
  • Sketchy lines are not acceptable in pattern drafting, use at least a 2H sharp pencil
  • Notches are very important, particularly on long or curved seams. Notches should always be marked at 90 degrees to the seam line.
  • Grain lines are marked parallel to center front and center back. A sleeve has the grain line marked down the center, a trouser has the grain line marked down the crease line (center line).
  • When you draft a pattern on a piece of pattern paper, never cut it up. Trace the pattern sections off the main draft. Do not add seam allowance until the very end of the process!
  • Check the draft pattern for the following –
  • Seam lines and lengths match
  • Grain lines have been placed on all pattern pieces.
  • Facing patterns are best cut from a final pattern
  • Check all notches match – particularly sleeve and armhole notches
  • Fitting lines such as button stands and button and button hole placement are accurate.
  • Seams meet at the correct angles – these should be 90 degrees if you want a straight line.

  • Gathers, tucks etc are clearly marked, with measurements indicated.
  • Directions in which to fold pleats are clearly marked.

I think that’s it!! There may be things I have missed, please let me know if you can think of anything at all.

I could go on forever explain all the associated information that goes with certain topics, such as notches, as there is a lot to cover there, in time I will cover these topic so please subscribe to keep up to date.

You may also find my Pattern Language Post – interesting. This covers abbreviations you may come across when using patterns.

Happy Pattern Making!

Nicola x

 

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Beginners Pattern Drafting Info, design and pattern cutting, Pattern Cutting Techniques

Making 1 dart into 2 darts- Ideal for Skirts & Trousers

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What if my block or pattern has 1 dart and I want 2 darts!

I am often asked what to do if a block or pattern has 1 dart and the designer wants 2 darts, in the skirt or trouser style they are working on. It really isn’t that difficult to amend a block and reduce or even increase the number of darts, as long as you follow a few rules.

Measure the 1/4 waist and divide into thirds.

The first third of the waist is close to the hip and there is already shaping there so in order to keep a good fit and spread the suppression around the waist line, it is best not to plan the new dart in that area.

Mark lines where you want the darts, they do not need to be vertical lines, you can angle them gently if you want to.

Cut down these lines and along, to the apex of the dart you want to remove, keep the paper attached by a couple of millimetres – don’t worry if you do cut it accidentally , it just needs to be pivoted from the apex position ( tip of the old dart).

Fold out the old dart and balance the suppression equally between the two new darts.

The darts can be taken down as low as the hip line, but they are best at about 9 cm (3 9/16″ in length.

Here is my half scale pattern pictured above, The darts are folded in as they would be sewn and the waist now needs to be reshaped as the waist level. Where the old dart was positioned has risen slightly as the new darts were opened. This means we need to reshape the waist line run to keep a nice smooth shape.

Remove the excess and this completes the process, take a look at my 1/2 scale pattern on my much loved 1/2 scale stand!

In the background you can see an upcoming blog post in the making! If you have a dress stand I am going to demonstrate a wonderful technique for creating fitted patterns. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss the post!

If you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

If you want to know more about darts check out this great dart workbook.

If you need 1/4 and half scale blocks to practice you can find them here.

Nicola x

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Beginners Pattern Drafting Info, Free Downloads, General Info, Pattern Cutting Techniques

Garment Ease – Pattern Ease- Explained

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Ease – Explained – What is ease?

There is a lot of confusion out there about ‘ease’. I have read some rather misleading definitions on many a web page. Here I will give a detailed explanation about ease. You can also download your free PDF Ease Allowance Chart below –

Why have ease?

Ease is incorporated into a block or a pattern to allow the wearer to move, therefore ease is “allowance for movement”. Ease allows the wearer to breath, bend, sit down and move around. Ease is particularly important in children’s’ and babies wear and again becomes important in older peoples clothing.  If there is too little ease in a garment then the “look” of the garment may also be compromised, skirts will ride up, trousers will wrinkle and jackets will be restrictive. Therefore getting the right quantity of ease in your patterns and garments is important.

Ease Allowance Chart Free Download

Hopefully the above chart will give you a guideline for classifying the quantity of ease that a garment contains but lets look at the meaning of ease.

Ease is the difference between the measurement of the body (without clothes) and the measurement of the block, pattern and ultimately the garment that fits over the body.

Lets look at a real example – Using my basic bodice block in the Modeliste Creative Range available on Etsy.

The bust measurement the size 12 block is designed to fit is a 90.5 cm bust (34 1/16 inches). That is the measurement from the size chart I used to draft the block and relates the the measurement of the actual body the block is drafted to fit.

When I drafted the block I allowed 6.9 cm ( 2 3/4″)  ease over the bust as ease in this block range, as its developed for a curvy figure.

Therefore if we measure the block itself the measurement will be 94.4 cm (38 3/4″). This is the body measurement plus the ease.

If we produced a pattern from this blocks and made no changes to the block, then this quantity of ease would stay the same. However, usually during the course of making a pattern, we either reduce or increase the quantity of ease as we create the pattern. The extra we add in or take away during the pattern making process is called design ease.

We now have 2 types of ease –

  • Block Ease
  • Design Ease

There is a third type of ease, we will come onto that in a moment. The information above relates to woven fabrics or stable knits. If we are dealing with stretch fabric then this is where we come onto another type of ease.

  • Negative ease

Negative ease occurs when a block or pattern is smaller than the body it is designed to fit. Negative ease becomes important when drafting patterns with over 18 – 20 % stretch percentage. If you are drafting patterns with a stretch percentage of under that amount then you can use a woven fabric pattern.

Adjusting patterns and blocks for stretch percentage and negative ease percentages is a book in itself and I have come across many different methods in my career. That’s a topic for another day!

I hope this helps and as always, if you have any questions or comments then please let me know.

Happy Sewing,

Nicola

 

 

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