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

Making The Most of Your Bodice Block

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Moving Your Bodice Darts – Example 1

This is the first in a series of posts that will demonstrate the method of moving darts around the bodice block to different locations. This post is aimed at beginners.

Moving both darts to the waistline is very easy. Lets look at the slashing method.

  1. Trace the bodice block marking in all the darts, the bust point and all other block markings such as notches.
  2. If your darts are not connected at the bust point then connect them before you begin, all changes to bust dart locations must happen through the bust point (BP)
  3. Slash up the center of the bust waist dart, right up to the bust point.
  4. Fold in the shoulder bust dart and watch the waist bust dart open up to become a larger dart. Now the 2 darts are combined at the waist.
  5. Trace around the new shape, marking in the new dart. Take the apex of the dart (point of the dart) back by 1.5 cm for sewing. If you sew a dart right up to the bust point it will look very pointy!
  6. To complete the pattern shape, fold in the dart and cut the pattern with the dart folded in as it would be sewn to get the right shape at the dart mouth.

If you want to know more about darts, this detailed workbook will give you everything you need to know!

If you don’t already have my basic bodice block you can find it here:

Modeliste Creative – basic bodice  

Or if you would like a larger size range  we also have a couple of other bodice block options we recommend.

The regular Design Cut & Wear Bodice block, or the Bodice Block with the shoulder dart removed, or the Japanese Style Bunka Bodice Block

Or maybe the plus size bodice block. They are all suitable for this technique.

Hope this helps and I will be back soon with another technique.

Happy Pattern Making.

Nicola x

 

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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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Lingerie Design, lingerie size charts, size charts for lingerie

How to become a lingerie designer…

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Lingerie Design- Design Development

-Tools for the lingerie designer-

My first ever catwalk collection was a bridal lingerie collection, I really enjoyed designing and making the patterns for this collection, I intend to reproduce them as PDF patterns and grade them into a range of sizes.

This lovely booklet is available as a PDF instant download for you to print at home.

As a Lingerie Designer, pattern cutter and grader, I have complied this guide to ease you through the first steps to becoming a lingerie designer.

Tools for The Lingerie Designer describes the design development process, and gives you a basic understanding of project design and research.

As well as the 26 page booklet you will also receive 2 separate files for you to print including lingerie design templates for fashion / technical drawings and a specification sheet template for you to print and use again and again!

 

Tech sketches and spec sheets are explained and working examples given, to both inform and inspire you!

A handy visual glossary for a detailed range of panties and bra types is supplied to keep your designs on track!

A guide to measurement and a basic size chart are supplied in the sizing and fit section of the booklet.

Your downloads will include 3 files:

1 – Lingerie Design Development (A5 paper size)
2 – Design Figure Templates (A4)
3 – Specification Template (A4)

This is part 1 of our guides to Lingerie. Part 2 is in the making and will show you the next steps to developing your product and comes with a guide to producing panties from a basic pantie block! Coming soon!!!

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Beginners Pattern Drafting Info, Free Downloads

How Much Seam Allowance Should I Add To My Patterns?

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Seam Allowance Guide

Its sometimes difficult to know exactly how much seam allowance to pop on our patterns, there are ‘rules’  that apply to this area of pattern cutting, or rather guidelines that you should follow.

Here is some information that I hope will help guide you in making those decisions.

As a general rule, confined or extremely curved areas such as neck line, armhole, and some intricate style seams, will require less seam allowance than straight long seams.

Double or bagged out areas will also require less seam allowance to reduce bulk.

Where a neat inside edge is required, facings are the ideal solution – but we will look at these in some detail in another post.

Some examples of straight long seams in a garment would be:

  • A straight skirt hem
  • A side seam
  • A center back or center front seam

Other factors which can influence the amount of seam allowance (SA) you need:

  • Type of fabric – for example a very bulky fabric will require less seam allowance. If the pattern you are using has more seam allowance than you need, you can always trim down the SA after sewing.
  • How much a fabric frays – Voile and sheer fabric can fray badly so will need more seam allowance or a french seam, which again needs more SA.
  • The stability of the fabric – unstable fabrics that shift around a great deal such as chiffon require more seam allowance,
  • Type of seam, firstly in relation to its function, for example does it need to be strong, as in work-wear or jeans. Secondly decoration is also a factor, for example a sheer fabric that is transparent may require a decorative seam such as a French seam and this affects the seam allowance.

When I say ‘more seam allowance’ this could simply mean adding 1.5 cm SA instead of 1 cm SA.

If you are new to sewing and need some practice, here are the links to 3 beginners PDF tutorials on Etsy, the first covers sewing for accuracy and had lots of sewing templates for you to download.

The second covers the very important skills of sewing corners and curves and along with detailed guidance also give the templates you need to create the practice samples.

There is also a third project in this series that covers seam types and also gives you the templates to practice with.

Click on the highlighted links to find these projects.

The method of construction also influences the amount of seam allowance you should add. For example if you are using a serger or overlocker, then you only need the width of the overlocker bite (width of the stitch). This would be the case with knit fabrics.

Below is a table to give you some guidance for woven fabrics:

Seam Allowance Guide

Click this link to download the handy PDF file for Seam Allowance Chart download .

Please note- When producing garments for an industrial setting, small seam allowances are acceptable. Professional machinists are accustomed to sewing with 1 cm seam allowance. However the home sewer requires more seam allowance to produce a garment of high quality.

Some home sewing patterns allow less than 1 cm seam allowance and this makes it very difficult for a home sewer with a domestic machine, the width of the foot and the design of a domestic machine is not ideal for very small seam allowances. It is much better to allow more seam allowance and trim down the excess after sewing the seam.

I hope this helps and if you have any questions or comments then please get in touch.

Happy Pattern Making & Sewing

Nicola x

 

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Current Projects, Free Downloads

Your Free Tie Pattern!

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Your free tie pattern! & a POP suit!

 

Click the link below for your free tie PDF pattern, the file has 9 pattern pages that you will need to assemble to create the pattern. Print the first page of the pattern to check that you have the correct scale, and measure the box to check you have a 5 cm x 5 cm ( 2″ x 2″) box. The pattern comes with full making instructions.

Free Tie Pattern

I don’t have time to make the tie myself today as I have been busy making 2 suits for my 2 Jack Russel terriers!

They both had a little operation and hated the horrible cones they had to wear to stop them licking the wound, so a little suit each has solved the problem!

 

 

Post Operative Protections suit – specially made for Pops and Daisy too!

Ted, my fox terrier loves the feel of the suit too, it makes a nice pillow!

I used a very special technique to make this pattern a perfect fit and it’s so easy, I will be making a video soon showing the technique, so keep watching.

Nicola & Pops and Daisy and Ted today X

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Current Projects, Sewing Techniques

Sewing the “hippy” Smock Top Pattern.

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Making the ‘Hippy Style Smock’

The Smock Top project is one of my favourite patterns, I make it all the time for myself. It’s also one of my mums favourites, she adapts it to make long dresses, shapes the hem, she has even made it as a loose jacket by cutting the front top as an open shape and adding an extra facing. The pattern sleeves are long, but I will show you how they can be easily shortened. Its also lovely as a dress, I will show you how to lengthen the top too!

Here is a run through of the sewing process and also some ideas for adapting the pattern. The pattern can be purchased on Etsy and has a very detailed sew along and also some pattern adaptation ideas.

Click this link to find the pattern on Etsy

The pattern is designed so that the back smock piece is cut as 2 separate pieces with a seam down the center back, this saves fabric, however if you have wide enough fabric and want to take the extra time, then it worth cutting the back smock and the back facing on a fold line. If you choose to cut them on a fold line, then don’t forget to remove the 1 cm (3/8″) seam allowance from the center back of the pattern, or just overlap the 1 cm over the fold when you cut out.

 

The first step is to sew the center back seams (If you didn’t choose to cut them on a fold), both on the main smock, and the back smock facing.

You will also need to apply a light to medium weight fusible interfacing to the facing pieces (back and front), this will give them body and help them lie flatter inside the top.

When applying fusing to a fabric piece, remember its not like ironing, its more like pressing.

With sticky side down (that’s the shiny side) placed to the wrong side of the fabric, PRESS the iron and put a bit of your weight behind it, this will help the fusing process. Fusings are developed for a high heat setting and the resin needs to melt and stick. Don’t burn the fabric though, its always wise to do a test piece. Don’t use an ironing motion and don’t use steam and all will be well!

Now you have whole back pieces, and whole front pieces, so its time to join them all together.

Sew the shoulder seams and the side seams on the main top and do the same for the facing. Press the seams and neaten the edges using your normal method (zig zag or overlocker / serger)

 

The facing can now be applied to the neck line, Before you do this you need to neaten the edge of the facing at its hem edge. I love to apply bias binding to my facings, if you would like to have a go, see my blog post –

Making and applying your own bias binding!

Applying the facing to the neckline is the trickiest part of this process, its worth taking a little time to prepare the pattern pieces and it will help greatly if you mark the seam allowance with a fabric pen at the neckline.

It’s difficult to see where the point of the V is, so marking the seam allowance lets you stop at the V point, with your needle down in the fabric, and allows you to pivot the work, so that you can continue sewing.

Once you have sewn the facing to the main top at the neckline edge, the facing can be turned through. Before you do this you will need to clip in to the seam allowance and also the V to allow the seam allowance to open up. Cut to just within a couple of millimetres of the stitching. This will allow the facing to be pressed flat when turned through.

Now give the neckline a good press and move onto the sleeves.

I plan to make a detailed blog post on setting in a sleeve, there are a number of tips I want to share, so please keep a look out for this, its hard to picture clearly when photographing a garment!

Sew the sleeve underarm seam, I have shortened the sleeves for this top, as I want it as a summer top. I will show you how to do this later in the post, it’s not as simple as just drawing a straight line across if you want the sleeve to look straight on the body.

 

Here is a photo of one I made with long sleeves, just to give you an idea of the sleeve shape and how nicely it hangs.

OK, let’s sew the sleeves into the armholes. I start by pinning the underarm seams together (right sides together). I then travel around the armhole pinning and matching the notches. There is a little bit of ease in the sleeve head on this pattern. This means the sleeve head is larger than the armhole and needs to be eased in. This can be done by compressing the sleeve fabric as you sew. As this is such a loose fitting style then you can also make the extra into a few little pleats at the shoulder seam and this looks quite nice.

Now press and neaten the raw seam allowance edges together.

All that remains is to finish the hems, a machine stitched hem is fine for this style. Press the hems up by 1 cm and stitch into position. If you don’t have a way to neaten the raw edges, then the hems can be stitched as a double hem, but make sure you only take a small hem if you are doing this.

I love a pattern that I can use again and again, I love to make this style slightly longer as a loose summer dress. It’s also great as a cover up on the beach!

Above you can see the top has been made as a dress in a lovely soft cotton!

Some ideas for adapting the pattern!

A shorter sleeve.

Measure down from each underarm the quantity you require, for example 5 cm (2″).
Draw a line straight across and mark a point on the center of the line.

Drop this point by 1.5 cm (1/2″) and draw in a curved line as shown.

A straight line would look as though it went upwards when the sleeve is on the body.

Trace off the new sleeve, transferring the notches from the original pattern.

Making a longer smock or a dress.

Extend a line from the center back and the center front by the amount you wish to lengthen the top.

Measure down at right angles from various points along the hem line by the same amount.

Make the corners all 90 degrees for a couple of centimetres (3/4 inch).

Draw in the new, slightly curved hem line.

If you have any questions or comments, as always, please let me know.

Happy sewing and pattern cutting!

Nicola x

 

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