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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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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Beginners Pattern Drafting Info, Pattern Cutting Techniques

Bodice Darts- How To Move Darts

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Princess Line Shaping On a Basic Bodice

It always amazes me that a designer can give a pattern cutter a sketch, for a fitted dress or top, in a woven fabric, and there are no darts at all illustrated on the sketch. It’s as though they imagine that a garment will fit the body in some magical way.

I realised along the way that nowadays most clothing is made in stretch or knit fabric, and this can eliminate the need for darts in some circumstances. This has resulted in many students not being aware of darts and their importance. But the fact remains that if you are designing garments in a woven fabric such as a cotton or denim, if you want the garment to fit the body, then there must be darts in some form or another. You don’t necessarily need to see them, but they must be there in some form.

This led me to create my darts booklet -which is available as a PDF instant download on Etsy. The booklet covers everything you need to know about darts!

In this post I am going to cover the method for creating a princess line shape on a basic bodice.

Step 1

The shaping above is a design choice, and can be adapted to your own design, as long as the princess line shaping goes through the bust point.

Close the  front shoulder dart to form the center front section, detach the side back panel too. You now have the sections you need.

If you don’t want a back shoulder blade dart in the center back panel, then please see my video

Removing the back shoulder blade dart for instructions on how to remove this correctly.

When you have finished your pattern you can then add seam allowance and test the pattern as a ‘toile’

Hope this helps and again if you have any questions I am always happy to answer – please subscribe to see more pattern cutting tutorials.

Nicola x

 

 

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General Info, Pattern Cutting Techniques, Sewing Techniques

Fabric Width Conversion Chart –

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Have you ever picked up a pattern and noted the amount of fabric you need for a particular width, only to find that the fabric you love is a different width. There is nothing worse than buying too little fabric for the design you want to make.

Below is a handy conversion chart that will give you some idea of the fabric you require in different widths. print a copy and keep it in your bag!

Hope this helps!

Happy Sewing,

Nicola x

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Sewing Techniques

How To Apply Bias Binding To A Seam Edge

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The example below shows how bias binding tape is applied to a facing edge, see our previous post to see how you can make your own bias binding tape and download our free binding template pattern here!

Bias Binding Template

Firstly fold the bias binding short edge back on itself as shown, so that the wrong sides are together. If this is not done then there would be a raw fabric edge showing when the binding is turned over and sewn to the right side of the fabric.

With the right side of the binding placed to the wrong side of the fabric ,pin the edge of the binding, to the edge of the hem you are binding.

Ease the binding when going around curved edges, do not pull it, this is a gentle process. Easing the binding as opposed to stretching it, allows the binding to travel around curved edges easily.

Once pinned, stitch the binding in place, using the lower crease in the binding as a guide. When you return back the beginning (the folded over piece) overlap by around 1. 5 cm (half an inch) and trim off any excess.

Turn the binding over onto the right side of the fabric. Tuck the top fold down to meet the center line crease, and pin flat to the fabric.

Pattern pieces with bound edges do not need seam allowance adding. This is because the binding sits on the edge of the hem line. therefore if you decide to apply binding to an edge, for example a neckline, that already has seam allowance, then the seam allowance will need to be trimmed away.

Now you have this new skill – there are so many things you can do with bias binding tape –

  • Use binding as an edge in place of a facing on armholes and necklines
  • Use binding to neaten and finish internal seams
  • Use as a design detail
  • Ideal as a hem
  • Fold in half and use as a tie
  • Use as a casing to insert piping cord and insert between seams…

Happy Sewing!

P.S. This binding technique is the same type of sewing technique used to apply waistbands and collars etc.

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Sewing Techniques

Make & Sew Your Own Bias Binding Tape

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Bias Binding Template

Click the link above to download your free PDF download of a bias binding template pattern!

Making bias binding can take a lot of fabric, therefore it is more economical to cut pieces that can be joined to form one long strip.

Joining the bias strips –

Trim the fabric strips that need to be joined as shown below. Use the binding template to make sure the joining lines are correctly cut.

Place the sections to be joined as shown, taking approximately half a centimetre or a 1/4 inch seam
allowance. The amount of seam allowance you take is not crucial, as long as the amount taken is even and the strips form a continuous line at the top and bottom when joined.

Now trim as shown and press the seam open.

Press the strip in half to form a gentle crease line.

Press each edge almost into the center crease, leave a tiny gap, watch your fingers with the iron.

If you are anything like me you will love making this gorgeous trim, particularly if you don’t have an overlocker
(serger). Please see my post – Applying Bias Binding for sewing instructions.

Happy Sewing!

 

 

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General Info

The Story Of How Our Pattern Blocks Are Created.

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All my blocks are created either from scratch, or they are blocks that I have developed throughout my career, they are all tried and tested.

We use the most up to date size charts that we can and all our latest blocks have centimetres and inches with both UK and USA sizing and the EU equivalents too!

I revisit my tried and tested blocks constantly to review the sizing, ladies waists have become larger, so that’s a measurement we always keep our eye on.

We start with a set of basic measurements and a sheet of pattern paper, from there our years of practice allow us to draft the block in a size 12 or sometimes a size 14 to begin with.

 

Once I am satisfied with the draft, I then make a sample and fit this to my concept stand, made by Kennett & Lindsell. I bought this stand because of its measurements, they are almost identical to the latest data for size 14 (UK) measurements, within a couple of millimetres. It was only after I bought the stand from Saville Row in London that they told me it had only been used once to make a dress for Byonce. She obviously has a perfect figure, nice and shapely. The deficiencies of modern dress stands are a subject for another day!

I then fit and perfect the block on the dress stand and make any amendments necessary, this is commonly referred to as ‘toiling’ in the fashion industry.

We Have One Size – How do we then make the full range of sizes we supply –

 

Once we are satisfied with the ‘base size’ we can then ‘grade’ the block. Grading is the term used to create a range of sizes from a base size; in this case our base size is a size 12. (In the case of our outsize blocks our base size will be larger).

Pattern grading uses a set of mathematical formulas to grow a pattern piece by a specific amount and small movements in a positive of negative X or Y direction are made. This is how the various sizes of a pattern or design are developed. Every company has its own set of grade rules, and these are usually guarded closely as a trade secret because they take a lot of time and effort to develop. Once a company has an established set of grade rules, they tend to keep top secret. There are many variations of grading that exist in the industry. On your pattern block size guide you will see that I have indicated the total grading increment. This is the amount your block increases or decreases per size. For example there is usually a 5 cm difference between a size 12 and a size 14 bust. The same difference applies to the waist and hips. Some companies use a 4 cm difference.

Each small increase or decrease of the pattern is carried out in millimetres.

Hopefully this has given you an idea of the time, skill and effort that has gone into creating these blocks for you. If you have one of my blocks then hopefully I have saved you a great deal of time and stress!

If you have any question, comments or ideas please email me at onitnotinit@mail.com

Please see our shops page within the blog for places you can purchase our blocks, we have over 100 different blocks sets. Ranges include Ladies Blocks, Plus Sized Block, Baby, Child and Teen Blocks, and Menswear Blocks.

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