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
I was given my first copy of the Pattern Magic book shortly after it was published. It was written all in Japanese, there was no English translation at the time! Luckily I had a Japanese student and she kindly translated the drafting instructions for me. I don’t think the latest English translations of the book have the drafting instructions. The books do come with copies of the blocks, however.
If you want to take a look at the blocks I drafted in my Etsy shop they are 
