I have also made a sew along video to accompany part 2 of the series – You can watch it here – Don’t forget to like the video and make a comment – it really helps!
Part 3 coming soon!
Nicola
Make your own lingerie Part 2
Understanding a Dress Making Pattern – Part 1 – The Pattern Envelope
I am frequently asked to explain to both experienced and novice dressmakers how to read and understand all the information printed on a sewing pattern envelope.
If you want to make your own clothing, then the ability to understand and locate the information you need is essential.
In part 1 of this two-part series we will look at the information printed on the outside of a pattern envelope.
In part 2 we will take a more detailed look at all the information you should expect to see on the back and inside, plus look at how to understand all the symbols on a pattern piece.
Hopefully you will then have the confidence to go out and purchase a pattern and begin to make your own clothes!
The pattern envelope itself, in such a small amount of space, gives you a huge amount of information. Importantly a picture or illustration of the garment and the quantity of fabric you will need to purchase and a guide to notions – every hobby has its own language so lets take a closer look!
The front of the pattern envelope will show you what size range and figure type the pattern is aimed at. Be careful if you are buying a vintage pattern or a pattern from another country as the sizing will not be accurate. Some patterns come in a wide range of sizes, some in two or three and some in just one, so look carefully. A vintage pattern size will come up very small in comparison to today’s sizes, so select a pattern that takes this into account. If you are buying an American pattern online then don’t forget that American sizing is different to UK sizing, each American size is 2 sizes down from a UK size, so for example a size 14 UK is a size 10 USA.
A very important point to note – is the pattern designed for a woven or a knit fabric? You need to know this in order to select the correct fabric. Making a knit pattern in woven fabric will not work as woven fabric has no stretch at all and your garment will end up much too small. Making a woven pattern in knit is also a mistake as knit fabric stretches and the garment will end up much too big for you. Also, a woven pattern will have design details that are just not suitable for knit fabrics.
The difficulty level of a pattern is usually illustrated and will let you know if the pattern is for a beginner or an advanced sewer.
The pattern company name and the style name or number will also be indicated on the envelope, very handy in today’s digital age as you can search and see how other sewers have tackled the making process and gather some great advice! There are a number of pattern review sites now, so you are quite likely to find a popular pattern from a large pattern company has lots of reviews online.
The front of the pattern envelope will also have views of the garment, in the form of illustrations or technical sketches and the different style options available. Sometimes patterns include 2 or three different style options for you to choose from.
The envelope back becomes a little more technical, and here you will find all the additional information you need in order to purchase fabric and trimmings – otherwise known as ‘notions’. You will certainly need your glasses for the back of the envelope as there is so much information crammed into a very small space!
Join me for part 2 when we will take a closer look at the pattern envelope back and some common pattern markings.
Any questions – feel free to ask.
Nicola x
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Good Working Practice – For a Pattern Cutter.
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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Bodice Darts- How To Move Darts
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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Make & Sew Your Own Bias Binding Tape
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!
