Want to learn how to make your sewing patterns? Pattern making in fashion designing is essential as it serves as a bridge between designing and construction of garments.
Over the past few years, have seen pattern making as an interesting skill necessary for every fashion designer to acquire as it helps in interpreting the designs with technical ability.
And guess what? You don’t need to obtain any degree in fashion designing before becoming a good pattern maker. All you need to do is to develop and upgrade your skills often as you learn along.
I will be sharing with you briefly in this article the basics of pattern making.
What is pattern making?
Pattern making is an art of manipulating and shaping a flat piece of fabric into a real piece of garment that fits the human body in a flattering way. In the fashion industry, pattern making is essential as it serves as a bridge between designing and construction of garments. A designer basic idea can be turned into a garment through a pattern.
A patternmaker is someone who employs one or two technique to create a pattern based on a designer’s sketch of a style.
What are the pattern-making techniques?
There are three methods involved in pattern making, this include:
- Drafting
- Draping
- Flat Pattern Making
I will discuss each of this method briefly so that you can have a better understanding.
Drafting
This method is used to create the initial designs and it involves accurate measurements taken on the model or the standard measurement chart. Traditionally, this method is drawn on the paper using the pattern making tools to create the basic patterns or dress foundation. This is my preferred method as it is less time consuming, cost-effective and beginners friendly.
Another advantage is that garments made from the drafting method usually have a perfect fit because it is based on the individuals’ measurement. However, the overall look of the design can only be seen after the garment has been constructed compared to the other methods.
Draping
This technique involves draping of a muslin/piece of fabric around a dress form or mannequin to create a three-dimensional shape.
The good thing about this method is that it gives the designer an overview of how the garment will look like and once he is satisfied with the outcome, he goes ahead with the production. However, the draping process can be time-consuming and more expensive.
Flat Pattern Making
This method uses the basic pattern slopers which are manipulated by the patternmaker to achieve the desired style.
By adopting this method, a basic pattern set (front and back bodice, skirt, and sleeve) will be needed and this will be translated into a 3-dimensional shape with a muslin fabric, which is then transferred to paper.
Flat pattern method helps to indicate the areas for movement and improves comfort for the model.
This method is very useful for the mass production of garments (ready-to-wear) as it is based on the standard measurements.
The downside of this technique is that it can be time-consuming and requires more skills, hence not recommended for beginners.
Are you wondering how and where to start learning? There is no short cut to becoming an expert in pattern making. The key to it is your drive and consistency. If you’re new to sewing, learning the basics of pattern making is very important.
Just like have said earlier, you don’t need to own a degree in fashion design before you become an expert in pattern making. You can learn pattern making by yourself. Many experts in this field including me are self-taught with lots of practice.
Although there are tons of guides and information about pattern making online, however, when one is overloaded with too many pieces of information, an individual finds it difficult to filter what aspect of the information is useful. I’ll suggest you find a good teacher in this field to learn from.
You can check out our beginner’s course to get you on the track.
Hoping to see you soon!