Skip to main content

Patterns and Cutting

Once you have a plan, a budget, a concept of execution, and supplies you will need, it's now time to start  either your test garment or dive right into your actual garment. In previous posts I've alluded to starting a new style - or a first time attempt in the realm of the unfamiliar - with a test garment, using inexpensive fabric. This allows you to see how the pattern shapes and fits, make adjustments, or just make notes so that the final product won't wear the scars of trial and error.

Whether endeavoring a new design or augmenting a published pattern, it is always necessary to augment a printed pattern to accommodate your personal dimensions. Use the sizing and dimensions table on the pattern to determine width and length for not just the whole garment, but different sections of individual pieces. Chest, waist, and hips can all be adjusted to match an increase or decrease in your own measurements compared to the standard sizes given. Length can be adjusted based on the garment item's finished length (usually given at the bottom of the table) and your own length needs. As an example: I am particularly short in comparison to their standard sizing of patterns. This gives me anywhere from 6-10" take-up for skirts and pants. I also have a slightly longer torso than average for my height, and I usually have to elongate tops and shirts by 2-3". Finished dimensions are very important for items that have closures - pictures and any finished item dimensions are distinct clues to how the designer sized their garment patterns. Sometimes this means having a sizeable gap at closures. Sometimes it means having no gap at all. For bodices and shirts, this becomes integral: how YOU imagine or desire the garment to function may be vastly different from what the designer intended.




Often, using a printed pattern to base your own creations on makes the pattern-making process of your garment go that much quicker. The printed pattern gives you each piece you'll need in construction and its sizing, the shape of which you can alter to fit as well as alter in shape.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pirate Coats and Costumes

Starting making pirate costumes was an accident. I had streamlined my social media to include mostly arts, crafts, and culture groups, allowing me to see and share what was beautiful about what people were doing with their lives. Six or eight years ago, most of what people were beginning to see on social media at the time were people venting about spats and memes and questionable articles that didn't exactly foster much camaraderie. Many of my friends participated in internal posting movements to bring the sharing of art and comedy back into our daily exposure stream, and I did my part by sharing what my groups were posting that made my day better and not worse. One of those groups allowed persons looking for help or suggestions about costuming, and I answered the call of someone looking to help their friend make their first pirate costume - their first costume of any kind ever. I offered to help. I had not previously gotten into the Baroque or later eras of period garb, but I ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Where to Start DIY Costume

Planning is the first and most integral step to doing a unique first costume. And surprisingly enough, one of the most important aspects of planning is keeping the process dynamic, for a couple of reasons. Having a generalized plan to start with shouldn't contain too many details until you get further into your planning process. Part of the planning process involves both having an idea of how you'll accomplish each part of the costume creation, but also being open to changing the material and execution depending on changing circumstances. As a result, proper planning includes initial and refined research, contingencies, trial and error, and the possibility of "nailing it". I personally like to get hands on pretty quick once I have something executable in mind... this is not always the best course of action, and often times I find myself in need of what I've heard referred to as "tactical patience". This "patience" resulting from inaction on...
Post a Comment
Read more