Kimono Inspired Dress: Drafting the Pattern

June 8, 2021 · 3 Comments

One of the reasons why I like to make things from my own patterns is because I can make them exactly as I want them.

I’m not relying on finding a pattern that looks identical to what’s in my head. Instead I can figure out a way to turn the pictures my head into something I can wear!

One of the first things I made without a pattern was a wrap dress. It was a long time ago now, and it wasn’t perfect by any means. In fact, the reason why there is a flower at the waist is because I needed something to hide a messy area!

sewing clothes without a pattern truth about sewing your own clothes how to make a ruffly flower

Nonetheless I was pleased with the outcome and I felt that my little experiment was a success. I wanted to see whether I could make a wrap dress without a pattern, and I did.

I’ve come a long way since then! The main things I’ve learnt from this is that yes, it’s possible to make clothes from your own measurements without being trained how to by an expert (like lots of things actually!), and yes, there will be mistakes along the way, but learning and getting better is more important than being perfect right from the outset.

So 7 years on and here’s another wrap dress!

I’ve called it a kimono inspired dress, because that’s what I was aiming for when I was designing it.

We actually had plans to go to Japan last year. The trip was all booked, then the pandemic hit and we couldn’t go. Now things are showing signs of easing, we’ve started rebooking for next Easter.

I’m already starting to feel a tiny bit excited! It’s somewhere I’ve really wanted to visit for a long time, and I especially wanted to go in the spring.

So that’s I’ve made this kimono inspired dress from beautiful cherry blossom fabric from The Fabric Guys.

I didn’t want to make an actual kimono as I’m not entirely sure about how or why Japanese people wear them, and having no Japanese heritage, I didn’t want to take something I had no right to and misuse it.

I’ve tried to keep things simple (I’m less likely to get into a muddle that way!).

The dress is shaped but on the loose side, with a belt sash thing.

I was going to finish the raw edges with the same pink fabric as the belt, but I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to make things easier for myself and use bias binding instead.

Just to warn you, as there often is with drafting your own patterns in this way, there is some trial and error involved. So if you’re up for a sewing adventure, let’s get started!

kimono inspired dress drafting the pattern

Before You Start

To draft the pattern for the kimono inspired dress, you will need:

Your measurements. If you don’t already have them jotted down somewhere, as a minimum you will need to know the distance from your shoulder to just above your elbow, your shoulder to your waist, around your hips and from your waist to just below your knee.

A bodice block. If you have one already, you can use that. If not, you can either draft one (there are instructions here), or an easier alternative is to use a loose ish fitting t shirt.

A skirt block is also useful, but again if you don’t have one, I’ll walk through drafting one when we get to that stage.

You will also need:
Pattern paper (I prefer the sort with the grids on. Dots would also work)
A pencil
A ruler
A French curve is useful but not essential.

Drafting the Bodice

The bodice of the kimono inspired dress is in 3 pieces: one back piece and 2 front sections that cross over. The sleeves are cut as part of the bodice.

The back is easiest so we’ll start there, then use the back as a starting point for the front pieces.

Drafting the bodice is much easier if you have a bodice block already. There are instructions here if you don’t already have one. Although this means that things will take a bit longer, if you look after your bodice block, next time you want to make a dress from your own measurements, you’ll have a head start!

If you are short on time or if you don’t want to do this, you could use a loose ish t shirt as a template instead. I’d recommend folding it in half so that you pattern piece is symmetrical.

Bodice Back

Lay a piece of pattern paper over your bodice back block (or t shirt), and trace the neckline and shoulder. Mark where the bottom of the armhole is and where the waist is. From the bottom of the armhole, draw a vertical line downwards to the waist.

Decide how long you want the sleeves to be by measuring from your shoulder to just above your elbow. Continue the shoulder line by this amount.

From the armhole point, draw a line the same length minus 3 cm, at the same angle.

Join these two lines up to make the elbow end of the sleeve.

Adding some darts at the waist will give the kimono inspired dress some shape, but it’s up to you. I added mine to the pattern piece, but you might prefer to cut it out the pattern piece and then add the darts by pinning it to yourself or a dress form and putting them where they need to go. It’s difficult to do this as it’s round the back, so it can be useful at this stage if you have a kind friend or a helpful husband.

To add the darts to the pattern piece, mark 3rds along the waistline. On the third nearest the centre, draw a vertical line 10 cm (4 inches) long. Mark off 1.5 cm (5/8 inch) on either side on the waist line. Draw from the top of the line to these points.

Bodice Front

The bodice front of the kimono inspired dress is a little bit more complicated. This is one of the reasons for starting with the back!

As the bodice back is symmetrical it was only necessary to draw half of it because both halves are the same, and it can be cut on folded fabric.

The bodice front on the other hand is not symmetrical, so the whole piece will need to be drawn.

Take your bodice back. On to another piece of pattern paper, trace the entire sleeve from the shoulder, the side and the waist. Draw the other half of the waist line, but don’t worry about the rest.

Extend the waist downwards by 5 cm (2 inches).

At the far end of the waist line, draw a 6 cm (2 1/4 inch) line upwards. Join the top of this line to the shoulder.

To add the waist darts, they will need to go at about a third and 2 thirds of the way along, but please check on yourself! The beauty of making clothes from your own measurements is that you can make clothes that fit you not squeeze yourself into things designed for somebody whose body shape is entirely different.

The waist darts will probably need to be about 10 cm (4 inches) long, and 3 cm (2 1/4 inches) wide, but it will depend on your dimensions so please check!

From the bottom of the side, measure up 2 cm and draw from here to the centre line of the waist dart. Do the same on the other side.

The bust dart should be about 6-8 cm (2 1/4 – 3 inches) down from the armhole and go upwards. The point of the dart on mine was 3 cm higher than the centre of the wide end.

The length of the dart was 12 cm (4 1/2 inches) long and 3 cm wide.

To compensate for the fabric taken up by the darts, extend the centre line of the bust dart by 1 cm (1/4 inch), then join this to the armhole point. On the side, measure down 1.5 cm (i.e. half the width of the dart), and join the centre of the dart to the side at this point.

Drafting the Skirt

You’ll be pleased to know that drafting the bodice front of the kimono inspired dress is the trickiest part! The skirt is much easier.

If you have an A line skirt pattern already, you can use that. All you’ll have to do is adjust the waist so that it is the same size as the waist on your bodice.

If you need to draft the skirt, this is how to do it.

You will need 3 measurements: the length that you want the skirt to be, your hips and a waist measurement. For the waist measurement, use the waist of your bodice pieces, not your actual waist. Don’t forget that the back is only half and you’ll lose some with the darts!

So measure the waist of your bodice back pattern piece, subtract the width of the dart and double it. Then measure the waist of your bodice front piece and subtract the width of both the darts. Then add the back and the front measurements together.

Now draw a rectangle on pattern paper that is a quarter of your hip measurement plus a couple of cm, by your desired skirt length.

Divide your waist measurement by 4 (remember this is the waist of the dress, which will probably be more that your actual waist measurement). Calculate the difference between the waist measurement divided by 4, and the hip measurement divided by 4. This number is how much you will need to lose from the waist, and the way to do that is by cutting a triangle out of the waist.

Find the half way point along the short edge at the top. Draw a line downwards 10 cm (4 inches) long. Have you still got that number that was the difference between hips and waist? That needs to make the wide end of the triangle, which will be at the waist. So if the difference was 5 cm, mark 2.5 cm either side of the line and draw these points up to the other end of the line.

Now draw a line from hem edge to the pointy end of the triangle.

Grab a pair of scissors and cut out the triangle. Now cut along the line almost to the point of the triangle. If your pattern piece ends up in 2 parts, don’t worry, it’s just that it’s slightly easier if it’s still in one piece.

pattern drafting princess seam dress skirt piece

Push the sides of the triangle together and stick them with tape.

drafting pattern dress with princess seams

Draw round this onto another piece of pattern paper. You might like to add a gentle curve to the waist and the hem. A French curve is good for this, but if you don’t have one you could use a plate instead.

Almost There!

You’ll need to add a seam allowance to your pattern pieces.

On the bodice, add 2 cm to the shoulders, sleeve hem, sides and waist. Don’t worry about the neckline or the other raw edges. You’ll be finishing those with bias binding.

On the skirt, add 2 cm to the waist, hem, and side seam.

It’s a good idea to write on your pattern pieces that you have added a seam allowance and by how much. This will be useful if you find your pattern in a year or 2 and decide that you want to make another one!

On the skirt piece indicate the edge that will need to be on the fold when you cut it out.

Tips

Drafting a pattern yourself from your own measurements does involve some trial and error. So don’t be surprised if you need to adapt it.

Don’t be afraid to make changes if you want to. We are not following other people’s rules here, we are doing our own thing!

Including a generous seam allowance means that you have a bit extra if things turn out to be a bit small.

It’s a good idea to make a toile so you can make changes if you need to before cutting into your fabric. Toiles are traditionally made from muslin. but I normally use cheapy polycotton.

The next post will explain how to make the dress up, so once you are ready, you could start deciding which fabric to use. You’ll need 3-4 metres of cotton or polycotton, a small amount in a contrasting fabric for the belt (or you could use the same as for the dress), 3 metres of bias binding and a couple of buttons.

How to Sew a Dress With Princess Seams: Drafting the Pattern

April 16, 2021 · 1 Comment

This post contains affiliate links.

At this time of year, when the trees are waking up and there’s blossom and green shoots appearing, I realise that I am bored of winter.

I actually quite like winter. I like being tucked up in my funny old house with the fire going, the lamps on and my family around me. Even being outside isn’t that bad. Our English winters are mild, and as the Norwegians say, there’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes. I’ve found that having a decent coat and a pair of waterproof boots makes all the difference.

But it gets to a point when the signs of spring are all around and I long for a change. I want the sun to feel warm. I want to be able to leave the house without bundling myself into a coat, scarf and gloves. I want to sit out in the garden and smell the smells of summer.

It’s also at this time of year that I realise I’m tired of my winter clothes. They seem drab and dreary, and I can hardly wait to wear pretty colours again.

Last spring it occurred to me that if I wanted to wear pastel colours but still be warm, there was a solution. All I needed to do was make warm clothes in pretty colours!

I made a skirt from some brushed cotton and bought some pink tights, which I also wore with my pink net skirt.

While I was tidying up the other week, I found some pale grey wool fabric that I bought to make a dress. I never got round to it, and the fabric was still there.

I plan to wear it with my pink tights and my pink shoes, and it will be just the thing until it’s warm enough to get my summery dresses out again!

It’s also a chance to try out something new. I’ve decided to make a dress with princess seams, so this post is the first of two showing how to draft the pattern.

Drafting a Dress With Princess Seams

You Will Need

Pattern paper (I find the kind with a grid on easiest to use)
Pencil
Ruler
Bodice block (there are instructions here for drafting a bodice block if you don’t have one already)
Skirt pattern (there’s one here, but I’m going to show the easiest way to make one in a minute)
A French curve is useful, but any curved edge, like a dinner plate, will do if you don’t have one.

Getting Started

There are several stages to drafting a dress with princess seams, and I should say at this point that I have cheated a little bit. Often with dresses with princess seams, the back will match the front and be made from 4 pieces. To make things easier for myself, I’ve made the back from 2 pieces.

The first task is to adapt the bodice pattern.

The second is to modify the skirt pattern.

Task 3 is to put them together, and redraw the pattern pieces with seam allowances included.

Adapting the Bodice

The thing that makes pattern drafting tricky is that women are not cylinders.

On a standard bodice block, it’s the darts that ensure that the end results allow for lumps, bumps and curves.

With a dress with princess seams, darts are not needed. It’s the shape of the pieces and the fact that there are more of them that gives the dress its shape.

Drawing pieces that are the right shape might seem like a challenge, but by using a bodice block and changing things up with the darts, it’s possible to do this quite easily.

So grab your bodice pattern and lets get started!

Drafting the Top Part of the Dress

The back will be fine to use as it is, so you can put that to one side for the moment.

Take the bodice front piece and draw round it unless it’s a spare.

Cut out the darts.

Now draw a line continuing each of the darts. Mark the point where they cross.

Find the halfway point on the shoulder. Draw a line from this to the point you just marked.

Cut along this line almost to that point.

Cut along the lines you drew from the darts almost to the same point.

If you end up with your pattern in several bits, it doesn’t matter. But it will be easier to do the next stage if you can keep it in one piece.

Now bring the edges of the side dart at the side and stick with a piece of tape. The long cut you made from the shoulder will open out.

pattern drafting dress with princess seams

Find where the pattern pieces are still joined and cut in a curve.

You now have the pieces you need for the top part of the pattern!

Drafting a the Skirt Pattern the Easy Way!

The tutorial I wrote for making a skirt pattern uses draping, but I’ve since figured out that there’s a much easier way.

Measure around your hips, your waist and from your waist to just below your knee.

Now take your waist measurement and your hip measurement and divide them both by 4.

On pattern paper, draw a rectangle that is your hip measurement divided by 4, by the length that you want the skirt to be.

If we were cuboids, this would be enough, but as we’re not, a dart needs to be added at the waist.

To work out how wide the dart needs to be at the top of the triangle, calculate the difference between your hip measurement divided by 4 and your waist measurement divided by 4.

So if your waist measurement is 80 cm, it becomes 20 cm, and if your hip measurement is 100 cm, it becomes 25 cm, and the difference between them is 5 cm.

To draw the dart, find the halfway point on the short edge of the rectangle and draw a line downwards 10 cm long.

Mark 2.5 cm on either side, then join these to the point at the end of the line to form a triangle.

If you were going to make this up into a straight fitting skirt, you would probably want to curve it a little bit on one side, but for our purposes it is fine to leave it as it is.

Adapting the Skirt Pattern

The skirt pattern will be modified in a similar way to the bodice in that the darts can be used to draw pieces that are the correct size and shape.

The first thing to do is to cut out the dart.

Now find the centre of the bottom hem and draw a line up to the bottom of the dart.

Cut along the line almost to the dart.

Bring the edges of the dart together and stick them with tape. The cut you made will open up. This could be used to make an A line skirt if you wanted to.

Draw round your skirt pattern onto pattern paper. You might want to add a bit of a curve to the hem.

drafting pattern princess seam dress skirt piece

Joining the Bodice and Skirt Pieces and Redrawing Them

At this stage, you should have 1 skirt piece and 3 bodice piece, 1 back and 2 front. The last job is to combine bodice pieces with skirt sections to make the pieces for the princess seam dress.

For this you’ll need your pattern pieces and some more pattern paper.

It will be easiest to start with the back as you’ll be cutting the skirt in half for the front sections.

Dress Back

On top of a piece of pattern paper, line up the bodice back and the skirt so that the bottom of the bodice matches up with the waist line of the skirt. You might need to overlap them a little bit. If that’s the case, then make sure that the centre line runs straight down from the bodice to the bottom of the skirt, then overlap the rest as needed.

For some mysterious reason, the bodice part of mine was a couple of cm wider, so when I drew round it, I added extra cm to the skirt.

Once you’ve drawn round it, draw round it again adding a 2 cm (3/4 inch) seam allowance.

The back piece of your pattern for your dress with princess seams is ready!

Joining the Bodice Front Pattern Pieces to the Skirt

The first thing to do is cut the skirt into 2 pieces. To do this, find the centre of the hem edge and fold from there to where the dart was. Cut along the fold. It’s a good idea to write on them which is the side piece and which is the centre to avoid getting into a muddle in a minute.

Now match the waistline of the bodice pieces to the waistline of the skirt. Check with your back section to make sure that the waist is in the same place and that the front and back are the same length. If you needed overlap the back pieces, overlap the front pieces in the same way.

Draw round them and add a 2 cm (3/4 inch) seam allowance.

Getting Ahead/ Making a Toile

I’ve discovered that there is a little bit of trial and error involved in drafting patterns yourself.

Checking the fit first is always a good idea, especially if the fabric you have chosen was expensive (this is a good idea with bought patterns too!).

One option is to pin the pattern pieces together and hold it up against yourself or pin it on to a dress form, but the safest thing to do is to make a toile. Traditionally a toile is made from muslin, but I normally use £3 a metre polycotton. If you have an old sheet or something similar, that will do nicely.

The instructions for sewing the dress with princess seams together will be in a future post, but if you want to make a head start on the cutting out, you will need:

2 back pieces, cut on folded fabric
2 front side pieces, also cut on folded fabric
1 centre front, cut on the fold

Happy pattern drafting and keep an eye out for the instructions!

Pattern Drafting: How To Draft an A Line Skirt

October 18, 2020 · Leave a Comment

This post contains affiliate links.

One of the things I love to do is make my own clothes, especially making them from my own designs.

There is nothing like trotting off out in an outfit that I’ve made myself. I like knowing that nobody else will be wearing the same as me, and I don’t care if people think I’m mad/ too old to be wearing a pink tutu with pink tights and pink shoes, or if I’ve escaped from a 50s themed tea party.

We’re supposed to pretend that clothes don’t matter and it’s what’s inside that counts. I agree to this up to a point, but remember how happy Anne Shirley was when Matthew sorted her out with a dress with puffed sleeves? I want to feel like that as often as I can!

Using a pattern can sometimes feel a little bit limiting, especially if you have something in particular in mind and you can’t find exactly what you want. One way round this is to adapt a favourite pattern. Another is to start with your own ideas and draft or drape a pattern yourself.

I’ve done this myself lots of times over the years. Sometimes things turned out very well (like this sundress). Other times they turned out less well.

But even with the things that could be labelled as disasters, I still learnt something, which makes it valuable, even if the item in question ended up as a cushion cover instead.

If you’re considering making clothes from your own designs, my advice would be #1 do it, and #2 keep things simple as far as you can.

If you’ve made clothes from commercial patterns, this will help you a lot. You can take a basic sleeve shape for example, and adapt it, or start out with a simple skirt and change it up a bit.

Having a collection of things that you know how to make, an idea of basic pattern shapes and some knowledge of how clothes are put together will help enormously.

One such thing is a basic skirt pattern. If you know how to draft one according to your measurements, you can change it however you like!

In the rest of this post, I’m going to show you how to draft a pattern for an A line skirt.

How To Draft an A Line Skirt Pattern

You Will Need

Pattern paper. Any large paper will do, but I recommend using the kind of pattern paper that has a grid marked on it. It costs a bit more but it makes things so much easier!

Tape measure

Pins

Pencil

Any kind of pattern drafting is easier with a dress form, but you can do it on yourself if you don’t have one. Just mind the pins! Alternatively you could use a friend or family member who is a of a similar size.

How On Earth Are We Going To Do This and Not End Up With Something That Looks Awful?

That’s a good question!

This is how.

The first job is to draft a straight skirt. We’ll do the front and back separately, and half of it each time. We can use the halves to draft the other halves. That way the front and the back will both be symmetrical.

Then by messing about with the darts, we can change the shape of the skirt pieces. We can use this to draft the pattern pieces for the A line skirt.

You’ll have pattern pieces for a straight skirt and an a line skirt, and you can use them however you like!

Job 1: Drafting the Straight Skirt

Drafting the Front

We’re going to draft the front and the back separately, and we’re only going to do half.

Starting with the front, pin a large piece of pattern paper at the hips on both sides. It needs to be slightly more towards the back.

If you’re using the paper with the grids on, it will be easy to check whether it is straight. Vertical lines need to be running up and down at the sides and at the centre front.

Pin the paper at the centre front, making sure that you keep the vertical line.

There will be a huge amount of bagginess at the waist, which we’re going to fix with a dart.

The dart will probably need to go about half way between the centre front and the side seam, but put it where it naturally wants to go. We’re not following any rules here about how long the dart needs to be either; just make it as long as it needs to be. The purpose of it is to remove the extra at the waist.

When you’ve figured out the dart. fold it and pin it.

Now grab a pencil and mark on the centre front and the side seam (this will be half way round your hip).

Draw on the waistline. If you doing this on yourself, you’ll be able to feel it. If you’re using a dress form, you might find it helpful to pin some ribbon or a piece of elastic around the waist.

Put it to one side.

Drafting the Back

We’re going to draft the back in the same way that we did the front.

Take another piece of pattern paper and pin it at the hips and round the back. If you are doing this on yourself, you might need somebody to help you.

Check vertical lines at the side and the centre back. Pin the centre back. Fix the bagginess with a dart. Again, this will probably need to go about half way along, but put it where it feels like it needs to go.

For larger ladies, you might find that 2 smaller darts work better.

Mark the side seam and the centre front, and the waist line.

Finishing Off the Straight Skirt Pattern

You’ll need to the following things to both the front and back pattern pieces.

Decide how long you want the skirt to be and measure down from the waist. Draw a straight line to mark the hem.

Draw the centre line and the side down to the hem.

Using the fold lines, draw the dart.

Job 2: Transforming the Straight Skirt Pattern into an A line skirt

This is where the magic happens!

Draw a vertical line from the point of the dart down to the hem.

Cut out the dart.

From the hem, cut along the line that you drew from the point of the dart. Don’t cut the whole way! Leave half a cm or so. I managed to cut right through it, hence the tape.

Now move the edges of the dart so that they are together. You could tape it so that it stays put.

You’ll notice that a huge kind of anti dart has opened up in the skirt. By closing up the dart, you’ve made the skirt fuller and it will still fit!

Draw round this to make the pattern piece for the a line skirt. I extended the waist by 2 cm and drew another line from this point down to the hem. Then I used a French curve to join the inside line to the outside one. A dinner plate will do if you don’t have a French curve.

You can use the plate/ curve to join the points of the anti dart too, or leave them straight for a different kind of hemline.

The waistline will need to curve a little bit too, upwards from the dart to the side seam by 1-2 cm.

Job 3: Draft the waistband and add a seam allowance to the pattern pieces.

Drafting the Waistband

This is optional! You might decide to line your skirt instead, in which case all you’ll need to do is make a second skirt the same as the first, just a bit shorter, and join them at the waist.

Alternatively, you could use the waistband pieces as facings instead.

Take your skirt front piece (A line version) and lay it on top of a piece of pattern paper. Trace the waist line, then the side seam about 4 cm and the same down the centre front.

Join the lower line so that it follows the shape of the waistline.

Add a 2 cm seam allowance along the top, the bottom and at the side. You won’t need one at the centre front because you’ll cut in on the fold so that it’s one piece.

When cutting out, you’ll need two.

The waistband for the back is made in the same way. The only difference here is that you’ll need a waistband for each half of the back. So when adding the seam allowance, add on 2 cm at the centre as well.

When cutting the waistband for the back out, you’ll need two left hand pieces and two right hand pieces.

Adding a Seam Allowance to the Skirt Front and Back

The skirt front will be in one piece cut on the fold, so add a 2 cm seam allowance to the side and the bottom hem.

The skirt back will be made from 2 pieces, cut on folded fabric. To this section, add a 2 cm seam allowance to both sides and the bottom hem.

So now you have a pattern for a straight skirt and an A line skirt!

There will be another post about assembling your A line skirt in a couple of weeks. Or you could give it a go yourself!

How to Draft a Trouser Pattern

June 30, 2017 · 26 Comments

How to Draft a Trouser Pattern

One of the things I love about sewing for little ones is that they don’t care about what other people think!

My youngest boy, Cosmo, is 4. He doesn’t think in terms of some things being for boys and other things being for girls, he just thinks about whether he likes them. His favourite colour is pink.

With Cosmo starting school in September, I know that these days of him being free to be just who he is in the way that only small children are are coming to an end, and try as I might to keep him this way, he will be dictated to a bit by other kids at school.

So when I had to go into King’s Lynn to rescue a pair of shoes that got left on the bus, I jumped at the chance to take my little lamb to the fabric shop and let him chose something that I could make into a pair of trousers.

Cosmo chose some fabric with the bees on, which I think will make a lovely pair of trousers for the rest of the summer!

I didn’t have a pattern and last time I made trousers, I drew round a pair of trackie bottoms. This worked out ok, but they were a bit baggy around the top.

So this time, I decided to draft a trouser pattern properly so my little boy will have a pair of gorgeous bumble bee trousers that fit his sweet little self perfectly!

How to Draft a Pair of Trousers

It’s easier than you might think to draft a trouser pattern! Although this was a pair for a little boy, the same principles apply whatever the size of the person.

You Will Need

Pattern paper or greaseproof paper, a pencil, a ruler and a tape measure. A French curve is useful but you could use a plate instead if you don’t have one. These are affiliate links.

Taking Measurements

The key to sewing clothes that fit properly is taking accurate measurements.

To draft a trouser pattern, you will need to measure:

Waist to ankle (the easiest way to do this is to dangle the tape measure upside down)
Waist to knee
Waist to hips (at the widest point)
Rise (sit on a chair, then measure from your waist to where your butt meets the chair)

Around your waist
Around the front of your hips at the widest point
Around the back of your hips
Around your knee

You’ll also need to decide how wide you want the trousers to be at the bottom.

Drafting the Pattern

The pattern will be drafted in 2 sections. There’ll be one section for the back, and one for the front. These sections will then be cut on doubled fabric, so you’ll have 2 back pieces and 2 front pieces.

Trouser Front

1. Take your pattern paper and down one edge, draw a vertical line the same length as the distance from your waist to your ankle. If you are making trousers for yourself, you might need to stick pieces of paper together.

2. On that vertical line, mark on your waist (that’s at the top), distance from waist to hips, your rise, and waist to knee.

3. Now you’re going to draw on the horizontal lines. These will go where you marked on the vertical line.

Take your waist measurement and divide it by 4. Add 1 cm for ease and draw that line at the top of the vertical line.

4. Take your front hip measurement and divide it by 2. Add 1 cm, then draw that horizontal line where you marked your hips.

5. Underneath that, where you marked your rise, draw another horizontal line the same length as your front hip measurement. This line will need to be longer, so we have to calculate the crotch extension (I wish they’d call it something else!). How long was the line you just drew? Multiply that by 0.25, then extend the rise line by that amount.

6. Now find where you marked your waist to knee measurement on the vertical line. Divide your knee measurement in half, and 1 cm for ease and draw it on.

7. At the bottom of the line, draw a last horizontal line. This will be the width you want the trousers to be at the bottom.

8. Now join the lines up! The waist to hip line will be straight.The next part, the hip to rise, will need to be curved. For this you can use a French curve, or a plate will do if you don’t have one. The rise to ankle will also be a straight line.

Don’t worry about joining it to the knee line. Just make sure that you don’t go through that line, or you’ll have issues getting your trousers on!

Drafting the Trouser Back

Drafting the back section is done in exactly the same way as the front, with 2 exceptions.

The first is that where you draw you hip line, you will need to use the measurement you took around the back of your hips, divided by 2, plus 1 cm for ease of wearing.

The other exception is that to work out the crotch extension, you will need to multiply the hip line by 0.3.

Adding the Seam Allowance

You will need to add a seam allowance to your pattern pieces. You can either draw around your pattern piece to add a seam allowance, or you could just add it in when you’re cutting out.

It’s a good idea to write on your pattern pieces whether you’ve added in the seam allowance or not to avoid causing yourself confusion if you decide to make yourself another pair at a later date.

Next week I’ll be showing you how to sew the pieces together to make the trousers!

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How to Draft a Sleeve Pattern Piece

June 20, 2017 · Leave a Comment

How to Draft a Sleeve Pattern Piece

Last week I showed how to draft a simple bodice pattern piece.

Once you have your pattern piece drafted, there are lots of possibilities for what you could make with it. You could add a skirt and turn it into a dress, change the neckline or make it into a top.

Sleeveless is fine, but depending on what you’re making, you might want to add some sleeves.

The good news is that it is easier and quicker to draft a sleeve pattern piece than a bodice!

Once you have the piece made, you can alter the length, the style and the shape of the sleeve to fit with the garment that you are making.

Drafting a Sleeve

Sleeves are an odd shape. They look nothing at all like how you would expect!

The top part needs to be curved to fit into the armhole, which is also curved.

In the past I have drawn sleeves free hand, just using a piece of string to get the size of the curved top part correct.

Unfortunately this is not very accurate and I have on occasion ended up with sleeves that were a bit of a snug fit!

Thankfully with a little bit of measuring it’s possible to get sleeves that fit your arm and fit the armhole of the thing you’re making!

You Will Need

To draft a sleeve pattern piece, you will need some large sheets of paper (pattern paper is best but you could use greaseproof paper or newspaper), a pencil and eraser and a long ruler. A French curve is also useful. These are affiliate links.

1. Draw a vertical line the same length as the distance from your shoulder to just below your armpit.

2. At the bottom of the line, draw a horizontal line the same length as the distance around the top of your arm.

3. Use a French curve to join to the top of the vertical line to the ends of the horizontal line.

4. To draw the rest of the sleeve, extend the first line. This will determine the length of the sleeve, so you will need to measure from your armpit to where you want the sleeve to end.

5. At the bottom, draw another line at right angles. This will need to be the total distance around the opening of the sleeve.Then join up the lines.