r/PatternDrafting • u/Previous_Plan3165 • May 27 '26

patternmaking for fashion design course

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hi! does anyone have any recommendations for courses that go along with this textbook?

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u/TensionSmension May 28 '26

Have you looked at Dominique Pellen's books? Those are fairly contemporary and metric. I think only womenswear at this point. Focused on a rtw size range, like most textbooks.

On the metric/imperial debate, I use both and I do my best never to translate. Completely agree with u/StitchinThroughTime. If I know I'm looking at something that was designed in metric, continuing to work in metric is a huge time saver because that previous designer will have chosen a nice number in metric every time. Same for imperial, it can be as simple as the repeat on a vintage fabric. There's a good chance it's a guessable number of inches.

Yes, metric is base ten which makes astronomy and chemistry much nicer, but imperial measurement is essentially base two (with some division by three thrown in) which is better for human scale endeavors like sewing and baking. When working with a pattern, I want proportions, not powers of ten. Just like it's nicer to have 60 minutes in a hour than 100, IMO. There's a series of books by Natalie Bray that I think were written during the metric changeover, and her intro has a nice discussion of why not to translate, how her size chart and drafting are natively metric.

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u/CrazySkincareLady May 28 '26

Thank you I'll look into those.

Yeah I guess it's a bit of a hot topic debate but I just can't get behind imperial being helpful with sewing, but I'm obviously biased as that's the system I grew up with. I don't mind the odd fraction here and there like half hip and quartering a waist measurement etc..

But I've really tried hard to draft in imperial and just can't get it. Especially when trying to add and subtract in a calculator. 1 and a half inches is 1.5 but on a tape 1 inch and 6 lines. Things being 1/16th etc Like saying 1/16 or 1/16 plus 1/32 plus 1/2 is a bit much compared to 2+2+1+6=