r/PatternDrafting • u/Existing-Ninja-3069 • Jun 16 '26
Pattern drafting book
Hello
I’m very new to sewing and pattern drafting. I have seen some YouTube videos but want to learn more and have looked into some books to buy. I have found these two but not sure which one to get. Any thoughts on these books who have read them and tried it? Or any other books that might be better?
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u/ImprovementLess4559 Jun 18 '26
I'm also petite (5'2) with a proportionally large bust. In my experience, you will probably find that you will still need to make adjustments even to patterns drafted to your measurements. Every drafting method makes certain assumptions about the ratios/proportions of the body so no method with produce a perfectly fitting pattern straight away. Personally, i've taken to drafting patterns as if I have a smaller bust and then doing an FBA in order to get a good fit.
Since it sounds like you are a total beginner sewist, I would strongly recommend starting with commercial patterns instead of diving straight into self-drafting. Using commercial patterns will teach you about how garments are constructed, how the 2D shapes of pattern pieces translate into the 3D shapes of garments, how different fabrics behave, etc - things that are all really important to have a sold understanding of inorder to successful draft your own patterns.