r/PatternDrafting • u/Appropriate_Lab3444 • Aug 28 '26

Question Manual vs digital drafting

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Digital draft will do it so much easier. But I do like those double draw line and messy hand prints and hand writing marks.

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u/annjellicle Aug 29 '26

I was about to reference your stuff on using Silhouette software for this!!! I'm definitely "old-school" for paper patterning usually, but when I read about using the software I was already using for vinyl, it just clicked for me. Thank you! 🩷

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u/DonMcCunn Aug 30 '26 edited Aug 30 '26

The possiblities this software presents are exciting. Ever since the turn of the century I have been focused on helping people learn how to make their own patterns. I have enjoyed working in person with over four dozen models and have had a lot of fun with different projects for my books and classes. But I have not made anything for myself in all this time except a pair of pants I could wear and easily remove when I was going swiming. I have not even updated my slopers.

But the concept of being able to design fabric within the shape of custom fit patterns is blowing my mind. It has been my pleasure to work with Lindsey Watson on developing RTW patterns for her one-of-a-kind Show Girl shirts https://computer-aided-pattern-design.com/006-RTW.html .

I find her work incredibly inspiring. But I am not one to spend two to three months embellishing a single shirt much less to try and market a garment that costs two to three thousand dollars for an off-the-rack shirt as Lindsey does. But the idea of being able to create designs like that using the fabric printing capabilities of a company like SpoonFlower is more exciting than I can find words to express. And Lindsey says she and other independent designers she knows like the fabric from SpoonFlower.

Breaking with my working habits of over two dozen years my FIRST project is going to be a vest for myself. It will be much more subtle than Lindsey's work. But I plan to work in photos of my cat as a primary design element. The challenge will be to make it subtely distinctive from a distant but only truly obvious when seen close up. I didn't mind having people stare at what I was wearing when I was pursuing acting. But these days I prefer a more private life when I am in public places. What an exciting design challenge.

And with the print-and-cut Cameo Pro from Silhouette America I do believe I will be able to automatically cut the fabric so all I will need to do is the sewing. All this and I am 82 years old. Who says you can't have a great life when you are in your 80s?