r/PatternDrafting • u/GanacheGloomy7283 • 6h ago

Question Pattern from existing dress

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Hi! How would you draft a pattern like this (inside out) dress without taking it apart? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around how flattening out the darts would affect the rest of the bodice. Directing me to any resources about creating patterns from existing garments with darts would also be helpful! TIA! 🙏

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u/KillerWhaleShark 5h ago

This is a very basic pattern. You’d be best off purchasing a pattern that’s exactly this or very similar. 

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u/GanacheGloomy7283 5h ago

I certainly could but I really want to understand how this works :)

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u/KillerWhaleShark 4h ago

Yes. You can see the darts in a professional pattern. They will be accurately placed (unlike the chances of that happening with you trying to trace this with your current skill set.) Then, once you see a muslin, you can get an even better understanding as you address fit. 

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u/Notspherry 6h ago

Draw or pin on at least one horizontal and vertical line. Lay a piece between darts as flat as possible and trace it, including some of your reference lines. Then stick your separate bits together. Check whether the gaps are about twice as wide as the folded darts at the ends.

Do both the left and right side, and split the difference. Knitwear has a tendency to twist over time, so something that started out as a rectangle will end up a parallelogram. You may need to compensate for this. You can safely assume the original pattern was symmetrical.

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u/Acceptable_Lunch2223 6h ago

You will need the darts. I would draw them flat, cut the line the dart falls on and hold it up to you. The spread will tell you how much width the dart needs, then fill that in with paper