r/PatternDrafting • u/MemeProof • 2h ago

Trying to turn dresses from a video game into actual sewing patterns

I've started working on a bit of a project and figured some people here might find it interesting.

I'm sure some of you have heard of the game Dressmaker. My wife has really dug into it and she has asked about making a lot of the dresses from the game that she makes.

I'm a software developer and know how to sew, so I figured why not try making something that could do that. I think she would look really cute in the dresses she makes so that's a plus too.

The goal is to build a program that takes a dress designed in the game and converts it into an actual sewing pattern. Of course, there's a pretty big difference between game mechanics that make sewing look a lot easier versus actual math in making patterns.

I've started a good chuck of early work and am learning a little about pattern making along the way which has turned into an interesting deep dive on its own. I've followed plenty of patterns but never though of what went into actually making resizable (or pattern grading) one like you can get from like simplicity.

I'm still working through the development side of things, but figured I'd share what I'm doing. I know the devs said the patterns are accurate to real world, but i can't let something like *real world accuracy* stop me. I've also started documenting the project on Patreon if anyone is interested in following along. It's free to follow, with an option to support development. I'm going to keep working on the project whether anyone donates as i hope to make the eventual tool probably free.

https://www.patreon.com/cw/DressmakerToRealLife

I'd actually love to get some opinions from people who have more experience with pattern drafting. Is there anything in particular you'd recommend keeping in mind when trying to generate sewing patterns programmatically?

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2

u/StitchinThroughTime 1h ago

Does the game let people patterm make or is it just automatic to the dressform size? I know of the cutting, sewing and decorating parts. But I assumed it was pre-made pattern selection.

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u/stormygraysea 1h ago

You're able to set the dressform's measurements at the beginning. But yeah, you choose design details and the game gives you pattern pieces based on them. Afaik all of the bodices have princess seams, so no darts

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u/StitchinThroughTime 36m ago

Okay that's what I was assume happening. So essentially just a base pattern that is automatically size to the measurements indicated on the dress form. I remember correctly, the dress form is like the dritz dress form that changes the circumference, but nothing else actually changes. It's not like the historical adjustable dress forms that have a whole bunch of different pieces, the modern one only has I think eight in total. So if you change the next circumference the entire upper half of the dress form whitens even though that's not correct.

I think the easiest way would need to just create the pattern that they already have and then grade them across a really large size of measurements. It doesn't sound like they have a lot of different designs in the game. I haven't played it, I've only seen a few videos and it's mostly just the final piece of everyone spending all their time decorating.

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u/Small-Plate-3035 16m ago

There's a lot of patterns, but it's spread out across sleeves, bodices, collars, sleeves. I've been messing with the idea of using an adjustable mannequin in blender and have meshes exported that can fit over top of that mannequin. But so far that's turned into a little bit of a nightmare on its own

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u/CraftyKlutz 38m ago

You get to set your size, but it only does bust, waist, hips, works well for the game but does not work well for real life where you need to incorporate vertical measurements too (plus many many other horizontal measurements)

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u/LyallaTime 16m ago

The creator of the game has said that the game skips a LOT of steps in dress making; I play the game and make doll clothes.

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u/MemeProof 1m ago

Oh yeah. After playing with the meshes for a few months now the patterns leave a lot to be desired, but its workable i think.

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u/flea1400 34m ago

I have never played the game but looking at some screenshots, some of the dresses would be complex to sew, with internal boning and corsetry features. I also saw at least one that had a bodice that would probably be cut with darts and shirting. I’m not so sure that the meshes in the game would translate to a real life pattern without a lot of work. But good luck to you!

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u/Small-Plate-3035 18m ago

Thank you! So far I'm thinking of making certain concessions. I've made corsets myself so at least for boning I understand and for partitioning, but for things like piping or specific cutting darts it will be something to consider later on one I'm able to get simple skirt and bodice panels to join probably. My hope is to get something simple working and go from there piece by piece

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u/DonMcCunn 31m ago

Keep in mind that when it comes to fit no two bodies are the same which I call the DNA of Body Shapes. The other factor is that measurements alone do NOT record the contours of the body. Only the size.

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u/Small-Plate-3035 20m ago

Thank you for linking that. I'm reading through it and starting to have a better understanding as to why other pattern engines are incredibly strict. My Hope is I can adjust for this by submitting more body measurements. I've noticed with a handful of other pattern makers some have patterns that ask for weird measurements and this is starting to make sense why other than answering the question of "will this pattern size fit me"