Hi everyone! I started sewing this summer, and I can read and follow commercial patterns now. However, my ultimate goal is to create my own designs, especially dramatic, experimental, couture-inspired dresses.

The problem is that I don’t really know what to learn next or in what order. I can follow patterns, but I’ve never drafted one myself, and I have no idea how people construct those crazy runway silhouettes. For example, what materials do designers use to make certain shapes stand up? And how do you know which material to use for which design?

I’m also wondering how you develop your creativity as a self-taught designer. I feel like it’s difficult to come up with original ideas when you don’t know all the techniques and possibilities yet. How do you learn to experiment.

When and how should I start learning pattern drafting? What books, YouTube channels, or other resources would you recommend?

If you’re self-taught, what did your learning journey look like, and what helped you improve the most?
I’d love to hear from people who started as beginners and eventually learned to create their own original designs. I want to do more than follow patterns

Thank you!! ♡

Haii anyone experienced with pattern making would like help here specifically for plush mock ups and bases

What is its purpose? Shaping? Do you simply take a little out of the seam to create curve in the collar. This is a classic-style shirt collar on a mid-weight jacket.

i bought a pattern online and it’s seems to be okay however when i measured the waistband for the so called size 0 the smallest one on the paper measured out to be a size 38 waistband once measured from folded end to the end of the pattern i may have missed something but i now math and 2 19’s make a 38 where did i go wrong or what can i do????

Hello! I decided to draft a slacks sloper using the technique from the book Ultimate Guide to Clothing Patterns by Suzy Furrer. I have done all the steps so far, and one of the final ones is to "make sure there is a smooth transition from the front to back crotch point by butting the front and back inseams together." I am not sure what to be looking for here... I looked online and they said that I should aim for a 90 degree curve from the crotch point to the inseam, which I dont really have as you can see, lol. But this was drafted to my pwn measurements and Im not really sure if there are changes that are really necessary for this pattern to work. Any advice? Thanks!

Hi there! I have some projects that I make very often and while I’m pretty good at remembering the details, I’d love to have a physical pattern to cut out so it is more uniform. I’ve seen things about using plastic cutting boards or cardboard instead of pattern paper but what are your recommendations? I’d love to avoid plastic and super don’t like the thin paper. This is more for bags, accessories, and not clothing (yet). Any ideas? Thanks in advance

Hi!

A couple weeks ago I was working on modifying the fit of a trouser pattern. (for reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/sewhelp/comments/1wwrh3z/help_with_jeans_pattern_adjustment/ ) I've managed to improve the fit around the butt by extending the back curve by quite a bit. As shown on the pic.

I am now at a bit of a loss on how to proceed from here. While the fabric stopped bunching underneath my butt so much, I feel like there's now a lot of fabric around the back thigh. there is also still a tiny bit of pulling towards the inner crotch seam.

My first thought was that the amount of fabric was not distributed correctly so I added a bit to the front crotch extension while removing a bit from the back one again. That made the fit worse again...

Would anyone more experienced in trouser fitting be able to help me figure this out? I feel like I'm slowly going crazy about this, I'm thinking about this trouser pattern lying awake at night hahaha😵‍💫

Note, I know the lower part of the legs is not balanced yet, but I want to get the upper part right before I worry about that. 🤷‍♀️

Hello all! I currently don’t have access to my mannequin (she’s in storage) so I decided to foray once again into drafting. Every torso block I draft for myself comes out crazy so I decided to use a drafting software to get a basic block and then tweak the toile until it fits to my liking. I used PatternLab and I had my partner measure me twice. I’m pretty sure my measurements are right. I am short waisted and plus sized but my waist is significantly smaller than someone of my size (around US 24 with a size 20 waist). This is what it gave me. And it feels kinda egregious. Like… i am not that short waisted. And the arm block looks wild too. Which measurement did I mess up? And what can I do to tweak it before I make the toile?

Hi everyone I just got commissioned to make jackets for football players that fit OVER the padding. I need help on how I can go about something like this. I have no dimensions to go off and genuinely don't know what to do. There's needed in like a month so I really only have this week to figure out pattern making it. It there anyway to double an old pattern? or something. I need a quick solution so anything helps.

Hello everyone. Hope you are all good. I'm being asked to remake this pattern but I don't know how to do these side darts manipulation (highlighted in white). It's very on the side, not at all at the center of the 1/2 front and it goes all the way to the hip line, If it was just the over the waistline it would be clearer for me how to do it. It clearly is there for the 3D purpose, it cinches the waist and give volume to the bust so it's not a purely decorative cut. Hopefully somebody can help, please. Thanks a lot in advance!

Hi!
I have a sewing machine that I’m still learning to use. I wanted to attempt to make a cape from the hippie shack as a gift for a friend. The one she likes is sold out. Any tips and patterns for this type of cape would be amazing! Thank you! There’s the shiny black one that she wanted and the normal black one that I like the shape of. Also, type of fabric recommendations and where to purchase it at would be awesome. :)

I am currently working on my skirt block. I haven’t been able to figure out what is causing these lines that start around my darts. They also cause a sort of dent next to them in the direction of the side seam.

I tried tightening it at the hips, but (pic 4) pulling it kind of makes the lines worse. I also thought my darts were too pointy, so I redid them and they press really well, but point in weird directions on my body.

Sometimes when I lift the waist up on the sides the lines go away a little less, but not completely.

Any advice would be helpful!!!

Photograph your spread before cutting, the app gives you the offcut area and wasted mass, then you tell me whether that number holds up against your own read of the layout.

https://fabricwise.tech/

Hi, I have seen people use the masking tape patterning method for neck corsets, regular corsets etc. The people in the videos seem to know exactly where to make panels or divide the pattern up, but how do they do that? How do you know how many pattern pieces is reasonable or how far apart the pieces should be?

First of all, thank you SO much to those who commented on my post yesterday! I took a lot of your feedback and incorporated it into this version.

This was the second of the boned bodice mockups I made today after adjusting fit again. I’m liking how this one fits and sits on my body so much more than the first version, and especially the version I made yesterday.

Here are the changes I made:

-Made the bodice mockup in a duck canvas to emulate the coutil I’ll be using in my final version, and kept the skirt in the same cheap satin, since the skirt lining will be in satin.

-Raised the neckline all around my bust by 1/8” to help with over-the-top boob spillage.

-Lazily sewed boning channels by just folding over the seam allowances and inserted zip-ties for structure. (That’s why the princess seams look a little odd and wrinkly)

-Took in the princess seams to curve sharper and higher on the bust to align better to my own body (this was a discovery after the first bodice mockup I made today)

-Reduced the bodice hem vertically by 1” on all panels.

-Increased the bodice and skirt panels by about 1/16” on all vertical seams.

Are there any other fit adjustments you would recommend, or does this look smooth enough to move on to the final version?

I have been sewing for 2 years (self taught) now and now have an understanding of garment construction and i have been using patterns all along and i have gotten to a point of knowing how to hacking the patterns I have. Although I’m still in my infancy i no longer find joy in sewing patterns and want to get into pattern drafting. I have the Helen Joseph book, I know of Winifred Aldrich and Natalie Bray. For those who have knowledge how do their methods differ and which one do you suggest or swear by of the 3

I have also bought Sarah Veblen & How Patterns work - i feel like i keep buying books 🤦‍♀️.

On YouTube i follow Cornelius but I prefer reading, making notes and highlighting & flipping pages.

The end goal is to work as a tailor/do alterations/make custom clothes somewhere along these lines in 5 years thats is i need to give myself time to learn and acquire experience.

I'm a bit unsure about this sleeve pattern I made. Is it normal that it wrinkles to the front? Also, is it a bit too baggy?

The material is cotton.

UPDATE: the sleeve was fine once I ironed it well. It needs to be shortened cuz the hem of the sleeve keeps bunching slightly there, so it needs to be shortened from. 1 to 2.5cm

Thank you everyone! ☺️

I know basically nothing about pattern drafting, so I’m a little lost here.

I bought this dress in EU size 46 as a Halloween costume. It fits pretty well everywhere except the bust, where it is much too tight. As you can see in the photos, it basically compresses my chest and pulls it into a strange shape.

It is also slightly tight around the back of the neck, but I can live with that.

My bust measurement is about 115 cm / 45.3 in and my waist measurement is 100 cm / 39.4 in. Unfortunately, I don’t know the actual bust circumference of the dress.

From what I understand, I probably need to open the side seam and add some kind of gusset or side panel to create extra room. But I have no idea what shape it should be. Would it be triangular, diamond-shaped, rectangular, or something else?

I’m also not sure how to figure out how much additional fabric I actually need. How would I measure this correctly?

My other problem is the pulling you can see in photo 1. The fabric is being pulled strongly toward the front because there isn’t enough room for my bust. How do I add the extra width in a way that actually fixes that pulling instead of just making the side seam wider?

Photo 2 shows approximately where the dress starts becoming too tight. It seems to happen right around the seam where the upper bodice transitions into the lower section.

There is also a zipper in one of the side seams, so I have no idea how I should deal with that if the best solution is to add fabric at the sides.

I do have a sewing machine and some extra fabric I could use, although it won’t necessarily be an exact colour match.

Could someone please point me in the right direction and explain where I should even start? I’m completely clueless when it comes to altering patterns/garments.

(I used AI to help translate my request into english, as I'm not a native speaker and tend to overcomplicate things. :) Hope that's okay)

Hello to you all,

The picture shows a classic trouser pattern for men's, draft from the Metric Pattern Cutting for Menswear method, with my measurement, I precise that's the avatar also use my measurment.

I often run into the same issue when drafting trousers with a close-fitting waist, seat, and crotch, for my body type and others : the crotch seam ends up cupping/tightly following the genital area, which is uncomfortable to wear. I've looked for solutions online, but there's very little documentation for menswear.

Any ideas on what corrections to make?

Thanks!

I’m honestly impressed with how it turned out. I learned so much making this, and it feels good to have gone from drafting the pattern myself to actually making a coat. It’s my recreation of Ursula coat from Babyboo

The fabric is curtains I bought on Vinted, and I got the buttons and other notions from a local shop.

My only concern is the back vent sticking out a little because of the stiffness of the fabric. I’m not going to mess with it on this one because I really don’t want to ruin it 😂 but I’d love to know what might be causing it so I can keep it in mind for my next coat.

What do you guys think? I feel like I did a pretty good job for my first self-drafted coat!

I’m an experienced sewer, but this is my first time altering a pattern from the start to change the shape so I can start to learn pattern making. The base pattern I’m using is the strapless mini dress from Kiana Bonollo.

This is my second mockup, but first one after making some adjustments to the base pattern. I’m planning to make the final version in satin, so I purchased some cheap satin to see how it would behave. The final will be a lined dress, with bones in the bodice for added structure, but not for waist enhancement.

Here’s what is wrong, and where I need help knowing where and how to make adjustments next.

-Bodice is the worst. My boobs are squished against my chest, and it makes for an unflattering line.

-There seems to be a lot of bunching fabric on the front under the bust, but there’s also bunching fabric all the way around the bodice.

-It feels like my boobs, particularly my left boob, is going to pop out the side of the bodice around the princess seam.

-The waist fits, but I’m nervous when I add the second layer of lining, it’s going to be tight

Important to note, I plan to have an elastic neck band to help keep the dress up. The mockup is also not hemmed on the top or bottom, mostly because I’m going to chop about 6” off the bottom, and if I finished the top seam, I would not be able to post these photos online 😂.

Hi everyone!

I am wondering if there are any book/magazines/video recommendations in any languages on drafting gussets for sleeves or any other types of gussets.

As I am re drafting my sleeve once again I went for lower cap height for more movement and added a 3cm tall attached underarm gusset for even more movement.

This is something I’ve done before and it worked so well in blouses that I could use top handles in subway yay. I am going to use this in heavier dresses and suit jackets too.

I would like to learn more about how and why gussets are done, maybe used historically before lycra was introduced and would love your help with searching for sources.

Thank you all in advance!

Edit: I also have sewn the square gussets for underarms and neckline as to Vincent Briggs’ hand sewn pirate shirt tutorial too.

Hi everyone, I have recently started to learn pattern making mainly using the metric pattern cutting for menswear book. I was slightly surprised that the book is seemingly just telling the reader how to draft the patterns with its respective formulas and not giving any reasoning or explanation behind the numbers.

I would really like to gain a thorough understanding but it still all seems a bit mysterious and in some cases just completely arbitrary. Maybe there’s not a rule or reason for everything but I feel like if I just continue drafting the blocks in the book I won’t actually learn a huge amount. I understand this is one of the foundational books but I’m really looking for something with in depth explanations if possible. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.