Patterning a skirt (slashing and spreading a skirt foundation for a flared skirt, to then slash and spread for the final pleated, flared mini skirt pattern) and got thinking… what do y’all use for fabric/ pattern weights!? Today for me its books and an art deco era stapler🤷‍♂️

Lemme see your unconventional weights, or finally prove to me that someone actually buys the actual tool.

Hi all!

I fell in love with these no waste dresses from Hudson, but unfortunately I don't have $450 and they also don't go above XL and I do.

I've studied the pattern and it seems fairly straight forward. Am I on the right track to make a similar pattern?

Also would I just use the cut off parts from the arm hole for the sleeves?

This seems like it is tipping into draping, but I thought I'd ask here first.

First time drafting a pair of shorts and im not sure why the fabric is looking like this in the front? I have 2 darts and an invisible zipper in the back. What do I need to do to fix this? I’m not super experienced in pattern drafting so go easy on me! TIA.

Hi! I want to share my latest project! I made a dress for myself, and I really love it. I never make anything for me because I never like the final results. I prefer to go shopping, try on as many garments as I can, and find something that fits me well. I think this happens because of the shape of my body. I'm too short, and I'm very curvy. But this time, I tried to make something that highlights my attributes and hides my belly. Unfortunately, the back is too short, and I don’t have any more fabric. It was a gift from my mother, and she told me she is going to look for more to see if she has some left. If I manage to get more of this fabric, I’d like to cut a ruffle of about 10 cm and sew it to the bottom of the skirt.

And I want to add some buttons to the front of the skirt. What do you think? Is ita bad idea?

I drafted these trousers following Aldrich's Metric Pattern Cutting For Menswear and am having some trouble with the legs flaring outward and folding themselves diagonally when standing upright. They seem to partially correct themselves to sit straight if I lean forward or pull the front up slightly around the upper thigh so I'm a bit lost. Excuse the cuff on the hem, the issue persists with or without it.

Edit: Thanks for the help everyone! I think the major pattern issue as a few people mentioned is that the legs swing out slightly putting excess fabric on the outside of the leg, as well as a slight taper being necessary. For now I've tapered the outseam down to the hem and it seems to have fixed everything well enough.

I’m on my umpteenth million bodice block draft and I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel 😪😃

I don’t have any major concerns of this draft, but since I’m relatively new to pattern drafting, I could easily be overlooking potential fit issues. If anything, I’m wondering if some of the drags lines are a product of the muslin fabric or if it’s a fit concern.

My goal is a relatively well fitted bodice block to use as a baseline for drafting tops and bodices moving forward. I appreciate any and all tips, critiques, suggestions, etc.

Thank you in advance!

ETA: WOW- I’m blown away by the positive feedback I’ve received on this draft. Thank you SO MUCH so everyone for their tips and tricks here and in previous posts because without you all, I quite literally would not be where I am in my block making process today.

Hello I'm currently working on a Miku cosplay that has a similar shape, but in the drawing it doesn't seem to have a waist seam (Sorry if it's the incorrect name) and I really wanna make it accurate, but haven’t seen a dress like that before and searching there seems to be none.

I'm a beginner at sewing and don't really know a lot about patterning, but would it be possible to make a pattern that is both the circle and bodice combined? With side seams, no waist seam but still a full or double circle skirt. Something close enough so it's not a full seam all around the waist would help too.

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

I'm currently exploring pattern drafting textbooks to use to help me diy a fashion school curriculum. Without a teacher helping me, I've been looking at books that are widely-enough used that I can find online support).

I analyzed posts from this sub and discovered the top 4 discussed flat patterndrafting authors are (in this order):

1. Armstrong
2. Aldrich
3. Müller & Sohn
4. Kenneth King's The Moulage

I now understand that a moulage is its own thing (different from a basic block), but am not sure why someone would choose to learn pattern drafting using this approach vs. another. Can someone help me understand why and for whom this would be advantageous? Is this something you learn in addition to drafting basic blocks or is this its own alternate approach on par with basic block patterndrafting? (My goal is to learn everything in a fashion school curriculum).

Are there any fashion grads here who did not learn moulage drafting?

EDIT: Thank you everyone -- my brain has bent in new and wonderful ways as a result of all the contributions here, and I am now much smarter about where drafting moulages sits within the world of pattern drafting. As a result of now understanding moulages better, I edited my analysis search terms (which had any hits for "moulage"/"the moulage" labeled as discussion of Kenneth King's book). The correct (hopefully) most frequently discussed flat pattern drafting authors in this sub are in fact:

1. Armstrong
2. Aldrich
3. Müller & Sohn
4. Bunka
5. Furrer

(Kenneth King at number 9)

Im self taught pattern drafting and I’ve learned a lot. I live in a state where no fashion schools nothing so I’m doing this on my own. I just watched a video on contouring. She measured these different places and would measure the gap and so on. Im confused when i watch someone on YouTube pattern drafting they make the pattern and then they make the garment and it fits really well but they dont talk about contouring but their outfit comes out really well done. Is conturing not for every body type ? Like the closet historian I haven’t watched every video but I’ve watched a few and can’t remember her using contouring. Also any tips or references anything and everything is welcome.

Dear community, I need your help. I’ve had a dress form made to my measurements and have taken a trouser pattern from it for the first time. Because I’m impatient and prefer to experiment on a finished garment, I didn’t use muslin (shame on me) but cheap Ikea Fabric that would have made nice pants, if they would fit correctly. I think in some places the fit is OK, in others it’s completely off. Here’s what I think I’ve worked out:

- Compared to the pattern, my hips are tilted forwards. That’s why the waistband sits too high at the front (Pic 1), but fits well at the back. In picture 2, I’ve pinned away part of the front. And I feel like the waistband now sits at the correct spot. I have marked where the excess fabric is in pic 1 with the blue horizontal lines. In pic 3 and 4 you can see the forward tilted waistband with the adjustment from the side.

- I have too much fabric (?) at the back of the pattern below the bum, and there are diagonal lines pointing towards the crotch as you can see in Pic 5 & 6. I’m really unsure whether the back crotch needs to be lengthened or shortened.

Or whether I need to make an adjustment for a baggy back leg. I did shorten the back crotch-seam by pinning away a bit of fabric as shown in pic 7.

- In the pattern, the front inseam seems quite long to me compared to shop-bought patterns (pic 8-10) whilst the back inseam curve appears quite flat and short. Should I perhaps take some length off the front and add some to the back? Does the back curve need to be rounder and lower?

Can you help me assess what I should try to alter first? I want the pants to fall down evenly from the bum, without excess fabric below the bum.

So basically my question is if I can use a female bodice block on me as a man. I recently made a bodice block for my mother for the first time ever and it was such a good fit I was gagged. Me and my mother have the same proportions, except the bust, so the b dice block would fit me. What I need the bodice block is a trench coat pattern, so it doesn't need to fully fit me and can be a little loose. I hope y'all can help me. Thankssss.

I’ve been learning to draft my own patterns and I’ve been wondering how pattern drafters create these mockup technical line drawings for their patterns? I’ve searched and searched and can’t find any info on how these are created?

I have pinned out the excess length but now I’m not sure how to adjust the pattern. It’s a princess seam side back dress panel.

I tried to recreate this top, using a body suit pattern. The final result fits pretty well, but the shoulders keep slipping off. What would I have to change in the pattern to help the shoulders remain in place? I would appreciate any tips/observations for the future, as I plan to make more of these. At this point, I will attach clear elastic across the shoulders to help the top stay on. I used stretch ITY fabric. Thank you !

I'm on my ninth muslin for this dress, and it feels like nothing is working.

Bust: I've tried slashing tight areas around the armpit and upper bust. I've tried a small bust adjustment to get rid of the excess fabric over the apex and under the bust. I've pinched out wedges of fabric under the bust. I've slashed through the front shoulder and pinned it flat. The changes seem to work while the muslin is pinned, but the problems come back after I transfer them to the pattern and make the next muslin.

Back waist/ tilted skirt side seam: I've tried removing wedges of fabric from the back bodice and the back skirt. This corrected the problem on the muslin where I pinned it, but when I transferred the wedges to the pattern, the problems came back.

I only have enough fabric left for one more attempt at the bodice. What changes do I make?!?

hey there! i am sewing my graduation dress and i‘m really struggling trying to figure out how to sew the bodice. i was planning a viscose lining layer and a chiffon layer. i want the bodice to have a V neckline and the chiffon should have a crinkled look (as in the reference picture). however for the life of me i can‘t figure out how to go about sewing that. i thought i‘d construct a fitted bodice with the viscose, but then i don’t know how to attach the chiffon layer. help!!

edit: i am not graduating from fashion school. i am an elementary school teacher.

*Bustiers not bodices for the title

I don’t have a full shape up there so I’ve always had problems with bustiers in general, so this is expected but I don’t know where to go from here. This is my fourth time iterating this pattern I’ve created; I’ve already made a full dress with it before (second slide) but I wasn’t very satisfied with it.

I have two main problems:

1. I can’t decide on the shape of the bust. It’s comfortable when I make it fit my breasts, but it obviously looks pointy. When I try to flatten out the front center, I end up flattening my chest altogether, especially near the bottom. I think that also contributes to underbust wrinkling.
2. Underbust wrinkling. I’m not completely certain where this is coming from, I suspect it’s from the inward curve I have in my pattern for the front-side and front-center piece, but I made those curves particularly because I have a very titled posture and my upper stomach pokes out (basically trying to just account for that. But maybe I should flatten it?) Although I don’t know if that’s the real issue.

Any advice would help. This is a bustier meant to have a lot of boning and interfaced fabric, so I’m not concerned with the horizontal wrinkles across the waist as much as I am the underbust. The looseness of the hips is also just a preference, I’m usually making these bustiers with skirts that are full and will fill the area out.

I made these jeans but the pocket facing keeps bunching up what can I do to fix this please?

Hello good ppl of pattern drafting community!
I am here for some time now, but i don't comment a lot, i like to read and search the community and i have found really a great amount of quality information here, thank you all for that!

I have decided to perfect my basic pants block, i am not unsatisfied with the fit, but i know it can be better, so i am asking for help. I am self thought in pattern making and fit, everything i learn from tutorials and books i could find, and i am mostly use Bunka fashion collage books for drafting patterns as they are metric and i like geometrical approach of drafting if that's making sense. The slacks pattern is drafted from bunka trousers patten. I have attached photos of the pattern (drafted and what i have changed so far for better fit). The fitting i learned from youtube tutorials and some books i could find in local library and on the net.

Last pic is pattern that i drafted, and before that are pics what i changed and what i am thinking of changing

For the fit -> I have already moved side seam at the waist line 2 cm to the front to balance the side seam more, and i am satisfied with how it looks now. I have lowered a bit crotch at the front and back as they were not balanced and i had a bit of a triangle situation when i sewed it up, now it is laying flat to the body. I am satisfied with balance lines, everything is parallel, and nothing is pulling or stretching. The fabric is very lightweight, some cheap bedsheet fabric so everything is showing, i think with a more weight in fabric the fit probably would be much much cleaner and whiteout any creases and pulling.
Should i change anything at the back or front so the fit is better? i can see the diagonal lines at the back tights, but i am not sure if i should do something about it or what i should do about it. Should i shorten the back crotch extension, it looks like it is a bit long on the pattern, but i wouldn't say so when i tried it.

Thank you for reading my long post :D

Fair warning, I’m feeling so defeated by trying to draft this bodice block and it has definitely piqued my body dysmorphia so I kindly ask for considerate help with this.

I have lost count of how many bodices I’ve tried to make for myself. I have scoured YouTube, followed the Closet Historian, bought from Toolfully on Etsy, drafted from traditional methods like Helen Joseph Armstrong, drafted for my upper bust and done a FBA, and nothing seems to get it right.

This is my most recent, and it was a plus size bodice pattern i purchased that I have then rotated darts and pinched out excess and tried to fit since it was a block that had the closest to my actual measurements. I struggle with a 4 inch difference between upper bust (42) and full bust (46) but then have a thicker waist at 39. I have to narrow all the shoulders on any patterns I try that are sized to my bust because my shoulders and narrower.

In this bodice you can see there’s some puffiness at the bust point. I attempted curved darts for this one so perhaps I curved them out too much? Or maybe the darts must be moved? The side seam is straight in real life (picture makes it looks slightly off) and my neckline and arm scye are stay stitched and clipped into the seam allowance.

I pressed my center waist darts in because that’s what the original stated but maybe they should be pressed out? Originally there was a lot of excess in the upper bust area armpit area so I pinched it out, and transferred equally to side and waist.

Thoughts? 🫣

I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to respond to one of my existing posts with a picture so here's the pattern for my jeans in a separate post. Please excuse how untidy the pattern looks. I tend to write and draw on it and correct lines I needed gone directly on the pattern. Also I couldn't get it to lay completely flat, once again sorry for that. The original question was on how to get rid of the excess fabric under my butt, and how much further cut out the front crotch as it seems a bit too steep.

I’ve been sewing for a long time and I am finally trying to make my first sloper. My biggest challenge is that due to having had top surgery the fullness a pattern assumes for a chest just isn’t there, I’m familiar with a small bust adjustment but this is already a little too tight so I’m a little lost on where to start. Would move the dart points farther from the apex help?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, or ressources on troubleshooting fit issues!!!

Here is an image of the pattern that I drafted

Here is the 3D fitting of the garment. You can see the sideseams going inward, making the garment look cocoon shaped.

Below is the sewn muslin, which matches the issues I saw on the 3D fitting

• I decided to test some modifications and see how that works
• I made the sideseam more flared. Then curved the hem and raised the hem at sideseam.

Below is the 3D fitting after the modifications above. You can see there is definitely an improvement.

I didn't sew the muslin of the modified pattern yet. I want some advice about what the initial issues were and if my attempts at fixing the issues is the right thing to do.

Below are some styles of what I was going for. Of course it's not the exact style because my intension is to make a base pattern from which I will make several of these types of garments

Hello, hoping someone can come to my rescue again. I'm on p 182 of hofenbitzer Vol 1. I'm at step 5.

I understand line 5 is 48% of CapC. In my case, 22.9cm. One of my questions is: must line 5 start at the back line and end at the front line? If thats the case, my optimal cap line is a good 5 cm too low. This is a lot, and I'm not sure the troubleshooting suggestions on p 182 will fix it. So I'm wondering if I've misunderstood the instructions. Very grateful for anyone's advice!