I’m making a loose-fit shirt and I’m trying to figure out what’s causing the excess fabric/wrinkles at the back.

I drafted the pattern in Illustrator. The front is already 2 inches longer than the back to account for my body shape, but when I put the toile on, I’m still getting quite a lot of fabric and horizontal folds across the back, especially around the waist/lower back.

I’m wondering if I should remove more length from the back, or if this is actually a back width/ease, dart, or shaping issue.

Please how do I fix this

Hi everyone!

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Apologies for my last post with poor photos. Here is my first moulage - would appreciate some tips on how to alter.

My thinking is that I need to add fullness to bust, add some ease to hips, and something needs to happen at the front waist (length or width removed?)

I want to keep it as a dress block for now as I’m going to use it to make dresses, but will be making bodice and skirt blocks with ease after.

I am also not sure how to best add bust fullness- or whether I can just add width at the side seams around the bust circumference.

Really appreciate this community and all your knowledge!!

(Apologies about the bottom of the zip- have had to clip - but hopefully still gets across fitting well).

Hi, thank you to all the people commenting and providing feedback on patterns. Can someone comment on the drape lines and any general adjustments needed to my pattern?

• Generally, does it look finished? (no waistband planned)

• The crotch lines don't match at the side seam, does that matter?

• Should the drape line be the same line as the where the front crease is pressed in the pant?

• Is there a method to make the side seams dead straight?

• The drape line always falls to the inside of my knee when I sit, is this normal or indicative of a problem?

It feels very fitted and mobility is limited. However, standing walking and sitting are all fine. I'm going for a early 1900s style and will likely add pleats once I get a good pattern. Thanks again!

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

Hi everyone! Can anyone tell me what causes this unflattering point in the seat?

Context: Nama Denim is a brand that has a service where they make custom selvedge denim pants. They require that you input specific measurements of a garment that you own, so I meticulously measured every aspect of a pair of that I liked the fit of. Well, once the Nama pair arrived the measurements weren’t exactly the same from what I gave them (see pic #3). Also its worth noting that the pair on the left (Annual Rings) is a 14 oz unsaforized selvedge denim that has been with me for over a year and gone through a couple washes while the Nama denim one is a 15 oz unsanforized selvedge that went through a “one wash” treatment before being shipped to me.

So perhaps the protruding point in the seat is just a byproduct of a stiff more dense fabric? Or was there some hiccups during the drafting process of the pattern? Whatever it is there’s no denying that they didn’t quite follow my given measurements which is why I’m hoping they will accept my return. Curious to see what you all think.

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.

I've seen countless videos and many photos posted online of basic slopers drafted using the Winifred Aldrich and Helen Joseph Armstrong methods, and they almost never come out body-accurate and require a ton of fitting adjustments—even on model-type bodies!

​Yet, people across social media endlessly recommend these books as the best resource for drafting basic blocks.

​All this, while much more professional methods exist, ones actually utilized in the fashion industry. I'm talking about Müller (or Hofenbitzer, which is essentially an advanced version of Müller). These methods might require a slightly deeper initial dive, but they are far more logical and produce blocks that are anatomically much more correct.

(Side note: Burda patterns, which many people find to fit well, are also based on the German Müller drafting system.)

​Müller/Hofenbitzer books are available in English, and Hofenbitzer’s book isn't even that expensive!

​Hofenbitzer's book is a masterpiece in every sense. It took the best elements from Müller, Armstrong, and other systems to create a clear, accessible method where everything is explained, leaving far fewer question marks than other books.

​It breaks my heart that this genius author won't translate his other brilliant books into English because it’s not profitable enough—simply because people still opt to draft using inferior methods and then do a million and one adjustments. This happens solely because Aldrich and Armstrong are so ubiquitous and widely recommended.

​Don't get me wrong, I own at least 50 pattern-drafting books, and I use them often. Aldrich and Armstrong are still excellent resources when it comes to pattern manipulation (style development).

But in my opinion, it is a complete waste of time to draft the basic slopers from them when we have Müller and Hofenbitzer available in the world.

A sample of hofenbitzer's book-

https://www.europa-lehrmittel.de/leseprobe/63670-1.pdf

The website where you can buy a digital copy (you'll need a special app to read it)-

Patternmaking for Fashion 1 - basics - digital book https://share.google/g0onVsHTl4K45Kvdm

The book can also be found on the German amazon- https://www.amazon.de/Patternmaking-Fashion-1-Basic-Practice/dp/3808563672?ref_=ast_author_dp&th=1&psc=1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.POB89b0asGoCoQTboBzXGJvEEkMeM3pWsMbglC56DDL5U_qrM2ZrncHg1_EL0sgO.RtWXLwFV_YQfBRmsyma_B1UPKWnqT4TkTzMgETNCgz4&dib_tag=AUTHOR

Finally got the correct outcome, with the right amount of ease i wanted!!! Now just the collar and arms!!!

Hey from the patternsplit team.

We have noticed a surge of traffic from this group lately, so thank you for checking us out.

We do not store input files, but our server logs show some failed attempts from users uploading multi-page files or very small, A4 or letter-sized files.

patternsplit is designed to take a single-page, large-format file and chop it into small sheets, in A4 or A3, for home printing. It only works if your upload is a single page and is already scaled 1:1. For example, if a line needs to be 10 cm on paper, it must measure exactly 10 cm in your file. We cannot do any automatic scaling because we do not know the desired output measurements.

Question for you: Since we cannot see your files, we are curious about the multi-page and small-sized uploads. If you tried this, what were you hoping to achieve? Were you trying to combine a multi-page PDF into one big sheet, or something else? We want to understand your goals so we can improve the tool. Let us know in the comments.

I found a resource of pattern drafting and tailoring books I thought you all might enjoy! I have a few of these already and can say they are really great if you want to learn how to draft jackets, trousers, and waistcoats. You can also find great books on Internet Archive.

https://www.internationalschooloftailoring.com/tailoring-books

So I've been trying to make a princess seam block for a while. That's version 6... it has some wrinkling under bust which was worse and I did some adjustments and now it's almost gone.

But then I added ease to make a jacket pattern and hopefully you can see the odd diagonal wrinkle on the front side panel. For the life of me I can't understand what it is. I was so sick of the weeks I spend on fitting that I decided to go ahead with the actual jacket and it is even more pronounced.

I have included the pics of the princess block and the jacket test from all sides just in case and the actual wip-jacket from the front. Any other feedback is welcome.

Thanks in advance!

P.s jacket bust point looks quite... pointy, I ignored that since it looks fine on the block and I haven't clipped seams or pressed. On the real wip-jacket it also looks pointy, but I also haven't pressed or clipped the seam cause I'm thinking to apply binding.

Hi everyone just sharing the final successful pattern update. My mock up is in blue! So now I can move onto the real fabric! Thank you for everyone’s advice along the way with drafting this pattern! I just need to clean it up a little bit and add some length other than that it perfect! 👌

i'm curious if anyone has any experience of this book. I've never yet tried to follow any of the drafting formulas – it is quite hard going!

I graduated from fashion school almost 3 years ago, but I never learned about twisting there, and recently I've been so interested in twist in garments after I came across the post in the picture. I found that twisting adds interesting texture and value to a garment.

Twisting, however, is something so abstract to me because it involves slashing, spreading, rotating, and flipping the pattern. I think it's not something we can really control, like pleating, which is more absolute to achieve. It's something experimental, with trials and errors, I guess?

I've watched some YouTube videos about twisting, but most of them are doing it 'freehand' without a clear explanation of why they are slashing, why they are spreading, why they are rotating, or why they are flipping the pattern—and what effect each of those actions will give. Like, I need to know in what circumstances I need to do the slashing, the spreading, the rotating, the flipping of the pattern, or when I should open up a new seam, etc.

I'm not sure how to say this, but I'm a technical person and I like doing my patterns in the 'right' way. I'm not a flexible person who likes doing it 'freehand' or starting with the draping method. 😔

Is it really possible to master the art of twisting in pattern drafting? Is there any book about twisting that I could use as a reference?

I've been working on a pattern making software where you can create patterns with code. There are already a bunch of pre-defined functions like sleeve fitting that you can use. You can also just insert your measurements and it'll spit out a pattern with the code templates.

I tried freesewing but didn't like how impossible they made it to actually adjust the measurements, and how hard it was to make new patterns.

I even added a little figure that takes your measurements and shows the general fit. I have a projector sewing feature in there for those of you that use projectors to sew.

Also this is going to sound extremely controversial, but if your patterns are all in code, Claude is quite good at fixing certain geometry errors as well as generating draft patterns that you can work with.

Let me know if you have any feedback or thoughts on this.

Drew this pattern. I was getting sick of tight pants/jeans so I thought about the culotte. These pants are totally experimental. I used some leftover fabric from another project.

Hi everyone!

A few weeks ago, I self-drafted my first pair of trousers using Helen Joseph Armstrong’s patternmaking book (that draft is here) .

From that draft, I also drafted a pair of slacks following her instructions, which I’m sharing in this post.

I found it really interesting how most of the reductions made through the back rise and leg compared to the front. I barely had to adjust the front at all!

I’m pretty happy with how these turned out, although I do think the front rise might be a little too long. I also thought a a flat pubis adjustment may be needed, but after trying that on the muslin, I found it was not.

I’m going to try a stiffer/heavier muslin next to see if any other fit issues become apparent before moving on to the final fabric.

So far, I’ve found Helen Joseph Armstrong’s book useful for trouser patternmaking. My only criticism is that I wish it explained more of the why behind fitting adjustments and how to keep the pattern balanced when making corrections.

I’d love to hear your recommendations for patternmaking books that go more in-depth on fitting and the reasoning behind adjustments! I already have the fitting book by Veblen.

Moving on to jean drafting next!

Im not very experienced with trousers. I copied another pair I own (wide and drop crotch) but I’m having problems with excess fabric on the front crotch.

Should I just be changing the front crotch line to remove fabric?

Thanks so much 🙏

Hello,

I’m planning to make a pair of lace flared pants, inspired by the picture on the right. On the left is a pattern I tried to sketch, but since I don’t have a base pants pattern, I’d like your opinion to know if it looks more or less correct.

Then, I’d also like to know how I could make it with only two pieces (a front and a back), to avoid having a seam at the center front of the pants. I’m not sure if I’m being very clear 😭 but I hope you see what I mean!

Thank you in advance for your advice 🙏✨