How to draft a pattern for bodice, dress, skirt, or trousers | eTelestia Top

How to draft a pattern for bodice, dress, skirt, or trousers

Friday, 28 March 2014

There are some basic and crucial steps to make a garment of good fit. Taking the bodice measurements correctly is the first step.

I cannot stress how important it is to know how to take your measurements correctly. If you are new in pattern making, take some time to study and understand this well. Your measurements will be used to create your basic block.

Whether making a bodice block, a dress block, a skirt or trousers, you will need to make first a good fitting basic block.

The basic block is the base of your pattern it is like a tight fitting garment, with no style, that represents the shape of your figure. Making a nicely fitting basic block is the first step to making beautifully fitting garments.

However, this may sound easier than it really is. I am sure that you have experienced this yourself when you go to shops and try out garments that may pull or wrinkle in the wrong places and you hopelessly try to make them fit, but they just won't.

Once you are sure and confident that the basic block you have created corresponds to the figure, you can then move on to what is known as style adaptation.

The style adaptation is a series of design manipulations that will bring your block to the final style of your garment, eg. loose fitting blouse with gathers, blouse with yoke, a vest etc. All these styles could be created from the same basic block by applying different style adaptations.

With the change in fashion trends you will find that there are numerous style adaptations that can be applied and very often the list might seem endless.

However, the more experience you will acquire, the more you will find that the basic principles are the same. If you manage to master correctly and accurately these basic principles you will be able to make any pattern no matter how fashion changes.