well-suited blog - fashion design, illustration, pattern making.

Pattern Puzzle - Issey Miyake Single Twist

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Does anyone remember this little pattern puzzle from last year? It's been a long time waiting in the wings for posting. An innovation on an existing theme, this single twist is ingenious in that a cowl is built as part of the twist pattern. The final effect being a more subtle twist with a relaxed fit. If you'd like to learn my method for creating Twist Drape Patterns I have a detailed worksheet for making Jersey Twist Patterns. For just a few dollars you'll get the same training you'd get if you came to the workshop in my studio. My Knit Block is also available as a PDF download.

Issey Miyake single jersey twist pattern.

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Fitting Commercial Patterns - FBA

Saturday, April 09, 2016

Fitting Commercial Patterns is a very popular workshop for home sewers and textile teachers. This week I've been going all-out to improve the workbook materials for this workshop in preparation for some professional development training I'm delivering in Melbourne next week to the Victorian VET textile teachers. I've decided to share a section of that new workbook in this post, covering the Full Bust Adjustment (FBA) on an existing shirt pattern.

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Pattern Fix - Back Dress too Long

Saturday, April 02, 2016

How many times have you experienced this; fabric pooling at the back waist in your dresses and shirts? Well I have the Pattern Fix for that! Unfortunately there is little we can do to save the sample, but we can do the pattern alteration to make sure it doesn't happen again.

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Print and Plaid Trend - Design Development

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Waistcoats

This has to be one of the best things to do! Endless ideas, not all of them good, but a good chance I'll like at least one of them enough to make it. The Print & Plaid Trend is one of my long time favourites. I suppose that means it's less a fashion trend and more a personal preference. You can learn Fashion Design Development and all the rest at the studio or in your classroom.

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Understanding Trend Forecast - Perforated Fabric

Saturday, March 19, 2016

If you have a keen interest in Fashion Design and would like to understand Trend Forecast, this post makes the connection between different sources of information used to verify fashion trends for each new season. I have trend boards featured on my tumblr blog, some with interesting design developments. And here at the studio I teach a workshop, Fashion Design Portfolio, that covers seasonal trends and design development for the fashion industry. This is my Trend Board for the Perforated Fabric Trend:

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Pattern Puzzle - Twist Overlay

Friday, February 26, 2016

Did you ever think there'd be so many designs using Twist Drape? I was totally captivated with the asymmetric aspect of this design and the layering effects that can be achieved using two different fabrics and my knit block. Like the majority of previous twists you'll definitely need a two-way stretch knit for this to work well. The elastane (Lycra/Spandex) in your knit fabric is the best tool for achieving a snug fit with this method of making twist patterns. If you'd like to learn my method for creating Twist Drape Patterns I have a detailed worksheet for making Jersey Twist Patterns. For just a few dollars you'll get the same training you'd get if you came to the workshop in my studio.

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Grade Rules - Gil Brandao Conjunto Pratico

Thursday, February 04, 2016

Imogeena has made a special request for grading information for the Gil Brandao Conjunto Pratico. This design has turned out to be very popular as a self-draft pattern but you can understand how the simple shape may make it confusing to grade for different sizes. This post has all the grade rules and specific locations (with notes) for growing the pattern. Keep Reading...

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Best Choices for Garment Pleating

Friday, January 29, 2016

For the Garment Pleating project I've settled on the fabric choices for the three designs I'll be testing. But I'm having trouble deciding on the style of pleating to use with each individual garment. Can you help me out?

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Garment Pleating - Homage to Issey Miyake

Friday, January 22, 2016

While I wait for the local pleating house to finish their summer vacation, I'm moving onto the second phase of the Permanent Pleating Series - Garment Pleating. In this series I'll be discussing whole garment pleating as originally inspired by the work of Issey Miyake (Pleats Please). Keep Reading...

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Cut, Hang and Hem before Pleating 101

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

This is the third post in the Permanent Pleating series where we're looking at the pre-pleating preparation for a Sunray Circle Skirt and Mushroom Pleated rectangle. Our first post covered the introduction to the series - Prep for Permanent Pleating 101. And the second post has all the pattern making information for both skirts; Patterns for Pleating Project 101. Keep Reading...