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

Sleeve Pattern Alterations - Boat Neck Tee

Thursday, July 04, 2019

If you'd like to get yourself a classic Tee-shirt pattern, my Boat Neck Tee pattern is not overly tight, with soft shaping on the side seam, a boat neckline and three-quarter sleeves. For most of us the first pattern alteration, depending on the weather, will be sleeve length alterations. Keep Reading...

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Grading the Vintage Capri Pants

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Continuing on from my earlier post, Decoding Vintage Patterns, the following post covers the steps I'll take to grade the pattern for my own personal fitting. It also gives me the opportunity to share with you one of my favourite pieces of pattern making kit; my 'Variator' grading machine.

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Decoding Vintage Patterns

Wednesday, January 09, 2019

Since I've been online (6 years now) I've become aware of an enormous love for vintage style out there, and in particular vintage patterns. And in some strange way these patterns are so familiar to me. I must have used some of my grandmothers patterns when I was younger because the lack of instructions and complete absence of print on these vintage patterns does not confuse or put me off at all. Somehow it appears to me as a secret code I have to solve to uncover the exact intentions of the designer/pattern maker.

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My Drape Pattern Making Method

Tuesday, February 06, 2018

The origins of my passion for creative pattern making start way back in 1980 when I first went to fashion college. It was at this time that I was introduced to an amazing pattern making book that just lit up my brain. Natalie Bray's technical diagrams leapt off the page and made immediate sense to me. I could hardly contain my excitement at the potential of pattern making. To this end I believe I was quite the pesky student in our pattern making classes. The student with 20 questions every session, that drove the pattern making teacher crazy. You'll find Natalie's books on all the usual book selling sites and the prices vary dramatically, so do your research. Keep Reading...

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Trouser Block - Fitting Toile

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

So often I'm asked how I make my fitting toile's for Trouser Blocks, so I'd thought I'd put together a short post with some detail. Many of the points are small but essential for a good #FirstFitting. You can access a download of my Trouser Block here. I've also uploaded a worksheet that covers the detail for the first stage of fitting the trouser block. The PDF worksheet includes detail instructions and technical diagrams to take you through every step of the process. Keep Reading...

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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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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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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...

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Patterns for Pleating Project 101

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

In this post I'll cover the detail of drafting the patterns you'll need for this permanent pleating project, then follow with the essential pre-pleating preparation in the next post. Have a look at Prep for Permanent Pleating 101 if you'd like some background to this permanent pleating post series. Keep Reading...