Well Suited

09 Mar

Posted at 15:16h in Creative Pattern Making, Intermediate, Pattern Making, Pattern Making Instructions, Pattern Puzzles, Stretch Patterns, Using My Blocks by
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You may be forgiven for thinking that we often torture the stuffing out of our fabulous #PatternPuzzle fans.  Well, last Saturday was no exception.  I did a slightly tricky thing with a 'grown-on hood' and it was enough to make the pattern shapes very hard to read.  I have seen similar styles in both historic and current fashion and have waited some time to try this out on the blog.  The idea I have is to cut this dress from my knit block using a merino jersey.  That could be either a one-way or two-way stretch knit.  The Double Drape in this Maxi refers to the #CowlDrape on the back of this dress and the #GatheredDrape on the centre front (CF) seam.  The hood styling may also be considered a #CowlDrape with the large tuck and the centre back (CB) line on the fold.

02 Mar

Posted at 15:56h in Creative Pattern Making, Intermediate, Pattern Making Instructions, Pattern Puzzles, Using My Blocks by
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Inspired by a delicate sketch in my visual diary from many years ago, the Transparent Bomber jacket is a summer season take on a recent winter trend for classic bomber jackets.  This design will rely on a lightweight transparent fabric that will gather well with the elastic bands and still hold a soft, full shape.

23 Feb

Posted at 16:07h in Creative Pattern Making, Intermediate, Pattern Making Instructions, Pattern Puzzles, Using My Blocks by
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As a general rule, capes and ponchos are not at the top of my shopping list.  I know they are currently on-trend but I find so many of them to be either unattractive or impractical.  We don't have cold enough weather here to benefit from the traditional wool cape with cozy hood or wrap.  However, the more recent lightweight, knit designs in shrugs and capes are probably a lot easier to wear and may even have a functional place in our trans-seasonal wardrobes.  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.

16 Feb

Posted at 16:20h in Creative Pattern Making, Introductory, Pattern Making Instructions, Pattern Puzzles, Self-draft, Vintage Patterns by
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Gil Brandao's patterns have a seductive quality in their simplicity and clarity.  Often with pattern making instructions, simplicity is no more than an absence of information that can be finally very frustrating.  Not so for Gil.  His diagrams have all the required information.  So much so that my inability to read Portuguese does not present a problem.

02 Feb

Posted at 16:43h in Creative Pattern Making, Introductory, Pattern Making Instructions, Pattern Puzzles, Self-draft, Using My Blocks by
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At last the detail for the Saturday #PatternPuzzle is here!  My apologies for the delay to our usual posting but I had a little trouble with my graphics.  It was a wonderful round of creative answers and clever solutions that finally solved this puzzle.  Our Handkerchief Fold Dress is so named because it struck me that the construction of this dress is much like a handkerchief with the corners folded into the centre.

26 Jan

Posted at 16:55h in Creative Pattern Making, Intermediate, Pattern Making, Pattern Making Instructions, Pattern Puzzles, Using My Blocks by
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A huge thanks to all the fans that turned up on Saturday to play and watch the #PatternPuzzle.  This weeks puzzle was less complex than most but a favourite for the wardrobe.  Our post this week has two versions of the Tucked Drape Top, the first with two large tucks facing each other on the front neckline and the second with one large tuck only in the front neckline.

19 Jan

Posted at 17:06h in Creative Pattern Making, Intermediate, Pattern Making Instructions, Pattern Puzzles, Stretch Patterns, Using My Blocks, Vintage Patterns by
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It was a demanding Pattern Puzzle this week that ran live across all time zones and gave everyone a chance to join in.  You can see by the pattern shapes below that the final move of adding the front side panel to the backside panel was just enough to make it a very challenging game.  Huge thanks to all fans and friends for dropping by and making it a great day.

12 Jan

Posted at 17:16h in Creative Pattern Making, Introductory, Pattern Making, Pattern Making Instructions, Pattern Puzzles, Self-draft, Vintage Patterns by
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I finally had a chance to use some of the wonderful work in the Gil Brandao book.  In particular, this pattern hooked me from the beginning as it doesn't seem to make any sense.  To start with, the thing that looks like a dart is really an armhole?  And that thing that looks like a sleeve is in fact, a waist tie. As you can imagine I was looking forward to an interesting fitting.

29 Dec

Posted at 17:34h in Creative Pattern Making, Introductory, Pattern Making Instructions, Pattern Puzzles, Using My Blocks, Vintage Patterns by
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Once again I have been seduced by a Vintage Fashion Illustration promising so much in fit and style.  Add to that the fact that this bodice promised to be one of those fascinating one-piece patterns.  They were so thoroughly investigated in the first half of the 20th century when manufacturers were looking for a  reduction of machine processes for the mass manufacture of fashion.  This blog now has a great number (5) of these style of blog posts which I plan to develop into a more detailed post in the future.

22 Dec

Posted at 17:42h in Creative Pattern Making, Fashion Design, Intermediate, Pattern Making Instructions, Pattern Puzzles, Stretch Patterns, Using My Blocks, Vintage Patterns by
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This weeks #PatternPuzzle was about targeting another of my favourite Erte designs and bringing this inspiration up-to-date.  As it turns out this is a truly challenging style.  I know I made at least two mistakes in putting these pattern making instructions together.  So please forgive any other errors you may find.  And because of its complexity, I imagine I would have to produce at least 2-3 toiles/muslins to really get the design and fit to work well before attempting in final cloth.
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