Do you have any tips for learning dressmaking? E.g. easy patterns, learning resources, anything else I'm not thinking of due to my terrible ignorance... (I can do repairs, but I've never used a pattern or made anything (apart from patchwork & soft toys))
Yes, I am full of tips! I’m someone who never had any sewing experience at all growing up (I didn’t have the ‘oh my mum/grandmother taught me’ thing as a child), but in my 30′s I just decided it’s never too late to give it a go, mainly because I wanted specific clothing that I couldn’t ever reasonably expect to buy on a rack, and when i want something i tend to get a bit Lois Lane about it. Which is to say I narrow my eyes, jut my chin out, and just roll towards it like a small tank.
I started with a short, in-person course at a local haberdashery/drapers - which here in April 2020 is understandably not really an option, but depending on when you want to start I recommend seeing if any craft-based businesses in your area have a back room full of battered Berninas and Janomes and will give you a 3-lesson evening course making an ugly skirt with a few other beginners. It’s a really common side-hustle for fabric shops in the UK, maybe it might be where you are? Anyway, it’s good way to get your feet wet and have someone at your shoulder to help you on your maiden voyage, get familiar with some basics.
However. Big 2020 ‘however’. Yeah, OK, not an option just at the moment, so FEAR NOT, there’s SO MUCH online and postal resources for garment making. Home dressmaking is by it’s nature ‘at-home’, so there’s a lot out there to help an isolated sewist, even in Normal Times. A lot of haberdashers and drapers are in business during lock-down, and posting out supplies as normal, if a bit slower. There’s a lot of people youtubing ‘how-to’s on a lot of different tasks. It’s a big world if you have wifi.
Step1: get familiar with your machine. It’s like any other power tool, so if you are comfy with setting it up and using it for simple jobs, it makes complex jobs that much easier, as you’re not battling tool skills AND construction skills at once. So: make a bag. Make a pencil case. Make a zip pouch. Make a really small quilt. Become mayor of tote-bag city. Fix snags and tangles and re-threading on small jobs. I did this as my first few projects and it really helped set me up for reading instructions, and basic pattern-based tasks, with patterns and instruction you can download at home.
the Purl Soho zippered pouch (free!) - cute and quilted! Website has step-by-step photos to help.
the Sarah Kirsten Pear Pouch (free!) - also v cute with a sweet shape!
the Merchant & Mills Orton Bag - no zipper, and a very cool oversize carryall, with 3 handle options. Chic AF. M&M are a gown-up pattern company so this pattern will help with reading actual commercial patterns, marking your fabric, following pattern instrcutions. They just did a sewalong video for this on their instagram!
If you’re already there, and can thread-up, sew along a line, assemble like a boss, and are ready to step up, there’s A LOT of beginner clothing patterns out there, and a LOT of them are free. I wouldn’t necessarily g**gle ‘free patterns’ as the aggregated craft blogger sites are basically a swamp of cookies, pop-ups, and trackers, but there’s a bunch of reputable companies who’ll give a free pattern and will often provide a sew-along video or step-by-step pictures. This last bit is key - a sewalong youtube vid for the pattern you’re making is a LIFE SAVER. A pattern that just says ‘insert bias binding along neckline’ or ‘understitch’ is so much easier when someone is filming their hands doing it and you can replay that as many times as you want. Below are some that I’ve made and are good starter projects.
Note: expect them to be ugly. Your first clothing makes are ALWAYS ugly. They just are. Plough through it. You have to go through ugly to get to the good stuff. It’ll come, I promise. Note 2: you will spend so much time ironing. SO MUCH TIME IRONING one small bit of fabric next to a seam. This is good and normal. If a pattern says ‘press’ at one point, then press that bad boy. It’s important. You’re engineering in soft materials, heat and pressure are your friends.
Most of these are downloadable - this means you’ll get a .pdf file of (usually) A4 pages that you print out at home, and assemble on your floor like a big jigsaw puzzle with sticky-tape. Then: you either cut out the paper pattern directly (if you’re super confident of what size you’re choosing), or trace over the lines for your size with translucent paper and cut that out instead, so you can re-use the original jigsaw for other sizes next time. The cut paper pattern gets placed directly on your fabric and cut around. Some of these below will also offer a paper envelope traditional pattern, which would be posted to you or bought at a store. Same deal: cut it directly from the original if you like to live dangerously, or trace if you want to re-use it.
The Purl Soho City Gym shorts (free!) - a good starter garment becuase it’s free, it’s a small pattern, and it teaches you how to do a waistband, how to add bias binding (of one type, the ‘visible along the edge’ type, like a quilt-edge or these retro jogging shorts), and how to pick sizes from a pattern. Unfortch they don’t have many sizes, probably bc they are just a Manahattan yarn shop, and this is just a side gig, but it’s free, and there’s sewalong photos
The Lou Box Top from Sew DIY - paid, but the first thing I made that actually felt like Clothing That I Could Wear™. It’s a simple boxy tshirt pattern, and you can make it in a woven/stable fabric (anything from cheap quilting cotton to fancy linen), or make it in jersey or slinky wovens (like silk or rayon) later when you’re more confident. Start cheap and stable. It’s got a few options for higher or lower neckline and hemlines. It teaches you about bias binding (of another type, hidden underneath on the ‘wrong side’ of the fabric), and reading patterns with more detailled choices. Sew DIY also do suuuuuuper helpful sewalong blog posts, very complete for the beginner sewist.
The Peppermint Wrap Skirt (free!) - a very forgiving pattern, as it’s a wrap, and it teaches you about darts, buttonholes (just the one!) and iron-on interfacing, which is a super common garment-making feature. No online sewalong, but the instructions are v clear. I love this skirt.
the Peppermint Peplum top (free!) - a good stash-buster, as it doesn’t take that much fabric, but still has enough interesting features to make my brain go ‘oooh cute’. A liitle sleeveless tank, teaches about gathers, and has an interesting shoulder yoke detail. I’ve made like 3 of these.
the Grainline Hemlock tee (free! when you subscibe to their newsletter) - a very popular sleeved tee pattern (srsly, the IG hasgtag for this one is endless), its extremely flexible to style and re-style depending on what look you prefer. Can be made in a woven or knit, like the Lou Box Top, though it’s mostly made by people in jersey/knits. I have made this in a stable cotton, it’s just about sizing up a a bit, and this one does come in extended sizing now. Teaches about inserting sleeves in a very basic way (flat, not gathered), and is just a great all-rounder.
Those are what I’d recommend for a beginner to get their feet wet, and after that if you’re hungry for recommendations, try the below companies and see what floats your boat? Generally the ‘Big 4′ pattern companies (Simplicity, Vogue, Butterick, and McCalls), plus Burda, sell in physical envelopes, and can be intimitaing to new sewers (instructions take for granted you know what you’re doing), but thigs like the ‘Very Easy Vogue’ line can still be very simple and accessible, so do take chances. Otherwise, independent companies are much more likely to a) sell a downloadable form, and b) have online sewalongs, photos, and videos to help you.
Here’s some indy pattern company recs - a lot can’t physically mail anything to you right now @April 2020, but you can buy PDF patterns anytime:
Grainline Studio: a good all-round indy company, with lots of online support, tips, and guidance, and extended sizing. I’ve made their Tamarack jacket and can confirm, v good experience.
Closet Case Patterns: I’ve made multiples of their Carolyn Pyjamas (love them), and their online support is MASSIVE: blog posts, sewalongs, as well as paid-for online courses you can do as well, so it’s a great resource even if you aren’t making that exact project. Has simple things, but goes all the way up to couture techniques on things like lined blazers.
Merchant & Mills: If M&M were a person, I’d have a CRUSH. They’re drapers in Rye in Sussex, but make utterly boss patterns - a lot of loose-fitting andogynous styles. Like, make your own Toast clothes, basically. Little bit more advanced, but like I said, I’ve only been doing this for a hot minute and I made a full Foreman jacket, so YMMV. I’ve made that, and the Eve trousers twice, and highly rec.
Paper Theory: might make my favourite pattern of all time, the extremely verstaile LP Pullover, and I’ve made the Olya shirt 3 times at last count, so yeah, speaks for itself. Boxy sillhouettes, and really clever, well-drafted shapes. They also do sewalongs and tips on their website. Really detailled and step-by-step photos.
Wiksten: very limited range, but their Haori pattern is a cult classic, and I’ve never seen that pattern come out as anything less than stellar. The IG hashtags #WikstenHaori and #WikstenShift are extremely varied and extremely popular. Good basics.
Honourable mentions Megan Nielsen (the Dawn jeans are CHEFS KISS, never had a better-fitting rigid jean), Sew Liberated (the Hinterland dress is so flexible, and the Gypsum skirt is a really great pocket design, made both of these and love wearing them), and Japanese fabric retailler Lin-net, who sell patterns at their Etsy shop Patternerie (I’ve made their No.63 shawl-collar blouse at least 3 times)
After a few projects, I also recommend getting into The French, like the cool girl-gang of pattern makers. It’s a big business there, and there’s a lot of independent companies, but they do not hand-hold. You’re on your own, and sometimes have to speak French, but the results are effing fabulous. My personal faves are Republique de Chiffon (their Bernadette jacket is the platonic ideal Little Jacket! I’ve made it twice), Deer&Doe (made their Melilot shirt, love that hidden placket), or Slow Sunday Paris (made their Dorothie blouse for a 1940′s peggy carter type blouse and it’s just gorgeous). French idies are an empire of interesting seam lines.
Some final tips: If you’re buying independent but can’t print at home (like me, no printer!), and you can’t get the vendor or a local shop to post the hard copy envelope to you, then there’s some great pattern printer services that will take your pdf file and mail you a big sheet - I like to use Patternsy (UK based), but there’s a bunch out there. If you can get pattern files with a A0 or ‘copy shop’ file, that’s great for these guys.
On finding patterns: if you don’t know if you want to commit $$ to a specific pattern purchase, check the hashtag on IG for that pattern - there’s a LOT of home sewists out there. Scroll until you find someone with your body type who made it for a better impression of the real thing than just the photos on the envelope. Also good to see how flexible a pattern is: does it look good in different fabrics? Can it be styled lots of ways? Would I wear that? Also The Fold Line has a great pattern search tool funtion: you can put in what type of garment you want, and it aggregates both Independents and the Big 4 so you can see a bunch of one type of garment patterns together.
On fabric: you absolutely do not need to be spending lots of money on fancy material at first: an old bedsheet is what I started with. £25/meter stuff is truly lush once you know it’ll come out right, but at first? Just use what you have, buy thrift shop curtains, cut up your old sheets, ask relatives if they have a stash to get rid of. Use what you have on-hand first, you can always splash out on Liberty lawn later when you have a tried and true pattern you know you can make.
Lasty: unpicking is a fact of life. You will unpick so so much. if you find yourself raging at your Wrong Seam mistake, and unpicking for half an hour, just knew: there’s a sewist out there RIGHT NOW doing the exact same thing. It’s a club. Welcome. Solidarity. Persevere.
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