#sewing pattern drafting

[hrlequinsblogofinterests]

Building Patterns, by Suzy Furrer

I’m gonna be real with you, this book is the most expensive book I’ve reviewed so far, which means it wouldn’t really work well for anyone on a budget. This textbook was recommended to me by a college acquaintance who used it as part of a fashion design course she took several years ago. And, honestly, aside from the price, I like the book so far. 

This book is designed to teach you how to create your own custom clothing patterns from scratch, tailored to your specific measurements (or someone else’s). It’s written in an approachable way, and gives decently understandable explanations of all the steps involved in creating your own custom patterns. This book offers a more advanced introduction to clothing pattern design than the other pattern drafting books I’ve reviewed, which would be great for those who want to become professional costume makers. (if that’s not your cup of tea, this book would work just as well, and cost half as much.)

This book has the basics, like drafting a custom skirt pattern, figuring out arm holes, and an entire chapter on ways to mess with darts, and covers something I personally haven’t seen before which is creating a Moulage (basically a skin-tight garment which you can then use as a base for all other patterns you create for yourself, similar to a fitted shell). I’d actually never heard of a moulage until I got this book, but it seems like a useful thing to know how to do if you want to take the extra time to make a truly form-fitting costume for your next Cosplay competition, as long as you don’t mind putting in the time.

The instructions in this book are all written in the “using this measurement, place this point on that line” style, and look kinda like word problems from a high school geometry class, but that tends to be the style that works best for me when it comes to learning how to create my own patterns. I need to know the why and the how before I can understand things properly, and “place this point here for this reason” works pretty well for me. It’s not for everyone though, so if geometry isn’t your cup of tea I’d recommend trying a different book (maybe this one).

I got this book for probably . . ~$65? Amazon has it listed for like $150, but if you go directly through the publisher you can get it for less. Unfortunately the publisher just raised the price, so it’s now ~$85 to get a copy. Better than Amazon’s price, but still not great for the Cosplayer on a budget.

Tl;dr: This book does a decent job of explaining and demonstrating how to make custom clothing patterns from scratch, and would be great for anyone who wanted to get into professional costume or clothing design, but the cost is a bit much for the casual Cosplayer. I’d say if you just want to get the basics down and not worry about starting a professional fashion design studio, go for a less expensive option like this one I linked above.

Rating: 8/10. The book is good, but too pricey to be practical.

[hrlequinsblogofinterests]

Review: Make Your Own Patterns, by René Bergh

René Bergh’s step-by-step patternmaking book gives relatively easy-to-follow instructions for each of the most important aspects of pattern drafting. Her tutorials are designed to help people of all skill levels to create custom fitted clothing patterns for their unique specifications.

The instructions look kind of like high school geometry problems, and a few of the steps aren’t well worded so they can be confusing, but so far this book is the most useful pattern making book I’ve tried to use. 

It was recommended to me by a professional costumer and Cosplayer I met recently. She uses it for all of her custom costuming projects, for everything from off-broadway theatrical costumes, to cosplay commissions, to personal projects.

I’ve gone through a bit of the book myself, and from what I’ve seen it’s pretty thorough. It has the basics, like drafting a fitted shell for a sloper template (the foundation of all your patterns, fitted to your specific measurements), and includes chapters covering everything from sleeves, to necklines, to pockets. It even has a section of quarter-scale basic patterns, which can be copied out, scaled up, and used to create the fitted shells if you don’t want to do all the drafting by hand (drafting can be a time-consuming pain in the ass).

As for the instructionals themselves, they’re pretty straightforward, as far as I can tell. I tried the basic bodice block tutorial, and didn’t have too much trouble with it, although there are a couple places where it says “place X point” but doesn’t say specifically where, which caused a bit of confusion. The tutorial comes with diagrams though, so I could guess.

The basic bodice draft I ended up with seems to be approximately the right size for the mannequin I based it on, so I’d say this book would be pretty useful for people who want to learn to draft their own custom Cosplay patterns, and really for anyone who wants to learn how to make fitted patterns of their own.

The book is also relatively inexpensive, if you get it used. I think I got mine for maybe $30?

Tl;dr: All in all, I’d say this book would be pretty handy for Cosplayers, whether you’re new blood looking to dip your toes into the world of custom Cosplay, or a seasoned veteran looking to spruce up your Cosplay game.

I’d give it a 9/10.