Books & Online Patternmaking Classes
by Don McCunn There are two basic approaches to creating sewing patterns for garments. The most common approach has been developed for people working in the fashion industry. This approach uses generic patternmaking instructions. The designer and pattern maker are creating patterns and garments for people they will never see. The approach described in these books and classes is Custom Bespoke Pattern Making where you design garments for a specific individual. It is based on looking at the body you are sewing for and learning how to shape two-dimensional patterns (and fabric) to fit the three-dimensional contours of the body. You start by creating patterns, called slopers or master patterns, that show the shape of a specific body. These fitted patterns can then be modified to create designs that will require little, if any, additional fitting. "I learned to sew at a young age, making mostly garments for myself and for friends. I decided to learn flat pattern drafting this year because I was tired of the many alterations I need to make to commercial and indie patterns in order to make them fit. I have watched every pattern drafting class on Craftsy, and purchased every book on pattern drafting and fitting there is. Your book, Don, was the only one that delivered the goods. There are books that teach garment fitting, and books mostly geared for the industry that teach drafting, but only yours contains enough information on both subjects to result in garments that fit." Brenda
More About the BooksPatternmaking Classes: An IntroductionEarly in my career teaching pattern design using my book How to Make Sewing Patterns I learned that many people can learn much more easily when they can see demonstrations of processes rather than picking up techniques from books. These online classes are video demonstrations that supplement the material in my books. There are nine classes in this series with each one including videos to demonstrate the techniques in one of these books (aka "required texts"). My An Introduction to Pattern Design is a free e-Book you can download by clicking This Link. Page references are included for all the books and for How to Make Sewing Patterns both the 1977 and 2016 editions are listed. Either edition can be used as the course text. These videos are being made available at no charge. Pattern Design Activities for KidsPattern design is not rocket science. On this website I show how kids 5 years and older can create their own original pattern designs for three dimensional shapes even before they learn to sew. The first three parts illustrate the basic pattern design techniques. For kids who do want to sew, the fourth part describes the basic hand and machine sewing techniques. Video Demonstrations for
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