Learning to make patterns?

[Former_Member]

I love sewing and have so many great ideas for clothing - particularly for the preteen group (I find there is a severe lack of patterns for this age group). I would love to learn how to make a pattern... and then the scary part - learn to make it into different sizes! What's a good place to start? Any good books to read or ?? I have a minimal budget right now. How much does it cost to get started (if anything)?

Any tips? advice?

Thanks!!!

[Former_Member]

craftsy has some great online classes in pattern drafting! id start by getting a bolt of muslin (use your joann's flyer coupon) to sew prototypes. and a roll of tracing paper to make your pattern pieces. i draft my pieces on paper from measurements, then i sew several versions in cheap fabric until i get the fit i want. i pretty much just taught myself how to do it and after much trial and error i found freeware to digitize my pattern pieces. my pattern tutorials are made completely with free software. feel free to msg me if theres anything i can help with :)

[Former_Member]

Hey Maria, what free software, specifically?

[Former_Member]

i scan my hand-drawn pattern pieces and trace them using a free vector-editing program called inkscape. its like a watered down version of adobe illustrator, but has plenty of features for the simple line drawing i need to do. i draw a 1"x1" square on my pieces to make sure the scaling is accurate. this program allows me to save my finished drawings as pdf files. i keep two versions- an svg file that i can edit and a pdf that is my "final draft". if i make any changes to the svg file, i just overwrite the old pdf file.

i use "foxtab PDF converter" to save word documents as pdf files- its a tiny program that is actually a printer driver- to convert to pdf, i go to the print menu, chose the pdf converter as my printer from the drop down menu, and the file is converted and saved to a folder on my desktop. it sounds a little odd, but it works.

then, i use "pdf merge" to combine all my files into one document- pattern pieces and photo-tutorials.

it all sounds kind of cumbersome, and i tried lots of trial versions and limited use freeware before i found these programs, but the time i invested has saved me hundreds of dollars in software purchases.

this listing has a sample picture of my tutorials in the 4th photo. they're pretty sexy documents, if i do say so myself. let me know if you have any questions or if i can help in any other way :)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/112172170/waldorf-doll-clothes-pdf-sewing-pattern

[Bagsandclothingstore]

Simple way to merge PDF files - http://pdfmerge.w69b.com/.

[Former_Member]

Learning a lot of information on pattern making. New, but I have several ideas and really want to get this part of my business in the works.

[Former_Member]

I just came across a book that looks good: Design It Yourself Clothes by Cal Patch. So far I've only read through it, haven't gotten to making any of the patterns, but it looks like a good beginners guide to drafting your own patterns.

[MoostacheDesign]

Design It Yourself Clothes by Cal Patch is a really god book, very easy to understand. Good to learn the basic. I found very difficult to find patternmaking books for children, there is plenty for women. I found the books by Winifred Aldrich had very good review from a lot of people. She has books on women's, men's and children wear and update them a few time. It is full of very useful information with sizes, grading patterns, etc. It does use the metric system though.

You also have the "Patternmaking for Fashion Design" by Helen Joseph Amstrong. A bit more pricey, you can also get a version that comes with a DVD, but I am not sure about the quality of it.

There is also tutorial online.