Foundations of Patternmaking

Equipment

Patternmaking depends on a variety of tools, many of which will be used repeatedly for drafting and evaluating patterns as you work through this guide. Becoming comfortable with them early on—and learning what your preferences are in terms of specific equipment, brands, materials, etc.—will help you successfully complete the exercises introduced in later modules. Furthermore, learning how each tool functions will make it easier for you to diagnose small inaccuracies as they arise during the drafting and design process.

Typical pattern drafting equipment includes:

• Drafting paper suitable for full-scale and half-scale work
• Measuring tools such as a tape measure, straight ruler, hip curve, and French curve
• Marking tools including pencils, erasers, and fine-tip colored pens
• Tools for transferring marks such as an awl, tracing wheel, and notcher
• Paper scissors and fabric scissors
• Pins or pattern weights
• Transparent tape for truing and correcting patterns
• A pattern punch, hole punch, or awl
• A storage system for labeling and archiving pattern versions

Your physical workspace also plays an important role in accurate drafting. An organized workspace reduces the likelihood of small errors accumulating over time. Your drafting surface should be large enough that your pattern pieces lie completely flat while you draw or evaluate them. Good lighting makes it easier to assess line quality and true seams, and to trace one draft of a pattern from another (a light box or conveniently located window may also serve this purpose). Developing comfortable working habits with your workspace and the aforementioned tools will make your drafting work more efficient and precise.

Body Measurements

Accurate body measurements are crucial for all patternmaking, drafting, and design work. A two-dimensional pattern represents the three-dimensional body through measured relationships across horizontal and vertical planes. Thus, the reliability of these measurements will directly affect the resultant block. In this module, you will take and record a complete set of body measurements, including:

• Horizontal measurements such as bust, waist, and hip, which establish the circumferences and proportional width of your pattern pieces
• Vertical measurements such as waist length and hip depth, which influence the balance and proportional relationships of the pattern
• Additional structural measurements such as shoulder width, across back, across front, and arm length, which inform the mobility and shaping of the finished garment

These measurements are the basis from which your basic block and any resultant patterns will be drafted. You should take your (or your model/form’s) measurements carefully and record them in a clear, organized format that can be referenced later (a table is provided as a supplemental resource below). Consider measuring more than once (e.g., at the beginning and end of the day, or at different points during your monthly cycle if you have one) and comparing these results to confirm consistency. Depending on your personal preferences, you may choose to use an overall average, or use the larger measurement values to ensure a comfortable fit. Over time, these recorded measurements will form a reference set that can be updated and reused as measurements change over time and your patternmaking work continues.

Note: from here on, the manual communicates information as if all pattern drafting work is conducted using your own measurements. If you’re making a block for someone else, working with a pattern form, or using commercial sizing, adapt the material accordingly.

In addition to taking numeric measurements, pay attention to posture and figure characteristics that may influence the visual balance of a garment, such as shoulder slope, forward head position, swayback, or a prominent bust. At this stage, it’s enough to simply note these characteristics; you don’t need to understand how to correct them in the pattern. You will conduct fitting adjustments to refine the basic block in Module 3.

Basic Patternmaking Concepts

A primary focus of this module is to learn the language and structural principles of flat patternmaking. Patterns are first and foremost a technical product. A pattern piece contains multiple layers of information: measurements, shaping, grain direction, and instructions for assembly. These elements interact to describe how a garment is constructed and how it will fit once its assembled. Before you begin drafting, you should understand how these elements function and develop fluency in this visual language. For example:

• Grainlines indicate fabric direction, which in turn influences how a garment drapes, stretches, and responds to gravity
• Balance lines—such as center front, center back, bust, waist, and hip—establish a pattern’s orientation and proportional relationships
• Notches, dart symbols, tuck markings, pleat indicators, and drill points communicate information about seamlines and assembly
• Standard labeling conventions identify each pattern piece’s purpose as part of the overall garment
• Seam allowances denote the additional fabric needed to join pattern pieces and finish seam edges during construction

Ease—or the space added beyond base body measurements to allow for movement, comfort, and design—is also a fundamental concept in this module. Specifically, wearing ease provides the necessary room for mobility, while design ease influences the silhouette and style of the finished garment. As you examine patterns and garments (including those in your own closet), you should begin to identify where ease appears and how it affects their overall structure.

As technical documents, patterns also capture the relationship between the body and the finished garment. Your posture, proportions, and individual figure characteristics will influence how a pattern functions during everyday wear and movement. As such, no single block represents a universal body shape; instead, blocks serve as “first draft” starting points that are refined with each fitting and adjustment. This relationship demonstrates why muslin testing and pattern corrections play such an important role in the drafting process.

Pattern Accuracy and Documentation

As mentioned earlier, patternmaking depends on accurate and consistent working habits. In addition to serving as design tools, patterns are technical records that must remain legible and usable through multiple stages of development. Keeping your drafts organized will allow you to reuse, modify, and compare new designs as you develop them. Clear labeling is therefore an essential part of the drafting process. Each pattern piece should include identifying information such as the pattern name, piece name, grainline direction, cut quantity (main fabric, lining, and interfacing), and the date the piece was drafted. Your basic body measurements (bust, waist, and hip circumference) at the time you drafted the pattern and/or the block version you drafted the pattern from can be useful information as well. Establishing a consistent documentation system, such as version tracking and organized storage, will make it easier for you to preserve corrected blocks and revisit earlier drafts.

Additionally, several small-but-mighty technical practices will help you be consistent and precise in your work: trueing and walking seams ensures that adjoining edges meet smoothly when sewn together and that seam lengths and shapes are compatible; squaring corners ensures structural accuracy where seam lines intersect; and using a curved ruler ensures that armholes and necklines are correctly shaped. Adopting these practices will help you create a stable foundation for the more complex drafting work introduced in later modules.