How to Draft Your Own Dressmaking Patterns - 8 Great Resources

When I first started dressmaking, it didn’t really occur to me that there was any other way of making your own clothes aside from using dressmaking patterns produced by the big pattern companies or from independent businesses.  These patterns come in lovely packaging with inspiring pictures of the finished garments and copious instructions to keep you on track, so why would you want anything else?

A few years on, having spent a lot of time sewing outfits that looked good on the models but not so good on me at 5.4” in height and as someone who doesn’t always have a clear view on what my style should be, I started wondering if there was another way.  I had also become frustrated with trying to fit patterns that weren’t designed with someone of my proportions in mind and ending up going down a rabbit hole of internet searching for the perfect fitting solutions.  It was then that I began to consider the possibility of drafting my own patterns.  Drafting is definitely a skill which takes time to learn and perfect.  I have been doing the odd draft it yourself project for the last few years now and I am no-where near prefect but I am enjoying the process.

BENEFITS OF DRAFTING YOUR OWN DRESSMAKING PATTERNS

1. Drafting from scratch means that you can use your own body measurements to make the pattern.  This helps to eliminate the vast majority of fitting issues you might experience with a normal pattern which has been drafted based on ‘an average’ person.

   
   

2. Drafting your own means you have full control over the style of the garment you are making and can design it however you please!

   
   

3. When drafting your own, you can chose whatever seam allowance you like.  So if you have limited fabric, you could reduce the seam allowance that you add to the pattern to save space and fabric.

   
   

4. Drafting patterns gives you a much better appreciation and understanding for how pre-made patterns come together and therefore helps you to alter any that you do buy for a good fit.

   
   

5. You are in complete control of the pattern and how it works so if you change shape in any way, you can more easily re-draft your pattern to fit your body.

   
   
   
   

   

   
   

RESOURCES TO HELP YOU START YOUR OWN PATTERN DRAFTING

1. CRAFTSY - I started out taking online Craftsy classes in pattern making with Suzy Furrer.  These are a fantastic introduction and I would thoroughly recommend them.

   
   

2. 'BUILDING PATTERNS – THE ARCHITECTURE OF WOMEN'S CLOTHING' BY SUZY FURRER  This is basically all of Suzy’s knowledge documented in a manual which you can dip into for all of your pattern making needs – its covers everything from the tools you need to drafting skirts, a moulage, dart manipulation, necklines and armholes to collars, sleeves, pockets and more.  A great book.

   
   

3. METRIC PATTERN CUTTING – BY WINIFRED ALDRICH – these are brilliant books which walk you step by step through the drafting process for more or less any kind of garment.  I have got the Women’s Wear and the Children and baby’s wear versions but there is also a version for menswear too.

   
   

4. 'SEW OVER IT VINTAGE' BY LISA COMFORT – this is a more general book about sewing but it includes a useful section on basic pattern drafting which serves as a great introduction.  It starts you off with drafting a very straight forward bodice block and then using that to go on and draft some simple tops, a cowlneck dress, a dressing gown, a pair of knickers and some skirts.  Its all written in a very clear, friendly way which is super easy to follow.

   
   

5. THE GLOW HIGH AND FEARLESS WEBSITE offers some amazing online courses, one of which is The Sew Ready Pattern Making Masterclass with Nancy Tauber who is a pattern designer who has worked for some of the top fashion houses.  I’m still working my way through this course but I would definitely recommend this if you are really serious about getting good with pattern making. 

   
   

6. 'MADE TO MEASURE' BY ELISALEX JEWELL is a wonderful new book which was published last year.  Elisalex is the owner of the independent sewing pattern company By Hand London and in this book she takes you through 16 draft it yourself patterns; holding your hand throughout both the drafting and the sewing processes.  I got this book for Christmas last year and have all of the patterns on my ‘to-sew’ list! 

   
   

7. 'SEW MANY DRESSES – SEW LITTLE TIME' BY TANYA WHELAN – this is a lovely book which actually has the patterns for multiple style dresses in an envelope in the back but I include it on this list because the whole focus of the book is how a few simple patterns can be interchangeable to create more than 200 different style garments using a few pattern drafting techniques to mix them up.  It also includes lots of general advice on dart manipulation, sleeve modifications, skirt modifications and much much more.  Another brilliant book that I would 100% recommend.

   
   

8. DOMESTIKA ONLINE COURSE – ‘DRESSMAKING: DRAFT & SEW A SHIRRED DRESS’  This is another resource from Elizalex Jewell from By Hand London.  A great online course on the Domestika platform which supports you through the process of creating your own dress based on your body measurements.  A took this course a year or so ago and did a separate review of it on my blog here.

So there are my top eight resources for drafting your own dressmaking patterns.  I’m sure there are many more out there that I haven’t yet discovered!  Let me know if you have any good ones.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love patterns (she says having bought four new ones in the last week!) and use them all the time but there is definitely an ongoing thread (pardon the pun!) within my dressmaking now which is pulling me towards drafting my own. 

Have you done any pattern drafting?  How did it go?  Let me know in the comments below.