How Patterndrafting Has Changed Designing

By Bertha Wells


Patterndrafting in the world of fashion is a highly skilled and highly developed field of endeavor. Every garment that is made must first be drafted and then constructed. It involves the process of design. It starts with an idea, and that idea grows into a visual drawing.

The next step in the process is to drape the design on a form or a person to get the right dimensions. This allows the garment to be broken down into sections that cover different parts of the body. The initial pattern is started with a block. Sometimes, it is also referred to as a slope.

There are special instruments that help the pattern maker create the proper shapes. They include the French curve, the hip curve, and the straight edge. Using these tools the pattern maker can draw in the proper shape for the neckline, armhole, and hips. The paper pattern is now ready to be made after careful sizing is added to the finished product.

Every part of the garment had to be carefully measured and calculated to insure a proper fit. This was the beginning of what is referred to as grading. Once, the right measurements were taken they could be transferred to paper. All of this was done by hand, and it took a lot of time to do it right.

Modern techniques and technology have dramatically changed the way patterns are made. Both, the industry and the home sewer can take advantage of the new procedures. It makes it easier to accomplish a task that required a lot of tedious hand wThork.

All of the guesswork is removed. The user only has to input the figures, and all of the calculations are done in the computer. They can test the results, and get a finished virtual product, before they even cut out the first piece.

This new technology is called computer aided design, or CAD for short. The CAD is capable of creating designs from beginning to end or modifying existing ones. It will sketch, calculate all of the measurements the users inputs into the computer accurately. The user only has to cut out the finished product and sew the garment.

In the past, customized and garments that fit were only available to those who were either of the aristocracy or extremely wealthy. Around the mid 1800s, a man by the name of Ebenezer Butterick patterns made out of tissue paper.

He was the first one to put different sizes on each pattern piece. This began an new industry that we know today as the pattern industry, and it came along just at the right moment. It was around this time that the home sewer could afford to have their own sewing machine. Because of these two important changes a new era was born.

For the first time in the history of garment making patterndrafting became a mass produced item, and everyone could enjoy the benefits. The world of fashion was no longer exclusively for the rich and well connected. The everyday woman could now have access to the latest styles and designs.




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