Patternmaking for Fashion Design. - Helen Joseph-Armstrong (4th Edition)
Designing Apparel Through the Flat Pattern - Ernestein Kopp, Vittorine Rolfo, Beatrice Zelin, Lee Gross (6th Edition)
Metric Pattern Cutting - Winifred AldrichDress Pattern Designing- Natalie Bray (5th Edition)
Make Your Own Patterns - Rene Bergh
I've been thinking lately I'd like to re-visit Pattern Drafting. (Maybe because I'm having a drafting/cutting table made :) (Not Pattern Drafting using a software program.)
A couple of years ago I took a Pattern Drafting Course - Intro to Fashion, at my local college. It's part of a Fashion Design program. I haven't really touched pattern drafting I believe since I finished that course. I've done the odd pattern alteration,but not drafting. I learned so much from this course. Pattern drafting can be lots of fun, and as I found out it was not as hard as I first imagined. Mind you I can say that "now" after someone "showed" me how to do it. ( I made a doll size sample of a skirt pattern I drafted for myself). I found it so much better to learn hands on, than to try and figure it out from a book. Now when I use these books I find it easier to follow. The books posted above were very helpful during this cousre. My favorites were "Patternmaking for Fashion Design" and "Designing Apparel through the Flat Pattern". The "Metric Pattern Cutting" book was also an excellent reference. These are all great books to have in your sewing library.
I've been asked by different people in the past if I'd make them an outfit for a special occasion. At this point I don't feel confident enough to take up a request like that, and I normally don't have that kind of time to put into such a project. There are so many wonderful patterns out there and I love having them in my "collection" - but to be able to draft your own pattern feels like a great accomplishment. However - it is so much more time consumimg, and when reality sets in, it's easier to just take a commercial pattern and work with it. Which is what I've been doing. So I'm going to re-visit my notebooks, work on and improve the skills I've learned. In between making garments with my bought patterns, I'll work on drafting my own patterns too. When there is no time line for a garment it's such a pleasure working on it, and everything seems to go along just fine. That's just how I'll approach pattern drafting :)
