Pattern Making & Drafting
In my Applications of Costuming class I learned a lot of valuable drafting and pattern making skills. We went over several types of garment blocks and typical patterns you will find. Here I drafted a skirt with two front and back slopers. My classmate and I took each others measurements so our skirt blocks could be sized to ourselves. Waist circumference, hip circumference, and waist to floor length all came into my calculations. Knowing the math now I could draft a skirt to anyones measurements. I sewed a mockup of my pattern out of muslin which I had fitted. I have experience with fittings as it is common to tailor garments to specific actors. Every body is shaped differently so I'm glad that I have the skills to draft a garment and alter it to fit someone. The slides on the left have all my photos and steps of my project.
Another pattern I created was a bodice. It had a horizontal and vertical dart on the front and a long dart on the back. There were more calculations involved, measuring on top of and under the bust and at the waist to get the curves. My professor made sure we labeled all the parts of the patter from seam allowance to center fold to grain line. When the garment was fitted to me the neckline and bust curve looked really well. On the back the center back line needed to be more curved. The line had been straight but because our bodies curve in at the waist the line needed to match that. I redrew this on the pattern showing the new center back. Like the other projects full photos of my process are below.
The pattern I drafted was a sleeve. For this one there were a lot of calculating to get the armscye curve. I had been using curved rulers while pattern making and this one needed one. Adjustments like how long you want your sleeve, closer to elbow or wrist, and how gathered and puffy you want your sleeve would factor into how you adapted this sleeve block. Now that I have the pattern making skills and know the equations and measurements I am able to take these standard blocks and turn them into my own designs.
For my final project in this class I made a complete garment from a pattern that I had drafted myself. I used my own measurements for the pattern. I chose to make a 15 century Italian gamurra and camicia, a historical gown a chemise that I studied paintings of. It was interesting how the camicia is made of just square pattern pieces bun when gathered around the neckline it drapes nicely over someone. The gamurra had interesting seam lines cutting diagonally across the bodice on the back and front and leaving the center front open for it to be laced. For full images and process of the pattern being built you can head to this page.
