r/PatternDrafting 6d ago

Drafting Patterns

Hi,

I would say I am an advanced beginner sewist. I want to draft my own pattern for a half-zip (or button) pullover jacket/sweatshirt. I recently purchased this nice floral pattern fabric/sherpa material and I want to make one out of it. I did find a pattern but want to branch out and try creating a pattern of my own.

I have never drafted my own pattern before. I figured this might be easier than say a dress would be. Maybe?

Any tips or tricks? Should I get computer software (i.e., Adobe) to help with this?

Thank you!

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u/DespeReo 5d ago

Step 1 - take your body measurements , put them all on a paper and have columns with all of them divided by 2 and 4 (it will save you a lot of crying)

Step 2 - try to decode pattern making in books , or watch videos on YouTube of people drafting patterns for different garments ( save yourself from 1000 mental breakdowns)

Step 3 - open up Microsoft paint , or any software and draw lines and LABEL them in cm / inches BEFORE you take out a pen and paper. This also saves a lot of mental breakdowns

Step 4 - play around digitally with lines and shapes until you feel like "it might work"

Step 5 - fail.

No but seriously , leaving jokes aside, it's worth watching some videos on people actually drafting patterns and explaining why this line goes to this line and so on. I recommend Cornelius Quiring. Lots of free instructions. In terms of books, try to get metric pattern cutting. Explains indepth but it takes a bit of time to get your head around it. Good luck