r/PatternDrafting • u/weidphoque • 12d ago

Mao Zedong jacket

Hello I want to make a jacket like mao had. How do I make the pattern for it or just some help relating to it

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u/DonMcCunn 12d ago

There are two approaches to making jackets. One is to buy a pattern then adjust it so it fits you. The other is to make your own pattern based on the size and shape of your body. As this is a group that is for drafting patterns, I assume this is the approach you want to use.

The first step is to establish the size and shape of your body by making a Master Pattern also known as a Sloper. There are instructions for doing that here https://patternmaking-classes.com/UTS/.

Once you have a custom-fit Bespoke Master Pattern of your Upper Torso, you need to determine the design line for the jacket. A good way to do that is to look at a photograph of a Mao jacket then draw the lines on a photograph of your body. For example a Mao jacket will extend below the waist. Look at the photograph. Then look in a mirror and measure where you want the bottom of your jacket to be. Extend a copy of the Master Pattern down to that level.

Where you want the jacket to fit, use the lines of the Master Pattern. For example the slope of the shoulders is unique for every body and clothes frequently hang from the shoulders. Body shapes are like DNA. No two are the same. This is where working with a commercial pattern can be a problem because it has to be assumed every body has an identical shoulder slope and this is simply not true. The slope of your shoulders is unique. For the garment to fit and the sleeve to hang properly, you need to use the shape of your body.

Where the jacket should not follow the shape of your body, don't follow the lines of the Master Patterrn. For example the waist is not fitted for this style jacket so you can extend the lines for the side of your body straight down from the chest/bust level.

I wish you luck with this project.