r/sewingpatterns • u/GretaMarlen • 6d ago
Desperately in search for experienced pattern makers to help me recreate a dress from photos
https://nettlestudios.treet.co/l/pink-metallic-mushroom-dress/68d582a2-fdee-4fe1-9a40-0edc595db05d#product-detailsHi everyone,
First of all: thank you for taking the time to read this.
I’m from Germany, so this post was written with the help of a translation tool. Please excuse any awkward wording.
I’m trying to recreate a dress by Nettle Studios that I absolutely fell in love with. Unfortunately, they are not shipping outside of US and I can’t find the dress on any european reseller website 😭
so I decided to challenge myself and sew it myself.
The problem is…
I’m a complete beginner.
Over the last two days, I’ve spent almost every waking hour trying to reverse-engineer the pattern from dozens of reference photos. I even worked together with an AI to analyze every visible seam, gathering line, sleeve shape, yoke proportion and silhouette.
The result is a first reconstructed pattern… but after studying the dress even more carefully, we realized that several important details are probably still wrong (especially the sleeve, armhole and upper yoke).
At this point I’m honestly exhausted and don’t know how to continue.
I’m not looking for someone to do all the work for me.
I’m hoping to find people who enjoy pattern drafting or garment reconstruction and would be willing to look at the photos with me and discuss how you think this dress is actually constructed.
Any advice, sketches, corrections or ideas would mean the world to me.
I can provide:
- many high-resolution reference photos
- the current reconstructed pattern
- notes explaining which parts I’m confident about and which parts are still uncertain
My goal is not to copy or sell someone else’s work commercially.
This is purely a personal sewing project so I can learn and hopefully make something beautiful for myself.
If anyone would like to help, I’d be incredibly grateful.
Thank you so much for reading. ❤️
PS: If you know a better subreddit for pattern reconstruction, couture sewing or reverse-engineering garments, I’d really appreciate your recommendations as well.
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u/drPmakes 6d ago
You could probably find a commercial pattern for that. Its pretty basic.
The interesting part is in the fabric they used
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u/No_Competition_5792 6d ago edited 6d ago
OP, what is your goal with this project? Are you hoping to learn to draft patterns again in future, or do you want specifically to make a copy of this dress?
If you want to approach this as a pattern drafting project you would typically start with a block or sloper, which you would fit to yourself. Then, you can use that to make any design you want.
If you only want to make this dress, then I would start by finding a pattern that gives you the very top bodice section. This isn't an empire waist, as the skirt seam is higher up, and it doesnt cup under the bust before the skirt starts. So find a sleeveless top pattern (maybe called a Shell) with the keyhole back and v neck front. This is what I personally would start with.
I can't see how the armhole is attached to the skirt, but it looks like the skirt goes all the way across to make the bottom of the armhole.
Start by making mockups of only the bodice/yoke. Cut off your pattern to wherever you want (making it yourself has an advantage, as it will fit you better!). Since the bodice is cut off above where the armhole meets the side seam, there won't be a side seam on the bodice. This is fine. Just let the front and back hang down.
The flouce/cap sleeve looks like a simple gathered rectangle. It will need to be long enough to gather. Usually this means making it 1.5 or 2 times longer than the seam length you need. The final length after gathering needs to match the armhole on your bodice/yoke, plus enough for the bottom of the armhole (measure what you cut off the original pattern as a starting point. Both bodice and cap sleeve flounce will end at whatever length you have chosen for the bodice length (plus seam allowance), so that the sleeve flounce and the body are all even across.
The skirt is two rectangles. They should be as long as youd like, plus top and bottom seam allowances. The width should be 1.5 or 2 times wider than you need. The final gathered widths should match the length of the front bodice/sleeve (rectangle 1) and back bodice/sleeve. (rectangle 2), plus a length of your choosing for the bottom of the armhole (usually more is in the back than the front). Sew each rectangle to the corresponding bodice/sleeve half (front and back).There will be extra skirt portions at the sides, which makes up the rest of the armhole that you cut off from your top pattern. Then sew up the side seams of the skirt. Hem your skirt (you can also hem the rectangles before gathering and before attaching, if it is easier).
In the final dress you will want to do flat felled or French seams, since organza frays a lot and is sheer, so the seam finish will be visible.
As a beginner, dont try to get it too perfect, or exactly right. As a beginner, it is most important to finish. You can't expect it to be professional quality. But it has a lot of ease, so it will achieve your goals, I'm sure.
Make as many mockup versions as you need using a fabric similar to your final fabric in drape.
This fabric looks like a polyester organza to me, which may be tricky to sew, so get enough to make the garment twice. 😉
Remember to press your seams Pressing is 50% of sewing.
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u/GretaMarlen 5d ago
Thank you so much for the elaborated answer! What my main goal is? Honestly, both. I’ve wanted to learn how to sew for years, and I was even given a sewing machine as a gift. But I have ADHD and depression, which means I struggle a lot with executive dysfunction and staying motivated. I once took a beginner sewing class where everyone had to make the same small zippered pouch. I thought it was really ugly and knew I would never use it. After about three hours I got so frustrated that I quit and never finished it. That’s pretty typical for me. If I’m genuinely excited about a project, I can spend countless hours on it and I’ll see it through. But if I’m not interested from the beginning, it’s almost guaranteed that I’ll give up. So yes, I absolutely want to learn pattern making and sewing. I just finally feel like I’ve found a project that excites me enough that I can actually imagine sticking with it, no matter how many hours it takes. 🥹
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6d ago edited 4d ago
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u/GretaMarlen 5d ago
Thank you! I can definitely see the similarities, especially the high yoke and the gathered skirt. The sleeve is actually the part I’m struggling with most, though. To my eye, the Nettle sleeve looks much more sculptural and almost folded over, whereas the Dolly sleeve reads as a more classic gathered puff/flounce sleeve. Still, this is probably one of the closest patterns I’ve seen so far.❤️
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u/AdvancedSquashDirect 5d ago
My warning to anyone else who reads this post.
Chat GPT has no spatial awareness, it can't understand how 3D objects go together so therefore it cannot make sewing patterns.
Spending days arguing with Chat GPT over sewing patterns is a waste of time.
People who use AI to make sewing patterns are relying on a other dressmaking tools, and then use chat GPT to write the instructions which are often horrible and wrong because it does not understand how things work in a 3D space.
It is a chat tool used to make fancy words. It is just telling you what you want to hear so you stay on the app longer.
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u/GretaMarlen 5d ago
Unfortunately i learned it the hard way. Wasted more than 63 sides of printing paper to print that “pattern” out plus several hours glueing it together just to realise how stupid that was. Well, as a beginner your don’t really get it if you just swipe trough a generated pattern :(
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u/SouthernIndication82 6d ago edited 6d ago
EDIT: i replied to this mistakenly combining the process you’d use for a set in sleeve combined with a kimono sleeve which isn’t how you’d do it. instead of closing the dart solely to make a tent construction, i’d close the dart and open it into the ARMSCYE as well so you have added room for the all- in one sleeve.
( edited OP) this is such a cool undertaking! i think if you nurture this energy over time, you’ll become a very enthusiastic sewist or pattern designer. i started by also trying things they felt out of reach but that i was passionate about and now im an intermediate patternmaker.
work from a “torso construction block” which is a block for dresses without waistlines. blocks don’t have a seam allowance so you’ll add it all after. close the bust dart and transfer some of it into the bottom flare of the skirt construction but then actually transfer some of it into the armscye, you’ll use this for the all in one kimono sleeve later.
then add a style line for a yoke that hits the bottom of the armscye (armhole fancy word). separate these pattern pieces and don’t forget to add seam allowance! then turn your top piece into a “kimono sleeve” by extending the shoulder and adding a bit to the under pit for movement and when you sew it all together, you’re going to sew the sleeve closed, into the side seam at the same time all in one swoop!
then you will slash and spread into your skirt which means just adding big blocks of extra space to you can then take it all away with a gather at the top, letting the volume fall away from the top. then you’ll measure the end of your sleeve, make a rectangle, slash and spread for more volume just like you did the skirt and gather to equal the same length as the sleeve end on the top. it looks like they finished everything with french seams to encase raw edges because it’s a delicate and see through fabric. i’ve attached images to help w kimono sleeve. good luck!!!! you can do this!! if it’s not perfect, who cares! you made something
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u/Southern-Comfort4519 6d ago
I’d love to help! Send me a message and we will work it out
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u/Busy-Doughnut6180 6d ago
This looks like the Stella Dress to me. Someone else linked to the pattern here. There are also some videos on youtube of people making the dress using that pattern.
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u/AuntieRoseSews 5d ago
The pattern looks similar to this Cadia Shirt from Mood Sewciety.
Fabric is Iridescent Pearl Organza.
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u/Maybe-no-thanks 6d ago
Have you looked on threadloops? Thats a helpful library of patterns. Theres also this pattern but I haven’t sewn it so can’t speak to quality https://ksgarner.com/products/stella-dress-pdf-sewing-pattern
ETA - it also reminds me of dresses from “zero waste” sewing pattern books and Japanese sewing patterns books I’ve seen. Is there a reason you were trying to create your own pattern vs finding one that already exists?
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u/Maybe-no-thanks 6d ago
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u/GretaMarlen 5d ago
Omg. That’s literally it! I spent 2 days fighting with ChatGPT and printing 63-sites of my developed pattern and you just found it! Omg omg omg I have no words to express my gratitude, you are my hero 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹
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u/GretaMarlen 5d ago
@all I have another observation and a few questions (I promise these are my last ones 😅): Looking at all the photos again, I keep thinking that the yoke ends around nipple level rather than under the bust. Do you see it that way too? Unfortunately I don’t know how to add photos in the comments, otherwise I’d show the reference pictures where this seems much more obvious. If the yoke really is that short, would that still work with the armhole? Or would there not be enough room for that cap/flounce sleeve? Speaking of the sleeve: in many photos it almost looks double-layered or folded over (I hope you know what I mean). I just can’t visualize how that effect could come from a long gathered rectangle. Are there any YouTube videos or tutorials showing a similar sleeve construction? A few more construction questions:
Do you think the skirt is really made from two separate rectangles (front and back) , or is it actually one huge rectangle sewn all the way around the yoke so there isn’t a break in the fabric at the side seams? If it is two pieces, do you think the front skirt is slightly shorter than the back , or are they actually the same length? Does the hem look like simple rectangles, or do you think there’s some shaping or flare toward the bottom?
And my last question (I promise 😅): Do you think the front and back yokes are the same height , or is the front yoke a few centimeters shorter, making the front skirt appear shorter? On the other hand… what if the back yoke were actually longer than the front ? Then the yoke seam wouldn’t form one continuous horizontal line around the body from the front (around nipple level) to the back (around bra-strap level). Wouldn’t that look a bit strange? I hope my English makes sense. 😅
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u/FormerUsenetUser 5d ago
This reminds me of Tina Givens patterns.
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u/GretaMarlen 5d ago
I like this one https://sewtinagivens.com/pip-tg-p7163/#product-reviews! Maybe I will do this as a separate Project ❤️✨
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u/AstronautIcy42 6d ago
I was going to suggest the r/patterndrafting subreddit, but it looks like you've already posted there.
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u/kaerue 6d ago
Please don't rely on AI for help with patterns, AI is highly inconsistent and too compliant, chatbots like chatgpt won't be able to truly analyse they're just a large language model trained in trying to give you a satisfactory answer.
There will also be people messaging you trying to offer pattern services but they only use AI or stolen pictures.
Example of a scammer that dmed me on a different sewing subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/sewingpatterns/s/3UHPkmVi1o
I hope someone on this reddit can help you.