Reddit reviews Patternmaking for Fashion Design (5th Edition)

this is something that I highly doubt is available in a pattern. I would highly recommend making this a drape project. Get a mannequin that is close to your size and line out the idea of the pattern you are interested in creating. I would agree, this is really not a first garment project, though. It's important to learn how fabrics lay on the body and just how patterns fit together.

This dress is has to have a lot of structure built in underneath, as well, to get those perfectly triangular cutouts, especially cut on the bias, which i also suspect it is, since there's some mild wrinkling that follows the triangles. I would highly doubt that interfacing is used unless it's very nice wool interfacing, the stuff that's in a good quality tie (also cut on the bias!). So, that would mean you'd need some knowledge in creating structure in the garments. I'd highly recommend checking out this book Patternmaking for Fashion Design before going into this project.

Pattern drafting and clothing sketches are two entirely different things. I didn’t get much out of school in terms of sketching but some books that helped me were Illustration Techniques - Takamura Fashion Illustrator - Morris and this one which was a textbook of ours Fashion Drawing - Bryant. When it comes to flat pattern making, “art” and “drawing” have little to do with it, it’s measurements, rulers, curves, tracing paper (medical doctors office paper is my favourite), cardstock “oaktag” paper, mechanical pencils and the foggy kind of cello tape you can draw on. Basically you learn to make a bland sheath to fit the body first (“block”) then you can learn to manipulate the block into different pieces and designs and there you go, you’re drafting. It’s the whole reason I’m in school right now and if they had it on YouTube I would never have bothered enrolling.
The best books for that are first and foremost Patternmaking for Fashion Design - Joseph-Armstrong, Patterncutting/Patternmaking - Chunman-Lo and I’m looking forward to getting The Costume Technician's Handbook (3rd Edition) - Ingham/Covey which a classmate said is great for blockmaking, and Metric Pattern Cutting for Women's Wear - Aldrich which I’ve been told is a staple.
As far as editions, the later ones of Patternmaking for Fashion Design are better for basic block making and they have way more than the earlier ones, and the girl who put me on to the Technician’s book said the 3rd is essential. The rest I wouldn’t really know because I haven’t used them extensively. Afaik Chunman-Lo’s book has only one edition.
There’s also Fitting and Pattern Alteration- Liechty/Rasbrand/Pottberg-Steineckert. We haven’t used it yet but it’s on the curriculum.
With these resources either bought or borrowed from the library you’ll learn everything a fashion student learns. As far as sketching goes, YouTubers are out there and can help, and practice makes perfect.
I hope this helps. Post progress photos so we can see how well you’re doing! Good luck.

Drafting patterns is definitely scary! This is the book we used: http://www.amazon.com/Patternmaking-Fashion-Design-5th-Edition/dp/0136069347. It's a bit pricey, but the earlier editions would probably be just as helpful! If you get into your project and you need help, just shoot me a PM! I learned a lot of things the hard way, so I'd like to help people learn from my mistakes, haha. I could also take pictures of my pattern pieces if it would help you visualize (the circle skirt especially was a bit weird).

This is the wool I used: http://www.moodfabrics.com/dark-turquoise-solid-coating-fw12295.html When I first looked at it, $18/yd sounded like a lot, but it ended up being the least expensive in my class. As you can tell from my pictures, it's much greener than the picture on Mood!

We used "Patternmaking for Fashion Design" by Helen Joseph-Armstrong for our first patternmaking class and reference it all the way through our senior design classes. It's an awesome reference book--almost any project/design I've had I've been able to find the alteration I've wanted in this book, or at least the basic starting point. It has a LOT of information/ideas, so sometimes jumping into more advanced techniques can be a bit daunting if you haven't learned or at the very least read through the basics. I haven't purchased and used them yet, but if you're looking for some cooler patterning techniques I've heard both first hand from classmates and in general online that the Pattern Magic books are amazing.

For draping we used "Draping Basics" by Sally Di Marco. I think this book is a good reference, but my professor thought it wasn't the most beginner-friendly. I didn't struggle with it throughout my classes and think it's great, but it can be a bit dense to read through if you don't have a teacher/person demonstrating the technique in front of you and have no previous draping experience. Again, great reference and has tons of info, just takes a tad more effort if you've never sewn or draped before before you pick up on the terminology/patterns of what they're doing.

The last really good book I'd recommend is "Professional Sewing Techniques" by Julie Cole/Sharon Czachor. newbies to sewing may need to Google some terms now and then, but it's perfect for all the little details--all the different types of pockets and how to sew them, different methods of creating tucks and pleats, etc. Say I know I want a specific detail, like a cuffed sleeve: I can look it up and see all the different ways they do it in the industry (all of which are easily doable on a home sewing machine) and see all the subtle differences those techniques make. For costuming, it can help you be more accurate and it's great to see all the variations laid out in front of you. It also makes a massive difference in how professional things end up looking.

TL;DR The three books in the links above should have you covered for flat patterning, draping, and all the little details that make your costume/clothing look professional and well-finished. Knowing at least the basics of sewing is recommended for the draping book, but the rest of the terminology used in all three beginners should be able to Google and understand no problem!

(Edit: formatting)

The reason I learned to sew was because by the time I was 13 years old, I was a size 16. Girl, I feel your pain! I wear a size 20 these days, and many patterns do go to a 22 or 24. With that being said, there is nothing better than drafting your own patterns, and it's way easier to do than you'd think, it just takes some time and patience. My favorite book to work off of is this one. Happy Drafting!

Like /u/jereviendrai said,
Helen Joseph Armstrong's Pattern Making for Fashion Design.
It is a textbook and it is wonderful and very thorough. Any publishing year will do. Libraries usually carry it. Also can be found in "easily liberated" formats.

http://www.amazon.com/Patternmaking-Fashion-Design-Joseph-Armstrong/dp/0136069347/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418560325&sr=8-1&keywords=helen+armstrong+patternmaking+for+fashion+design

This one, used at my local craft college in their fashion design program. It's extremely through and recommended by industry professionals.

(as in - I'm in a private forum with garment manufacturers and they say it's good)

I like this book quite a bit for helping me alter slopers. Has a lot of interesting ideas for designs and features too. Not a ton of info on how to construct, but if you have experience with commercial patterns and finishes, should be ok with some help from google/youtube.

Definitely sounds like you would benefit from creating your own patterns. Yay! I'm wading through a couple pattern drafting books myself right now, and while developing your own basic patterns can be slow, meticulous, and immensely frustrating, it's also hugely rewarding.

There are a ton of textbooks out there, largely written to accompany pattern making classes. This is a bit hard on the person who's trying to learn this in isolation, since so many of the books assume you'll have the extra resource of a teacher. (Might be worth seeing if there's a local sewing studio or community college that teaches patternmaking-- in-person instruction would be nice.) Don't be discouraged, though-- it IS possible to get there alone!

The standard text seems to be Helen Joseph-Armstrong's 'Patternmaking for Fashion Design.'. Connie Crawford, Donald McCunn, and Winifred Aldrich also come highly recommended.

Since all of these books are textbooks, they can be pretty expensive. To try a book before you buy it, see if your public library (or local university library, if you have access) can use Interlibrary Loan to get you a copy of any of the above. Depending on their rules about renewing, you might be able to get your basic pattern made before you have to give the text back. :)

You could also go the draping route. Since I'm completely ignorant on this subject, I'll only leave a link to Kathleen Fasanella's Saran Wrap Patternmaking Method, which produces a sloper without having to do any measuring. (Everything in Fashion-Incubator's 'tutorials' section is brilliant. If you enjoy painfully/beautifully methodical sewing and patterning instruction, you can lose yourself there for days. But I lose my train of thought. Ahem.)

No matter how you produce your sloper, you'll still want a real textbook to help you manipulate your first pattern into real shirts you would want to wear. The sloper is very basic-- it doesn't have buttons, fastenings, interesting seams, or even much extra room for moving. All that comes later.

It's also useful to have a helper on hand for the first projects in the book. Getting accurate measurements of your body is crucial, so you'll need to recruit someone who can be trusted with a tape measure. It's also useful to have a friend help pin and fit the bodice sloper. Ideally you would team up with a sewing buddy who also wanted her own patterns-- I just bully my husband into helping. ;)

Good luck! It sounds like a ton of work, and it is, but I'm a complete novice and I already have the freedom to look at commercial patterns, shrug, and say, "no, I would rather make my own-- I KNOW it will fit better."

yay! i get super excited when people want to learn pattern making. my ultimate career goal is to be a pattern maker. this pattern making book has helped me a lot. there are a lot of good tips in there and step by step directions on how to make slopers in your specific size (or sizes 2 4 6 8, etc.) ^_^

I'm taking patternmaking right now at LA Trade Tech and Patternmaking for Fashion Design by Armstrong is still the standard textbook. It'll go over everything you need to know.

Patternmaking for Fashion Design by Helen Joseph Armstrong is pretty much the standard patternmaking text for just about every decent fashion design program in the States. I still have my copy from the 90s which I used in school, and I still refer to it when making my own patterns.

It has a very wide variety of styles/details/silhouettes/etc. And our patternmaker at my work, who has been drafting production patterns for 30+ years, references her copy regularly.

In terms of ready-to-wear clothes that you buy in a store, if, for example, a size L is supposed to fit women sizes 10 to 14, that garment is actually cut to fit a size 14. The largest size in each size range is what the garment is actually cut for.

This is a pricy book, but it is an awesome textbook that covers all aspects of patternmaking: Patternmaking for Fashion Design

New Complete Guide to Sewing for general sewing techniques.

For tailoring men's clothes, Classic Tailoring Techniques (and women's.)

For pattern drafting, Winnifred Aldrich has a great line of books.
There's also Fundamentals of Men's Fashion Design, casual and tailored. As well as Patternmaking for Fashion Design.

For corsets, Waisted Efforts and The Basics of Corset Building are good.

For making shirts, Shirtmaking.

For learning to sew stretch/knit fabrics, Sew U: Home Stretch is pretty good.

And for just having a bunch of fun with patterns, the Pattern Magic series is plain awesome. I think there's three of them out now.

Edit: thought of more!

The Art of Manipulating Fabric is great. And www.threadsmagazine.com as well as the corresponding print publication.

Place a dart in a paper pattern. Self-teaching patternmaking and this book (Helen Joseph Armstrong was so annoyingly complex and assumtious that I got this book (Dennic Chunman Lo) and it's easy to follow but hard to understand at certain points, as he just "throws" you the concept with no deep how-to of it or explanation/

i used this at a local CC here in SF and my classmates who went to FIDM already had it because their teachers had already used them for THEIR classes.

Generally, most pattern drafting books tell you how to draft a sloper (or template of your body,) and then tells you how to manipulate the sloper to get finished designs. You can start with any sloper (from any book or website) that fits you well and jump right to the sloper manipulation part from any book you like.

For womenswear I recommend “Pattern Drafting and Dressmaking” by Dorothy Moore . It’s much, much cheaper than other books, and offers a really good, simplified set of slopers despite the book being so old. When I started drafting, four years ago, I used this book to create a dress shirt with princess seams, as well as trousers, for my wife and her co-workers assumed that they were from Banana Republic. Don’t worry though, the book also has sections on dresses, coats, jackets and even a bonus formula for a contemporary man’s dress shirt.

On a side note, you can draft anything you want, but you have to know how to put it together and most of these books do not give you construction advice. I like Kwik Sew’s instructions because they use simple construction techniques, ¼” seams and teach good habits. If you don’t know how to assemble something you’ve drafted, borrow the instruction booklet from a KwikSew pattern that is similar to what you are trying to make and write down the construction steps. In addition, you’ll see it mentioned here a lot, but "Shirtmaking" by David Coffin offered invaluable tips on how to get the collar, cuffs and yoke assembled in a non-conventional way.

Some of the other books I recommend:
“Patternmaking for Fashion Design” by Helen Armstrong, is an odd book. As a pattern drafting book, I feel that it fails, as it is too big and tries to cover too many bases. But as a reference book, those qualities make it exceptional. This is not something you’ll ever read straight through… you’ll start at the index and jump to the morsel of information that you need, e.g. dart manipulation, or collar variations. Really expensive though.

“The Practical Guide to Patternmaking” by Lori Knowles and “The Practical Guide to Patternmaking for Meanswear” by Lori Knowles are both great. Where Moore’s book looked a little dated, this one has contemporary designs.

Patternmaking for Fashion Design
and How to Make Sewing Patterns are good resources. The first is more of a textbook that addresses specific techniques in patternmaking (e.g. how do I do articulated sleeves? how do I do an invisible zipper?) while the latter is more of a general introduction.

I use a machine for nearly everything and am horrible at handsewing. The most hand sewing I do is for tacking down allowances or for hook & eye closures so I think you could probably get away with mediocre hand sewing technique.