I stumble on your website online and it has been so so helpful for me and also encouraging and easy to understand but I do n't have the fees for your subscription yet because I just finish my postgraduate certificate in markeing and making clothes has been my thing. Please when are you going to make video pattern for mens shirts and pants or how to improve measurement and cutting skills for men clothes.
is it possible to get already made pattern of different sizes in men's shirt and pants.
Is this a good video series to help learn how to draft patterns from measurments? I am a newbe with this and have always wanted to learn this technique.
That's a big amount of adjustment, mollybrown! The easiest thing to do would be to get a pattern in the right size. Some American patterns have several sizes printed on each pattern piece. It shows where length and width is added.
To begin, measure the hips and waist of your "client" noting on your tape measure how much is in the back half and how much will go across the stomach, the length from waist to the seat of a chair while your model is sitting on a firm rather than upholstered chair, the whole of the crotch length from center of the front at waistline to middle of the back at waistline and note on your tape measure where the crotch seam would be, length of shorts, and width of thigh. Compare these to the measurements on your pattern envelope and you will see how much you need to add.
Trace a copy of the original pattern onto paper. I use a roll of vellum paper which is translucent but strong. I order it through Amazon.com. Include all markings on your traced pattern.
You have two legs: the hip and waist measurements will be divided in two. Mark where the side seam of the waistband is located. Draw and cut a straight line right down the middle of the waistband piece parallel to the straight of grain. This is located in the center of that part of the pattern piece sectioned off for your front waist and the back waist. Usually a waistband pattern shows only half the waistband with the intention of cutting it on a fold to get the whole thing. Spread your waistband pattern sections apart as much as you think you'll need to add. I use pins stuck straight into my cutting board. Weights or tape work also.Follow the same procedure if your pattern has a facing instead of a waistband. Now retrace the waistband pattern including the extra width.
Do the same to the back and front leg pattern pieces. Adjust for length as usual (indicated on the commericial pattern). Having noticed whether the most fullness is in the stomach area or the seat you will add more fullness where it is needed. The waistband alteration used only the waistmeasurement; now you are using the waist, hip and thigh measure. Draw the vertical line keeping it on the straight of grain. Keep your inner leg piece on the straight grain. You might need to angle the hip pieces to allow more room at the hip or whatever. If you can't get it to look right it's okay to mark a line at right angles to the first and cut down it right to the seamline. Then you can either spread or overlap it to get the desired contour. Once you have added about the right amount check the thigh measurement of the pant leg. Add the back to the front (minus seam allowance). It has to be at least as much as the wearer's plus some ease. Use pins or something to keep the pieces from moving, trace the finished pattern pieces. To fit the crotch, "scoop out" the curve deeper for a larger size. Roughly copy the curve in the original pattern. Pockets, belt tabs and other details may not even be affected by the modifications. You might want to increase a patch pocket by a small amount to look right in a larger size.
Now you can check the larger pattern pieces you got with your second tracing and compare them to the original purchased ones. If no huge error is visible, you can put those away.
Now this is quite a large amount of change, so you will want to stitch up a trial copy in muslin or any other cheap fabric you don't mind discarding. Use a large machine stitch or hand basting. You don't need a zipper or buttons. If an elastic waist is used mark (don't cut yet) the amount of the original waistline plus the added. Try on the elastic and see if you have the right amount to get the shorts off and on while still holding them up. Don't cut the elastic yet until the whole thing is fitted correctly. Use a safety pin to hold it until stitching.
Do the shorts fit? Make any changes. Pin a fold where you have too much fabric. Remove the trial garment and cut a slash where you need more. Try on and pin a piece of scrap fabric to add. Are there lines where the fabric pulls? Most sewing books show what to do when this shows up in making pants. Experiment smoothing the fabric from side to side. Then from up to down. Which way does it seem smoother? That shows whether room must be added in width or length. When the test shorts fit well, rip the pieces apart and change the paper pattern.
As you can see it is a lot of work; but it can be done.
Yes, truffles, you can make two darts (one on each side) from the neckline toward the bust fullness. Or you can pinch the amount of extra fullness in the front neck and make it into gathers or tucks. Another idea is to ease the excess amount so it looks like the original design. The best method is the one you like and is best suited to the amount of fabric you will be removing. Carefully stay-stitch the neckline 1/2" from the edge to prevent stretching it out of shape as you remove the fullness.
It may also be possible to take some fabric from the shoulder on the neckline side. For any of these design changes you will be safest to make a dress or top from a similar but inexpensive knit fabric to see if you like what you get.
Usually when we sew shirts we want them to be more comfortable. This way we have freedom of movement. Therefore, we need to lower the top of the side seam of the bodice pattern from the armhole. On the sleeve we add a bit of looseness or ease by widening the pattern at the bicep. The sleeve pattern we used to sew the shirt is semi fitted. The amount we added to the bicep, when we drafted the sleeve block pattern is separate from any changes that we make to the sleeve pattern when we sew the shirt. That is why we are styling that semi fitted sleeve block pattern for the shirt sewing lesson.
The armhole we create for the bodice block pattern is appropriate for a semi fitted sleeve. If we want to sew a garment with a fitted sleeve, we need an armhole with a smaller circumference. Therefore, the folded paper we place under the arm, should be less than 2.5 cm wide, when we measure for the side seam of the bodice block pattern and the sleeve block pattern. For example, it can be 1 cm wide, depending on the tightness of the sleeve we want. This is especially good for knitted fabrics that stretch. These kinds of fabric give a freedom of movement even when the sleeves are fitted.
You can see the result of these styling and adjustments on the bodice block and semi fitted sleeve block patterns, at the end of the shirt sewing video lesson when the shirt is worn.
i jusr read your post and see you are from Texas. I am also getting back into it and would find it helpful to sew with friends in order to get advice and share ideas. Do you have a sewing club? Where in
Texas are you from? I am from west Houston.
You can wear one of the dresses you want to adjust the waistline for. Then tie a narrow ribbon around your waist. This will be your new waistline for the dress.
Then Using a tailors chalk, draw lines below the ribbon at the side seams, and where the waist darts cross the waistline on the front and back of the dress. Also do this for the center back if you have a seam or zipper there.
Now remove the ribbon. Then pinch and pin the excess fabric where ever you drew the chalk lines. Making sure to take in the same amount from either side of the dress. You need to gradualy tapper the intake as you go up and down from the waistline.
It is possible that the existing waistline of the dress, which falls below your own waistline could be snug. If this is the case, you need to let out the intake in that area.
To get a better idea of how to continue the alteration after the fitting and get a symmetrical result, you can watch the first fitting and consequent chapters in the below video lessons:
If you take in the center back seam too much from the waist down, this will cause the vents not to lay flat. Always baste the intakes and do a fitting to make sure the vents lay flat, before sewing by machine.
Using your skirt pattern draft (A-Line Skirt Pattern Making (Drafting), continue with Chapter 4 which shows removing the waist darts entirely and adding more flare to the skirt. Then the top of your skirt pattern will be smooth and you can make the yoke pattern.
Let us know how you do on this. I'd like to make this skirt myself one day.
This is a technique Nehzat hasn't gotten to yet. The search terms I used were "all" "in" "one" "facing" "neckline" "armhole". "Combined" can be used instead of "all in one". There was a lot of information.
We have a lesson regarding this topic. If you click here, you can learn how to style the pattern to achieve this flared effect on the skirt. The specific chapter you need to pay attention to is chapter 10. However the entire lesson will be of great help.
You can increase or decrease the amount of flare you add to the pattern, to achieve the flare that you desire for your garment.
If your pants are long for your leg length (from the crotch point down) or if you are willing to make your pants a bit shorter you can do the following.
Since we don't know exactly how much we need to lengthen the crotch by, you can lower the crotch point by one and a half cm or about half an inch and sew from that point towards the front and back of the pants. Merging with the existing crotch seam line.
Then you need to remove the existing stitches of the inseams above the new crotch seam line, leaving about half a cm behind. Removing the stitches from the inseam will allow you to pull up the pants and test the new crotch length.
If you like to increase the crotch length some more, you can repeat the same process and lower the crotch point at the inseams by another cm. Then remove more of the stitches from the inseams to be able to pull your pants further up.
YOu can repeat this one cm at a time. Once you are satisfied with the crotch length, you need to trim away the excess fabric from the crotch seam allowances.
This process will shorten the length of your pants, by the amount that you lower the crotch point by.
You can also watch the pants sewing from a pattern video lesson. To learn how to sew a pants using the same pattern that you drafted with the above video lessons.
All these video lessons are divided into clear and easy to follow step by step chapters.
Feel free to ask any questions here on the discussion forum.
One day, I was looking for other kinds of foot by curiosity and I found on the web a foot called: a walking foot.
(look on you tube for / sewing walking foot). It is saving to pin (need less of pins, so time as well)
What a walking foot do:
When sewing, the walking foot keeps the fabric over the other one, moving in the same time of the lower one. Very interesting using it as well to sew knit fabrics.
Note: This foot does not always come with a sewing machine, but it can be bought separetely. You will find also on the web how to choose the right one for your machine.
I read on the web that quilter people like to use it a lot.
The explanation given to end with a longer lenght of fabrics on top is when sewing without a walking foot is :
1- the fabric under is moving by the grips under the foot, but not the fabric on top of the other one.
Yes, you can do this as you described. However you may find that when you are sewing the side seams, the armhole lines may not align at the top of the side seams. I suggest that you mark the waistline on the front and back patterns along the side seams, before you deduct from the back and add to the front.
Once you draw the new side seams, extend the waistline marks to cross the new side seams. Then position the side seams on each other while matching the crossing points, (where the waistline marks cross the side seams).
This way you will be able to make the length of the side seams of the front and back the same. By reducing half of the difference form the longer side and adding it to the shorter side. Then draw the new armholes at the side seams for the front and back. (To add to the shorter side, we need to tape a piece of paper under it to draw the new armhole line).
Thank you for the compliment. I dont have a book right now for pattern making. In the mean time if you are interested to own any lesson, we have a list of all our current lessons in our DVD page here.
Yes you can add darts to the back as you mensioned. However if there is a lot of intake for two waist darts, the ends of the darts will stick outwards. To prevent this from happening, you can have two waist darts on either side of the back of the shirt. The distance between each two set of darts can be about 4 to 5 cm along the waistline.
To make the darts simetrical to each other, you can fold the back of the shirt along the center back line. Pin the fold, then draw the darts using a ruler and tailor's chalk, then loose baste to make the darts exacatly the same on both sides.
Right now we have those particular video lessons that you mentioned for home ware projects. We also have cushion cover sewing and embroidery. However I like you suggestions and will add them to my list for future projects.
Tips While Getting Your Dress Stitched Online
Choose perfect design
Hi Nehzat,
Thanks,
Ben
Is this a good video series to help learn how to draft patterns from measurments? I am a newbe with this and have always wanted to learn this technique.
That's a big amount of adjustment, mollybrown! The easiest thing to do would be to get a pattern in the right size. Some American patterns have several sizes printed on each pattern piece. It shows where length and width is added.
To begin, measure the hips and waist of your "client" noting on your tape measure how much is in the back half and how much will go across the stomach, the length from waist to the seat of a chair while your model is sitting on a firm rather than upholstered chair, the whole of the crotch length from center of the front at waistline to middle of the back at waistline and note on your tape measure where the crotch seam would be, length of shorts, and width of thigh. Compare these to the measurements on your pattern envelope and you will see how much you need to add.
Trace a copy of the original pattern onto paper. I use a roll of vellum paper which is translucent but strong. I order it through Amazon.com. Include all markings on your traced pattern.
You have two legs: the hip and waist measurements will be divided in two. Mark where the side seam of the waistband is located. Draw and cut a straight line right down the middle of the waistband piece parallel to the straight of grain. This is located in the center of that part of the pattern piece sectioned off for your front waist and the back waist. Usually a waistband pattern shows only half the waistband with the intention of cutting it on a fold to get the whole thing. Spread your waistband pattern sections apart as much as you think you'll need to add. I use pins stuck straight into my cutting board. Weights or tape work also.Follow the same procedure if your pattern has a facing instead of a waistband. Now retrace the waistband pattern including the extra width.
Do the same to the back and front leg pattern pieces. Adjust for length as usual (indicated on the commericial pattern). Having noticed whether the most fullness is in the stomach area or the seat you will add more fullness where it is needed. The waistband alteration used only the waistmeasurement; now you are using the waist, hip and thigh measure. Draw the vertical line keeping it on the straight of grain. Keep your inner leg piece on the straight grain. You might need to angle the hip pieces to allow more room at the hip or whatever. If you can't get it to look right it's okay to mark a line at right angles to the first and cut down it right to the seamline. Then you can either spread or overlap it to get the desired contour. Once you have added about the right amount check the thigh measurement of the pant leg. Add the back to the front (minus seam allowance). It has to be at least as much as the wearer's plus some ease. Use pins or something to keep the pieces from moving, trace the finished pattern pieces. To fit the crotch, "scoop out" the curve deeper for a larger size. Roughly copy the curve in the original pattern. Pockets, belt tabs and other details may not even be affected by the modifications. You might want to increase a patch pocket by a small amount to look right in a larger size.
Now you can check the larger pattern pieces you got with your second tracing and compare them to the original purchased ones. If no huge error is visible, you can put those away.
Now this is quite a large amount of change, so you will want to stitch up a trial copy in muslin or any other cheap fabric you don't mind discarding. Use a large machine stitch or hand basting. You don't need a zipper or buttons. If an elastic waist is used mark (don't cut yet) the amount of the original waistline plus the added. Try on the elastic and see if you have the right amount to get the shorts off and on while still holding them up. Don't cut the elastic yet until the whole thing is fitted correctly. Use a safety pin to hold it until stitching.
Do the shorts fit? Make any changes. Pin a fold where you have too much fabric. Remove the trial garment and cut a slash where you need more. Try on and pin a piece of scrap fabric to add. Are there lines where the fabric pulls? Most sewing books show what to do when this shows up in making pants. Experiment smoothing the fabric from side to side. Then from up to down. Which way does it seem smoother? That shows whether room must be added in width or length. When the test shorts fit well, rip the pieces apart and change the paper pattern.
As you can see it is a lot of work; but it can be done.
Yes, truffles, you can make two darts (one on each side) from the neckline toward the bust fullness. Or you can pinch the amount of extra fullness in the front neck and make it into gathers or tucks. Another idea is to ease the excess amount so it looks like the original design. The best method is the one you like and is best suited to the amount of fabric you will be removing. Carefully stay-stitch the neckline 1/2" from the edge to prevent stretching it out of shape as you remove the fullness.
It may also be possible to take some fabric from the shoulder on the neckline side. For any of these design changes you will be safest to make a dress or top from a similar but inexpensive knit fabric to see if you like what you get.
Dear Rajini,
Welcome to our site.
Usually when we sew shirts we want them to be more comfortable. This way we have freedom of movement. Therefore, we need to lower the top of the side seam of the bodice pattern from the armhole. On the sleeve we add a bit of looseness or ease by widening the pattern at the bicep. The sleeve pattern we used to sew the shirt is semi fitted. The amount we added to the bicep, when we drafted the sleeve block pattern is separate from any changes that we make to the sleeve pattern when we sew the shirt. That is why we are styling that semi fitted sleeve block pattern for the shirt sewing lesson.
The armhole we create for the bodice block pattern is appropriate for a semi fitted sleeve. If we want to sew a garment with a fitted sleeve, we need an armhole with a smaller circumference. Therefore, the folded paper we place under the arm, should be less than 2.5 cm wide, when we measure for the side seam of the bodice block pattern and the sleeve block pattern. For example, it can be 1 cm wide, depending on the tightness of the sleeve we want. This is especially good for knitted fabrics that stretch. These kinds of fabric give a freedom of movement even when the sleeves are fitted.
You can see the result of these styling and adjustments on the bodice block and semi fitted sleeve block patterns, at the end of the shirt sewing video lesson when the shirt is worn.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
i jusr read your post and see you are from Texas. I am also getting back into it and would find it helpful to sew with friends in order to get advice and share ideas. Do you have a sewing club? Where in
Texas are you from? I am from west Houston.
Dear mariac,
Now remove the ribbon. Then pinch and pin the excess fabric where ever you drew the chalk lines. Making sure to take in the same amount from either side of the dress. You need to gradualy tapper the intake as you go up and down from the waistline.
Pannel Dress Sewing with Princess Seams
Dress Sewing with Pleated Skirt
Nehzat
Dear simplyalterations,
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear nehzat_fan,
Happy Sewing,
Nehzat
Hi, Astrid,
Using your skirt pattern draft (A-Line Skirt Pattern Making (Drafting), continue with Chapter 4 which shows removing the waist darts entirely and adding more flare to the skirt. Then the top of your skirt pattern will be smooth and you can make the yoke pattern.
Let us know how you do on this. I'd like to make this skirt myself one day.
Love,
nehzat_fan
Dear yemyem,
Welcome to our site. I hope that our videos will be of help to you. Please share your work with as and ask any questions you may have.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
This is a technique Nehzat hasn't gotten to yet. The search terms I used were "all" "in" "one" "facing" "neckline" "armhole". "Combined" can be used instead of "all in one". There was a lot of information.
Here is one about drafting the pieces:
http://www.emmakespatterns.com/all-in-one-facing/
How to sew:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzBIJDm-nbE
These are from Burda:
http://www.burdastyle.com/blog/sewing-technique-combined-neckline-armhol...
https://videos.burdastyle.com/courses/sewing-a-combined-neckline-armhole...
I think it shows how hard it is to make a good instructional video and how good Nehzat"s are.
Dear akonam,
We have a lesson regarding this topic. If you click here, you can learn how to style the pattern to achieve this flared effect on the skirt. The specific chapter you need to pay attention to is chapter 10. However the entire lesson will be of great help.
You can increase or decrease the amount of flare you add to the pattern, to achieve the flare that you desire for your garment.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear barb_d,
Since we don't know exactly how much we need to lengthen the crotch by, you can lower the crotch point by one and a half cm or about half an inch and sew from that point towards the front and back of the pants. Merging with the existing crotch seam line.
Then you need to remove the existing stitches of the inseams above the new crotch seam line, leaving about half a cm behind. Removing the stitches from the inseam will allow you to pull up the pants and test the new crotch length.
If you like to increase the crotch length some more, you can repeat the same process and lower the crotch point at the inseams by another cm. Then remove more of the stitches from the inseams to be able to pull your pants further up.
YOu can repeat this one cm at a time. Once you are satisfied with the crotch length, you need to trim away the excess fabric from the crotch seam allowances.
This process will shorten the length of your pants, by the amount that you lower the crotch point by.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Marie,
Thanks so much for your feedback.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Bonnie,
Feel free to ask any sewing questions you may have as you proceed in this new hobby.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Vickers,
We do have different video lessons regarding pants pattern making. Such as pants block pattern making, altering the pattern for different body shapes and pants block pattern styling.
You can also watch the pants sewing from a pattern video lesson. To learn how to sew a pants using the same pattern that you drafted with the above video lessons.
All these video lessons are divided into clear and easy to follow step by step chapters.
Feel free to ask any questions here on the discussion forum.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Vickers,
Welcome to our site. I hope you enjoy the videos. We are here to answer any sewing questions you may have.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Hi!
Thanks for pinning. I always pins a lot too.
One day, I was looking for other kinds of foot by curiosity and I found on the web a foot called: a walking foot.
(look on you tube for / sewing walking foot). It is saving to pin (need less of pins, so time as well)
What a walking foot do:
When sewing, the walking foot keeps the fabric over the other one, moving in the same time of the lower one. Very interesting using it as well to sew knit fabrics.
Note: This foot does not always come with a sewing machine, but it can be bought separetely. You will find also on the web how to choose the right one for your machine.
I read on the web that quilter people like to use it a lot.
The explanation given to end with a longer lenght of fabrics on top is when sewing without a walking foot is :
1- the fabric under is moving by the grips under the foot, but not the fabric on top of the other one.
Have a good day !
Dear Veronica,
Once you draw the new side seams, extend the waistline marks to cross the new side seams. Then position the side seams on each other while matching the crossing points, (where the waistline marks cross the side seams).
Happy sewing,
Dear yvelyn,
Happy Sewing,
Dear Kate,
To make the darts simetrical to each other, you can fold the back of the shirt along the center back line. Pin the fold, then draw the darts using a ruler and tailor's chalk, then loose baste to make the darts exacatly the same on both sides.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear sewer3,
Right now we have those particular video lessons that you mentioned for home ware projects. We also have cushion cover sewing and embroidery. However I like you suggestions and will add them to my list for future projects.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Hi,
Thanks for joining the site. We have many video lessons that I believe could benefit you.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat