How to Make Patterns For Sewing Your Own Clothes – Part 1 of 5 – Pattern-Making Templates – Sewing Machines Los Angeles

1(5) Pattern-making Templates – Find

If you sew your own clothes, you may have considered making your own sewing patterns.

Where does making your own patterns begin? The best place to start is with a pattern-making template – which is seldom if ever, called “a pattern-making Template”. It may be called a basic block, a sloper, a fitter or something else that means a plain starting shape for changing into patterns for making stylish garments.

There are several ways to get a pattern-making template, but we will consider the three easiest:

1. Purchase a basic sloper from a pattern catalogue.

Even pattern-making companies use slopers (templates) at the beginning of making patterns that appear in their catalogues. Pattern catalogues usually include a pattern that can be used as a template by you for styling patterns too.

Advantage: Readily available

Disadvantage: Available in standard sizes only

2. Draft a sloper for yourself manually

You could use a set of instructions and basic drafting tools to manually draft slopers for yourself or others. Instructions can be found at such places as libraries and on-line sewing sources.

Advantage: You can use you own measurements and make your template personal.

Disadvantage: This is a long and tedious process for people unfamiliar with drafting.

3. Use a computer to draft your template digitally

Use CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) programs or CAD related technology to draft your slopers to your specific measurements. Some programs rely upon an extensive list of measurements and others rely upon sophisticated algorithms applied to fewer measurements to calculate others.

Advantage: The computer calculates and prints your pattern-making templates for you. The templates can usually be styled and stored using a CAD system.

Disadvantage: All are individual having different strengths & weaknesses

Traditional starting slopers are bodice and skirt, but there are others that include a combination or adaptation of these first basics as well. Examples include pants and blouses.

Start with a template most suitable for your project; for example, start a waist free gown from a sheath sloper or a gown with a waist from the combination of skirt and bodice slopers.

Creating your own patterns is an excellent way to increase your sewing satisfaction. No longer will you have to combine pattern pieces from other patterns to get just the one that you want.