Showing posts with label pattern drafting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pattern drafting. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Self Drafting Isn't That Scary!

There are a lot of pantie patterns out there, 
this is due in part to the fact that panties are so easy to draft. 

Drafting is a scary concept to wrap your head around. 
There is a lot that can go wrong. 
But If you want to get into monetizing your sewing, 
self drafting is a necessary skill.

And after a bit of practice it really isn't so hard. 

It all starts with measurements. 


And then there is a bit of math. But it's nothing too hard 

First you take your hip measurement and divide it in half. You can do this evenly, or you can be fancy and place the side seams toward the back by adding more length to the front. 


I decided that I would be fancy. 

The second thing you need to do is account for the stretch in your fabric. I do this by taking my own Measurements and dividing them by the measurements of a pair of my own panties. You will get a decimal which when multiplied by the body measurements  will give you the mesurent of the garment. 


Above is the formula for our butt measurement. 

The next step is to start drafting. 
I like to use old magazine pages that have been taped together as pattern drafting paper. 
But anything will do. 

If you draft your pattern to be cut on fold you will need to divide your width in half. Don't forget to do this please! It's very important... 

It's a little intimidating, but for your first drafting adventure I suggest that you make a simple three peice breif. And I also suggest using a pair of your own panties to figure out the shape of each peice. 


It should look something like this. 

I hope this tutorial made sense. Like I said drafting is easy if you start simple, and there is nothing simpler than a good breif.

It can be plain and lovely



Or lacy and dyed 




Or color blocked, or even lace blocked! 

The possibilities are all but endless! Add frills straps or cutouts, whatever floats your boat! 

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

10 Reasons to Love This Romper

This is my go to summer outfit,
when parried with a thrift store stretchy belt I feel like I can take on the frigging world. 

See that seat, take it. 
And let me show you 10 reasons why I love this Romper,


First off,
It's good for long-boarding, adventuring and just chilling with my friends! 

Here is some photo evidence that I do indeed have friends to chill with,

bonus points for the long-boarding shot.



Secondly, it's sentimental.
This lining is an up-cycled tunic from Jesus Christ Superstar.
It was worn on stage by a good friend and personal Hero of mine named Bob.

Bob is awesome.

 And third, It looks so lonely when it's not on my body :(



Just looking at it all sad and empty makes me want to fill it and dance around...

I made this romper before I knew about interfacing. So I dropped the ball on the flap part here.


 But let's all focus on the nice hand stitching! 
It took like an hour and I can't remember why I was so determined...
But it looks cute! 
(which is the fourth reason I love it) 

Oh and did I mention? 
This pattern was self drafted~ 


Which is numbers five through nine of why it is so great.

Is it perfect? No.

There is some gaping in the neckline and I didn't put in any pockets :/ 
But I practically live in it!

And number ten, I spent no money making it!
the snaps were found laying around in my sewing chest,
I drafted the pattern,
and this fabric was lovingly donated by my stash busting neighbor. 
thanks Dawn!


And....Even more good news,
 I still have some left! 



Any ideas on what this should be? 

Leave your suggestions below and I'll see if any of them strikes chord :) 

Saturday, February 20, 2016

A Costumers Dream

I'm Everyone who costumes shows wishes that there were some magic outfit that just fit everyone. 

You could use it for a lead in this show, stick it on an extra in this one. Use it for costume parties and tea socials. 

But alas, 
Every person has a body as unique as their personality. 

There is no such thing as one size fits all....or is there? 

I had a stroke of genius while in the shower a month or so ago. 
And that gift from the muses was this self drafted skirt!


And here it is on my fantastic father



It could fit anyone!
and he was the only one home...


This skirt goes from a waist size 34 (or less) to a size 51 1/2!

So here's how I did it. I laid out my fabric and I figured out the smallest circumference I wanted for my skirt. (Which was 34) I divided it by two (17) and divided that by two as well (8.5) 

Then I did what I would for a basic floor length skirt and I drafted three panels with a tapered end. One with the smallest end measuring 17 with seam allowance and two measuring 8.5 with seam allowance. 



Then I grabbed my contrasting fabric and marked off the length I wanted and decided on how much of this fabric to sacrifice. 


Then I drafted four panels with a taper. They provided an extra 4" each on the tapered end. 

Now from here on I forgot to take progress photos. 

I was just so excited!! 

But what I did was sew the four panels of contrasting fabric together to make two tapered panels. These would be the side of the dress. 

Then I stitched the half panels in the floral main fabric together so I had two floral panels matching in size and angle. 

Don't cha just love geometry!

Then I made a little four little straps in the floral fabric to go on the sides of the dress. 


These just blend away, giving the corset detail the spotlight! 


The next time I construct one of these babies in going to make the side panels larger and the main panels smaller. So the corset detail is more noticeable. 

But all in all I think I will get a lot of use out of this skirt!
 And I have enough fabric left over to construct a matching adjustable  top!

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