#drafting patterns

This is my grail garment. A 1930s cape that I stumbled upon on Pinterest and fell in love with. The original image is from wondertrading over on Flickr (check them out! They have oodles pictures of gorgeous vintage pattern).

Unfortunately, I cannot find the pattern itself anywhere.

Solution? Make my own!

I have lots of courage and little skill. Started sewing clothes this summer and I still haven't finished a single one (though to be fair, I only need to hem the two skirts and modify the blouse slightly to be done. Unfortunately I don't want to, so we're doing this instead!)

Step 1: How It's Made:

I have made Barbie clothes from drawings before, so I have a method. Is it the most efficient method? No, but it works for me.

The first step is always to get the best possible picture of the garment and figure out how it's made.

Since this is the only image I could find of this pattern, I need to improve it on my own.

I'm using Paint Tool SAI's linework layer to draw on top of the image with my mouse. The result is this:

The point here is not realism, but simply to make it clear how each layer of ribbon is formed into the cape. The white lines are drawn on top of the more subtle highlights of the original drawing, to help me figure out where I need to ruffle the three bottom layers.

Clearing up the image and removing the original, I end up with this:

(The numbers were added in Paint, since SAI don't have a writing tool.)

We have five layers of ribbon-

Ok, let's stop there. The cape is clearly named "McCall Ladies' and Misses' Ribbon Cape", and while I have absolutely no clue about 1930s fashion, that doesn't look like ribbon to me. 

That looks like strips of fabric. Velvet fabric, to be specific.

I will have a different blog post on what material I think this is made from (tl;dr: silk velvet) and what I will use instead (I am poor and not skilled enough to sew silks). Stay tuned for that later.

But let's get back to the "how it's made". At the middle back (where the numbers are on the drawing) the strips of fabric seem to be equally wide, possibly narrowing somewhat where layers 2-5 meet layer 1. I will assume that the layers are equally wide all the way around, since that's easy to do, and it will be obvious in the finished product if I was wrong. It will also be easier to figure out where I should narrow the strips of fabric down, and how much, once I've made the first mock-up. So this is a "mañana" problem, aka. "make a note, but ignore for now".

Also, my method leads to the need for multiple mock-ups. That is because I would rather make it twice than spend days figuring out each step and still be wrong. Cheap cotton fabric is absolutely worth investing in if you follow my "fuck it, good enough" method of sewing.

From the original drawing I can see that the cape goes from the neck and down to about the shoulders, so I measure this area to figure out how wide each ribbon should be.

On me (a short woman with no shoulders) this is about 46 cm.

46 / 5 =  9.2 cm = 9.5 cm

(I'm rounding up to 9.5, because I am not fiddling about with millimetres when I'm making clothes for myself. Half a centimetre is close enough!)

But I can't just add on some seam allowance and start sewing. From the image, it looks like the top layer envelops all the other layers. Doing that will make it a lot easier to sew, and make the finished garment look better.

Therefore layer 1 will be width + width + seam allowance.

Layer 1: 9.5 + 9.5 + 2 = 21 cm

I set the seam allowance to a centimetre at each end, therefore 2, since one centimetre is clearly marked on my sewing machine. You can change this number to whatever you prefer. Main rule: if the fabric is thick or unravels easilly, make it wider, if it's thin or tightly woven you can make it smaller. For clothes to myself, I never go beneath 1 cm, but I am also a beginner.

Layer 2 - 4 are quite simple. Width / 5 + seam allowance.

Layer 2 - 4: 9.5 + 2 = 11.5 cm

Layer 5 is slightly different, since you need to hem the bastard. Hemming with a single centimetre seam allowance is possible (and can make a nice finish), but it's a pain so I won't.

Doubling the seam allowance on the hem makes the total seam allowance 3 cm, and the calculations:

Layer 5: 9.5 + 3 = 12.5 cm.

So now I have the width of each layer. Next step is how long each layer is. Unfortunately, this is something I will have to try on my body to figure out. The top layer will need to be tied in a bow at the back, so cutting that out and finding the right length should be easy-ish.

But I also need to keep an eye on how each layer is sewn.

Because layer 1 and 2 are both given shoulder seams on the drawing, while layer 3, 4 and 5 are all ruffled around the shoulders, but with unruffled backs and sides. That means that layer 3 will be quite a bit longer than the second layer, but how much is impossible to know until I've made the mock-up.

Also? Different fabrics ruffle differently. So if you sew this from a stiffer material, you might need fewer ruffles, while a more drapey fabric will look better with more. Since I'm making my mock-up from woven cotton and my garment from velvet, this will be something I have to keep an eye on when making the actual garment, since velvet and woven cotton drapes and ruffles differently.

So now all I have to do is cut meters upon meters of strips of fabric.

There are sewing pins and bits of thread everywhere. That is my newly finished Emotional Support Chicken, Jet. Their sibling, Jade is already on the needles. They will eventually be Craft Room Guardians. My in-laws were here for about a week in April. I put away all the sewing (and a fair bit of the knitting), stuff I still need to finish before early June, so the house looked all tidy…as long…

Anyway, as excited as I was about the surfeit of wonderful fabrics – there were dozens of silks, linens and wool bouclés I adored – I stuck to my little pink book where I had specific patterns and their requisite yardages. I only buy when I know I have a project. One such project was a bit hazy, though.

The Theory blouse at Saks, summer 2016 collection that inspired me

I had a picture in my mind of a sleeveless Theory blouse that I had considered last summer at Saks. It was, however, a whopping $385.00 CDN which, even for someone obsessed with quality, is a bit steep for a blouse. So, I reluctantly put it back on the rack, concluding that given what it was and its potential price-per-wearing, it was past my point of diminishing returns. But I never forgot it.

  With the concept of the blouse still in my head, I searched the shelves for white, textured shirting to see if anything caught my eye. It did. So, against my own rules, I bought it without an actual pattern in mind. When I got home, though, I found what I thought might be the perfect pattern.

McCall’s 7546 isn’t even sleeveless, but it has of-the-moment- bare shoulders at the top of its long sleeves. It does have that tie, even if it is a bit wide and long, sewn as it is into the back seam. So, I prepped the fabric by washing, drying and ironing, then began to think about tissue-fitting and cutting a muslin. But there was something nagging at the back of my mind.

I’m ready to design my own blouse, I was thinking. I had learned to draft a bodice for a blouse, how to draft necklines and collars, how to create button plackets, and I was certain that drafting a tie that was set into the side seams would be a piece of cake. I was ready. So I started sketching.

My own version of the sleeveless, tie-front blouse has that front placket, but it also has princess seams in the front and back and a mandarin collar. I just love a mandarin collar (and have a plan to draft myself a cheongsam someday). Anyway, I thought why not draft the pattern then cut and sew muslins for both of the patterns? Why not make it a bit of a competition (where I get to be the judge and decide which one will have the privilege of being cut from my Mood fabric)?

So, I started drafting a pattern then cut out both patterns in muslin. Then I started sewing.

Of course, with my own pattern, I knew I’d likely need at least two test garments to get it just right. I needed two. The second one fits perfectly, and although the muslin is stiffer than the fashion fabric, the tie isn’t bad. However, I actually think I like it better without the tie at all! I guess that’s part of the design process.

So, here’s where I am in the duel of the commercial versus self-designed patterns: I have now completed a muslin for my own design and it’s ready to rip apart to make the final pattern. But before I do that, I’m working through the muslin for the McCall’s pattern. I want to see the two of them side-by-side. At this point, I do have a contender in mind for the prize fabric, but I’m not quite there yet.

Next week!

CosNews: Aug 2/16 - New patterns: Sailor suit, Princess Elena, Doggos, WCS and more!

Proper News Patterns+ McCalls has… New patterns out for ‘Early Fall’ which has the following notables: A wonderful dress [M7454] to use for small cosplayers/dresser-uppers for the new Princess Elena Yaya’s Sailor leotard [M7455] with seams in the right places ;_; Collar not included but as the lovely Miss Messy Mia has pointed out to me, you can google how to make those and get all the results…

Part 1 The first thing that I do when I've decided on a pattern to sew is to duplicate the pattern. Why? I like working with sturdier paper, I like saving the tissue paper for later so I can remake this pattern in a different size, and personally I don't like having seam allowance included in my patterns. I like to use my patterns until they're destroyed and when that happens on a pattern duplicate I can just make a new copy. Sometimes you run across patterns where several different patterns are on the same paper, overlapping. In that case, you have to duplicate the pattern or lose the ability to use the other patterns. If you're modifying your pattern, you'll also need to duplicate it first.

Frederick Hammersley made a series of 72 drawings in 1969 using the University of New Mexico's IBM mainframe computer and a program which used punched cards before the final printing (maybe like the Jacquard loom?). 

I would write out what I wanted to be done, and then I would go to the computer center and look at the information and then type it out, resulting in the punched cards. I’d give it to the little man behind the door, and five minutes later, I’d get this drawing back. I’d sit down and make a change and give it to him…. It was like eating peanuts. I mean, one thing would lead to another, and you just kept on chewing."

- Frederick Hammersley interviewed by Lawrence Weschler, January 2003

pdf catalog here

he says of the process:

"It took me some time to get used to this medium. What I intended to make did not always correspond to the program I thought I had punched in the card. I made many mistakes which the computer, in its logical way, would not print. The intricacies and possibilities seem endless and I have spent a great deal of time simply trying to master the mechanics of this particular technique. It continues to fascinate me.

The great advantage of the computer is that one can see the results so quickly. It takes a considerable time to program a drawing, less time to punch the information on cards, then, only a few seconds for the computer to print it. Afterwards, it takes a very short time to punch out variations of the first program for other drawings.

I have been making computer drawings for only a few months and am just now getting warmed up. I find that working with the computer is, in principle, the same as painting. The elements are different but end result, as in all visual art is the same—an image. It is not enough that an image be visually attractive. It must, I feel, be one of substance and of some significance. I am not concerned with the tricks and combinations forming computer drawings. I am trying, as in my approach to drawing and painting, to take advantage of all possibilities a computer offers me, and to exploit its limitations. I cannot, as yet, predict what might happen. Some ideas that I think are brilliant, when printed, turn out to be unsatisfactory. Doubtful ideas at times turn out to be quite good. I am continually being surprised by the difference between expectation and the result. This I find, is part of the fascination and challenge of the computer.

There are two final points about computer drawing that intrigue and concern me—one is positive and one, perhaps, may be negative. The positive one is, as I have said, the seemingly endless and wonderful possibilities it presents. The second point is that I, myself, am not actually making the drawing with my hands. My involvement and participation is very different from my feeling when painting, which may be a shortcoming. It might, on the other hand, be an asset to me; it may furnish me upon return to either drawing or painting with new insights and added understanding. 

There something inextricably connected to weaving in this process. Weaving drawndowns have a similar look, but are much older. (I'd have to do more research than I'm willing to do to find out actual date ranges)

  (Amusingly enough I found the image above from an article describing a weaving pattern computer application, so clearly there's a bit of crossover.)