How To Design Your Own Dress Pattern – Although my personal wardrobe is mostly “the clothes are no clothes”, when I make something for myself, it’s usually an awesome project. I’m so excited to finally share this super cool custom-designed handmade color-blocked dress with you all!
Back in the day (a year ago), I worked with two brides at the same time (each with an upcoming wedding blog series!) (well, soon-
How To Design Your Own Dress Pattern
..) I need something for myself to wear to a wedding and to a frocktail in Asheville. Frocktails are a magical phenomenon that started popping up around the world (at events) to give sewing enthusiasts an excuse to make something special to wear while meeting sewing enthusiasts.
How To Design Your Own Dress Patterns
I like to create some delicate custom patterns to create a dress unlike anything you’ll find at retail. I was inspired by these photos to design a simple fitted skirt and then carefully cut it into colorful pieces.
My thought processes went like this: A simple short dress can work without a lot of fabric…. …and as a one-of-a-kind wedding dresser, the leftovers from my fabric stash included a gorgeous white fabric. The ombre effect…
To start, I took a custom top block (made step by step in my self-hosted eCourse Top Class with Cam). This is a blank-size Brooks Ann template that allows me to create and design my own designs for a custom fit. The tracking copy gave me my foundation.
Next I took my custom made splatter print dress and rolled up the sleeves. I love the style and fit of this sleeve, so keep an eye out for something similar in the clothes I make for myself and others.
Cassie Stephens: How To Design Your Own Fabric!
Next, I designed a new neckline and used my contouring map (also created by eCourse Top Class) to predict small details of the pattern that might need minor adjustments before going to the fabric. My sculpted body map predicted that this pattern cut would fit better with a slightly different slope at the shoulders. I never took the time to make a contoured body map for myself before teaching the senior class (I cut out anything odd during my mock-up), but now I’m really digging this tool for a real that custom fit.
For the next pattern work, I added a little length and a little style to quickly turn my “top” into a skirt. And then I played… (and must have been very “in the zone” to take pictures).
To figure out my piping plan, I wrote for (approximately) a million years until I came up with something I was interested in trying. I had to use my imagination to some extent because using a dart would throw off the pattern. There are so many seams that, with clever pattern work, a custom block fit can be recreated without a dart.
Once I was happy with the mess of my lines, I copied it onto a new sheet of paper…
Simplicity Pattern 9745 Design Your Own Dress Sizes 6-8-10-12 Uc/ff 2001 Nos
Next, I cut out my desired lines. Although some of my styled curves were interrupted by the darts in the beginning, the cut ends of the darts came together and blended beautifully into one piece.
Next, I did the same thing for the back (although the back of my body is less shaped than the front of my body) and made each curve meet at a right angle at the side edge. Since I know this block fits my body, my only suitable adjustment is to check my options for “easy” – in this dress it can be easy to “pick up” or “let go” on the side. Designing the seams that cross each side to meet directly allows me to easily adjust the fit without disturbing my design.
TPLF! I made some really cool looking pattern pieces! (shown on muslin for color contrast) I love the look of the bone. And it sets my pattern nerd heart to see how the front pieces look different from each other when they’re flat, but they should look the same when I’m wearing them…
Next, the tease! The mock-up stage is often my favorite part of the custom process. It’s time in the laboratory to test your new designs and new theories. Most of your questions will be answered and you can build and practice how everything goes together. With enough careful preparation, constructing the actual costume can be a lot of fun – lots of wear or picking or a sense of nervousness.
Design Your Own: How To Change The Neckline
A mockup is a temporary garment made with temporary seams. Before any adventure in dyeing and cutting with my special silk fabrics, I’m excited to give my new design a thorough test in a risk-free way!
Using a standard pencil, I traced each pattern piece onto a piece of muslin fabric (purchased from Mulberry Silk), adding 1 inch for allowance. I really enjoyed playing Tetris with my crazy shapes for maximum fabric protection.
After cutting, the opposite side of the “ribs” will appear … the special shapes on the lower front are the pockets. The upper back is divided by an invisible zipper. (Aren’t the pieces so cool!?)
Any piece of fabric will begin to distort the moment it is cut – and cut curves are the most prone to distortion. I followed each curve with a “safety stitch” (a technique called “stay-stitching”) to minimize distortion in my curved lines while working.
By Hand London Flora: Pattern Hacking And Making A Dress To Last!
But they are all a little different… To organize myself, I carefully and carefully arrange each room in a place that suits the clothes.
Each pattern piece tapers to an inner and outer point, except for the curve that joins the center front collar. For these, I pinned one edge and sewed…
…then the allowance was cut on the side of the hall. This allowed me to open the curve on the other side of the body to pin and fit before pressing all the supports.
The intestines! (I didn’t even photograph most of it. For me, it’s often the inside!)
Dress Pattern 101
Although my mock-up taught me a lot (and became part of the outfit!) and the fit was pretty flawless;
I like to fit in, so I’m often disappointed when something, but I want to fix a small division in my design. (
… before quickly releasing the stretched side stitches and transferring my corrections to sew back to the fabric and …
Do you want to learn more about sewing? My next session of the Introduction to Custom Sewing eCourse starts online on January 6th, with registration opening on December 12th! Learn more on my new LearnWith website! I want to work with you!
How To Create Your Own Sewing Pattern
I am a former professional dressmaker and dressmaker for a one-of-a-kind bridal outfit in Hillsborough, North Carolina, who also teaches custom sewing online to sewing enthusiasts.
Most of my blog follows the legacy process of how each heirloom-quality custom wedding dress is made from concept to wedding day, along with other happy memories related to sewing, weddings, and body positivity .
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