4. Do you know what your nape is? Place your fingers at the back of your neck, you would feel a series of bones, your nape is the most prominent amongst them. Place your tape at the nape and measure down to your waist going over your shoulder blade
(you may want to tie a rope or tape measure around your waist for accuracy.

5. Also measure from your shoulder to your waist going over your bust, note the figure.

6. From your top line measure down the front shoulder to waist measurement draw a line across the whole paper. this is your waist line.

7. Measure upwards from the waist line the nape to waist figure, mark the point and draw a short line about 5 inches across ( your line should not cross the whole paper)

8. Bust line = nape to waist divided by 2 then minus 1". Draw a line across the whole paper at the point.

Your paper should look like this by now:

larosa:


8. Bust line = nape to waist divided by minus 1".

@larosa: is there a "2" missing in this sentence? Thx!

bimbam:



@larosa: is there a "2" missing in this sentence? Thx!

oh there is thanks a lot.

p.s
don't you sleep ?

9. If you measured correctly, the front shoulder to waist should be longer than the nape to waist measurement this is because of your bust curve. As a result of this, the back and front bust line would not be on the same level. Measure upwards from the bustline line this difference. Mark the point and draw a line about halfway across your paper. Label this line the front bust line.

10. Move up 2 inches from the front bust line, mark the point and draw a line half way across the paper. this is the across chest line.

11. Mark a point midway between the nape line and the bust line, draw a line to mark the across back line.

12. Draw a line 8 inches below the waist line,all the way across your paper, this is the hip line.

Next we need to establish the shoulder line for front and back.

13. the shoulder line at the back is 1 1/4 inch below the nape line.
the front shoulder line is 1 1/2 inch below the top line.

The next step is to start applying our measurements to the lines we have drawn so the pattern will take shape.

Following....well done @larosa!

Applying measurement to the lines.

1. Label the part where you have the nape as CENTER BACK.

2. Label the part with the bust line as CENTER FRONT

3. From the centre back

measure half your across back on the line labelled across back, and mark it

On the shoulder line Measure half your shoulder measurement.

On the bust line mark quarter your bust measurement.

On the hip line mark quarter your hip measurement

Lets leave the waist as it is for now.

4. From the centre front:

Mark half your across chest on the across chest line

On the 1st bust line mark quarter your bust measurement.

On the hipline mark quarter your hip measurement.

Leave the waist line for now,we will work on it later.

The NECK:

Divide the bust by 8, add 1 and divide the result by 2. e.g. For a bust of 42. Divide 42 / 8 = 5 1/4 + 1= 6 1/4 divide by 2 = + - 3 1/4

(courtesy Natalie Bray: Dress patternmaking)

For most women neck width ranges from 2.9 to about 3 1/2 ".

Mark on the nape line the neck width. Curve upwards from this point 3/4" to get the back neck curve.

Mark on the top line the neck width, rotate and draw a quarter circle for form the front neck curve.


Join neck point to shoulder, shoulder to across back to bust line and straight to the hip.

Repeat the same for the front.

Your pattern should look like this:

Tomorrow we will work on shaping the armhole and inserting the waist and bust darts.

Good job! Following closely...Thank you!

I had promised a while back to start putting up pictures of students' work...

This is Esther, less than a month ago when she started the pattern making course she could not even thread a machine talk less of sewing. Between that time and now she is already making simple skirts and see her at work below cutting out an Ankara Jacket.

Esther also made the skirt am wearing in these pictures, simple and cute. I liked the skirt so much that i have worn it 3 times already!

What are you still waiting for

Come and learn a skill that can never be taken away from you, would last a lifetime and can be passed on to others.

Call ,sms, whatsapp 080 3330 4712.

larosa:
What are you still waiting for

Come and learn a skill that can never be taken away from you, would last a lifetime and can be passed on to others.

Call ,sms, whatsapp 080 3330 4712.

..

fabulous jewelleries for classy n elegant ladies.over 1000 unique designs whatsapp 08091961015

hello madam larosa. hope all is well its been a while. checking up on you.

please ma can you recommend where i can get the book basic pattern for women wear by natalie bray and french curve

Hi you should list your services on flingam .com site

mamatochi:
please ma can you recommend where i can get the book basic pattern for women wear by natalie bray and french curve

Am very fine just quite busy tnx for asking.

please get in touch with goforwardagu I believe she should have it in stock. Her bbm pin is 266c92dc. she has a thread on pattern making books you could search for it.

You should be able to get a set of French curves in any good bookshop.

digitalguy:
Hi you should list your services on flingam .com site

will check it out thanks.

Hello ladies, so sorry for the looong silence its been quite busy over here.

So last time we were to incorporate armhole curve and waist dart into our pattern so lets get right to it.

Our pattern so far:

Back armhole:

1. at the angle where the vertical line from the shoulder meets the bust line mark a point up and out 1 1/2inches.
2. Curving down from the shoulder point, enter the upper back area by 3/8inch, continue the curve connecting the across back point and down through the mark we made in number 1 above to join the end of the bust line.

Front armhole:

1. At the angle where the vertical line from the shoulder meets the bust line mark a point up and out 1inch.
2. Curving down from the shoulder point, enter the upper chest area by 3/8inch, continue the curve connecting the across chest point and down through the mark we made in number 1 above to join the end of the bust line.

See diagrams below:

Don't worry if your pattern is not too neat with time you would keep improving.

Waist shaping:

For this particular pattern i will not be adding any ease ( we are using the exact waist measurement)
1. We would start by Inserting vertical dart lines on the front and back patterns.
2. For the front, measuring out from the centre front mark 1/4 of your across chest measurement. Take a line from this point right down to the hip line.
3. For the back, measuring out from the centre back mark 1/4 of your across back measurement. Take a line from this point right down to the hip line.
4. Measure the back waist line and front. Join it together. We will now deduct half your waist measurement from the result.
5. Divide your result by 6. This gives us the size of each dart.

For example, on my pattern my front and back waist line adds up to 22", but half my waist is 16". so 22 - 16 =6. Divide 6 by 6= 1". each of my darts would be 1".

We are going to share out the darts now. 3 at the back and 3 at the front.

1. On the back, the vertical dart line should stop 2" before the hip line.
2. mark 1" on either side of the line where it crosses the waist line.
3. the last dart is placed at the point where the waist line joins the side line.

4. On the front, the vertical dart line should stop 4" before the hip line.
5. mark 1" on either side of the line where it crosses the waist line.
6. the last dart is placed at the point where the waist line joins the side line.
7. Join the points and curve the side.

Bust dart:

The bust dart is such a critical part of pattern making for women. This dart is used to create princess darts, tube, spaghetti tops etc.

1. You may have noticed that the front pattern is longer than the back. this is because of the bust area.
2. Measure from the neck point (where it meets the shoulder line) in front to the waist,
3. Measure the nape to waist at the back.
4. The difference between these two lines is the bust dart size.
5. Measure down from the bust line this amount and draw a line to join the front bust point and the dart line.

And we are done !!

Blue dress tutorial:

Next we are going right into the blue dress tutorial before i get so caught up in work again.

You would need:

1. 3 1/2 yards of chiffon fabric (depending on your size and length of dress)
2. 1/2 yard of Ankara fabric.
3. 1/2 yard soft gumstay
4. 3 yards of lining ( i used suit lining)
5. matching thread and zipper

Difficulty level:
Moderate NOT beginner please , you must have knowledge of joining dresses to be able to carry out this project.

1. Determine how long you want your dress. The one in the picture is 60 inches long.
2. Extend both front and back patterns by adding more paper.

3. Draw the style lines into the pattern.i.e. waist band, peephole cut out, joint for the six-pieces lower part.
4. For the waist band i used 4 inches at the widest point and tapered it to 1 1/2 inches at the side.
5. The peephole is 4 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide.
6. Number and separate the pattern pieces.

Wow! Welcome back, @larosa... you've really made up for the long silence!

bimbam:

Wow! Welcome back, @larosa... you've really made up for the long silence!

Lol.... abi oh.

yipeeeee she is back. God bless you plenty

larosa:
3. Draw the style lines into the pattern.i.e. waist band, peephole cut out, joint for the six-pieces lower part.
4. For the waist band i used 4 inches at the widest point and tapered it to 1 1/2 inches at the side.
5. The peephole is 4 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide.
6. Number and separate the pattern pieces.

PLS how many inches are we adding to each panel to form d flare for the six pieces.

mamatochi:



PLS how many inches are we adding to each panel to form d flare for the six pieces.

This particular dress has a very full flare. I added
7.5 inches on each side of the six pieces panel.

Now you would notice I numbered each pattern piece.

Piece 1. place the centre front on folded fabric edge and pin down. Remember to add your seam allowances . I like to use 1".

When you get to the peephole area follow the curve and reduce seam allowance to 1/2".

Mark the bust and waist darts carefully.

Note that even though the pattern shows the bust and waist dart touching, when sewing we will not let them meet. this is to avoid a sharp point at the n*pple area.
what you would do is sew each dart 1" short of the bust point.

Do same for the lining fabric.