₦airaland Forum

Now, i did say earlier that its been quite busy over here so lets post some pix .

This is Ozioma. She is taking a crash course in pattern drafting/sewing as she is off to her Masters abroad shortly. I must say its been a while i saw someone with this level of determination and focus. For someone who could not even thread a machine on the first day, she made the below skirt on her second day of class

5. Join Piece 1 to 2.

6. Add your desired flare to each of the lower panels and join up the front of the dress.

7. The back is pretty straight forward however dont forget your zipper allowance.

8. Join the back upper piece to its lining sewing along the neck curve, then join to the lower panels after flaring out.

9. It may be easier for some people to attach the zipper before joining to the front part of the dress but i usually prefer to insert zip after the whole dress is complete. You could use open & close zip or invisible zip.

10. Join shoulders and sides of the dress all the way down.

11. The dress has a small cap sleeve of 4" length (Please refer to my lesson on sleeve cutting on page 6 of this thread).

12. attach the sleeve.

13. I used an industrial machine to weave the hem of the dress but you could fold it in and sew if you are up to it.

14. The dress is ready, let me know if you need and clarifications.

Now lets focus on the upper front part of our dress (the bodice).

1. By the time you cut out your pattern on fold it should look like the first drawing below.

2. Sew up the bust and waist darts (remember to stop 1" away from the n+pple area. Do same for the lining.

3. In pattern piece no. 2, we dont want the waist dart joint to show in the band so we have to get rid of it. This is done by closing out the dart. Place on folded fabric edge and cut. Iron gumstay to the wrong side of your fabric. Cut lining to the same shape.

4. Join the fabric of piece no. 1 to its own lining by sewing along the area i marked with red pen (drawing no. 2). Notch the curve from the inside .

bimbam:
@larosa: so each of the panel gets 7.5" at the hem (ie 3.5" on each side of the panel) OR how is 7.5" added to the panels?

The first option would make for a very, very full hemline, a short or petite person can be overwhelmed by that much volume at the hemline, no?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge...much appreciated!

Hello and thanks. Yes 7.5 was added to each side of the panels. I did mention d flare is quite full.

You made a very good point but i don't think a petite person would be overwhelmed for example look at the dresses worn by the latina flamenco dancers very very full but they carry it off and even dance with it.

However, the flare may still be reduced to what d wearer is comfortable with. You could even cut it to be a knee length dress.

Cheers and catch u later.

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.

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.

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

Lol.... abi oh.

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.

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.

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 !!

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.

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.

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:

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:

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

will check it out thanks.

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.

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.

..

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.

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!

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.

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

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:

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.

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.

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

oh there is thanks a lot.

p.s
don't you sleep ?

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:

Construction of basic pattern for women's wear

As i said this tutorial is going to be detailed so its not a one day or rushed thing. If we are able to get it right, it will really help us in "dissecting" those lovely looking styles we would all love to copy and make for ourselves.

A. The Body Lines.

Think of your body as a series of lines carrying information. These lines intersect, some are curved and some are straight. Some are vertical, some horizontal. The major lines are the bust line, hip line waist line , shoulder line, the center back and center front.

1. Get your measurements ready (bust, waist, hip. shoulder, shoulder to waist). other measurements would be added as we go along.

2. Lay out your paper, the width should be at least half of your hip or bust ( choose the bigger one).

3. Draw a horizontal line at least 2 inches from the top edge of the paper. label it top line.

Hello ladies hope you all had a great week.

The basic pattern making tutorial starts this evening and like I said its going to be very detailed.

you will need....

brown paper
sharp dark pencil
eraser
very long ruler
tape measure
French curves ( optional)

see you in the evening ......

However, even if you don't know how to use patterns, with a mid level knowledge of sewing you should be able to create the same outfit with free hand.

bimbo2:
Larosa you are indeed blessed. this thread is very helpful. while we are waiting, Larosa can you pls include how to create darts on the pattern, thats one of my major headaches?

Hello ladies. so sorry I have been off for a while its really busy at my end.

on the issue of darts in patterns I would explain as we go along but I must warn that this is going to be a long tutorial and I have to see pix of what you are doing as we progress.

By the Grace of God I will start something tomorrow.

Note that its going to be full pattern work as I don't use free hand.

UmmTwins2:
10x vry much. The tightness can be determined using d "across chest" measurement nau, right?

Right.

the blue dress tutorial would have to wait a bit am quite busy but I will try my best.

UmmTwins2:
hw d'u mean "increase d upper part of d princess dart"? 10x ma'am

the princess dart line would pass over your bust vertically right?

the part holding your upper chest ( above d bust between your neck and bust )should be tightened until the material hugs your chest firmly.