Digital Pattern How-To: 8 dynamic steps for creating your own

I’ve been sewing since I could walk, but I didn’t start making my own patterns until high school. I was fortunate to have a school that still taught sewing, and better yet, a teacher who saw my potential and allowed me to create my own curriculum and advance well beyond any class offered.  A lot of friends got custom dresses for many of the school dances. (There’s probably a few friends reading this that might still have a dress or two!) Although my pattern drafting was in it’s infancy, I devoted myself to designing whatever I could. Thousands of patterns later, I still remember those first experiments in pattern making.

From top left to right: Spring 2012 Runway Boston, Spring 2010 Lookbook, Behind the camera at Fall 2010, Finale look from Spring 2012.

From bottom left to right: Fall 2014 Lookbook, Resort 2014 Lookbook, Fashionably Late Boston 2010, Spring 2012 Lookbook.

With my women's wear line, Lily & Migs, I developed about a hundred new patterns each year. Taking them from sketch to final sample and through to production. I used to do everything by hand and only in the last few years did I decide to start developing patterns digitally to share with other sewing enthusiasts. 

Most people have little to no idea what goes into making a pattern, especially one that is distributed for others to use, so I thought it would be exciting to show you what it takes to make a Sew & Tell pattern. I decided that the basic idea of developing a pattern could be divided into 8 dynamic steps. Interested to know the steps?

Well, follow me… 

Step 1: 

First things first: you have to have an idea. I have ideas floating all over the place, usually disorganized and on scraps of paper (if they even make it onto paper). Recently, I happened to have my daughter with me at the fabric store and she demanded that I make her a dress from a Snoopy-themed Valentine’s fabric, and so an idea was born. Here’s my idea for the My Sweet Valentine Dress.

Yeah… that’s an envelope with about a zillion other notes on the backside.  

 Here's a look at my drafting in Illustrator for step 2. First I make all the pattern pieces needed for the pattern,  then I add seam allowance to each piece.

Step 2:

Once I have an idea, I get to drafting. These days I prefer to do my drafting in Illustrator, which I have an Adobe subscription for. It’s much faster and more precise than drafting by hand. Plus, when I need to make corrections it’s a fraction of the time.

Step 3:

When I’m done developing the initial pattern it’s time to print and test it out! I print the pattern out on regular paper with my printer. Next I tape the pieces together and then use it to cut out my fabric. 

                                                                                                                                                                     Step 3: Print it out and tape your pattern together

Step 4 behind the scenes. Just some nice wrapping paper, natural light and a camera is all I need to photograph each step . Check out the finished product.

Step 4:

Next, it’s time to get sewing, but while I’m sewing I record each step two different ways. For every step completed I write the action down on a scrap of paper, this way I don’t skip anything. In addition to writing down the steps, I also photograph each one. I'm a fast sewer and this process is extremely tedious for me since I’m constantly stoping and starting. I’m a big fan of combining steps, but this would be confusing for pattern writing. So I am forced to stick with a slow and steady process no matter what. 

Step 5: 

I now have a finished product...sort of. Does it fit? Sometimes yes and sometimes no, almost always there’s some sort of tweak. Often I use myself to fit items for my women’s wear but that’s tricky for the children’s stuff. Luckily, I have two adorable little girls as my models. They are usually less than happy to try things on for me, but are always ecstatic to have the new item in their closets.

 This is a shot of all the pattern pieces for all the sizes I've graded for in Step 6.

Step 6:

Now it’s back to the computer. Remember when I said drafting digitally makes things faster? Well I can make those pattern corrections in minutes with just a few clicks, instead of tracing and redrawing all those pattern pieces.

Once I’m done with any corrections I will do what is called “Grading the Pattern.” 

Wait... What the heck does that mean?

                                                                                                                            

Grading a pattern is what happens when you size a pattern up or down making a full size run. So if I design something in a Large then this is when I need to make the additional sizes that I plan to offer with my pattern. I grade my patterns based on a calculated ratio that I’ve developed for my brand, while there’s some sort of basis you should stick to, this ratio is up to the pattern developer. We all experience these different ratios when we go shopping. This is why there is no “true” sizing because this is all left to an individual or the company making the pattern. 

Step 7 : Here's what a "Nested" pattern piece looks like and what my "Marker" looks like.

Step 7:

After the grading process, I develop what’s called a "marker." In production this is where every pattern piece for each size is individually placed out on paper, the marker is then laid on top of the fabric and cut. For at-home sewing patterns this is a little bit different. I still need to offer all the sizes but “nested” instead of individually. Nested means all the sizes for each pattern piece are laid inside of each other. I mark each size with a different dashed line, so you can tell the difference between sizes. Once the pattern pieces are nested I organize  them onto artboards, which translates into what will be printed on paper, so that they use the least amount of space. Next I create markings that allow the pattern to be put together once printed on regular paper. 

 Put it all together for step 8. This is an entire layout of my pattern book along side what my Cutting Layout page looks like.

Step 8:

Remember those hand written directions? I now need to input them into what becomes the pattern book. This is a packet that I develop for each pattern that gives you all the information you need to sew the pattern yourself. In the packet I list: fabric and yardage requirements, cutting layouts and all the sewing steps listed with the photos I took. This can be a really lengthy process and I usually have to comb over the pages several times before it’s ready. I also have others proof and test the pattern and book too before it’s released. 

After that the pattern is ready! Nothing to it right?! Ha. Ha. ;-) No I'm kidding. There’s a lot of work that goes into preparing a pattern for others to use, but I really enjoy the process and love seeing others enjoy my patterns too. Ready to start drafting your own patterns? I’m here to help you through the process, leave me a comment or send me any questions. If not, no worries. I’ll keep writing and developing cool patterns so you don’t have to. 

Want to check out the newest Sew & Tell pattern? Check it out here.