From the search engine referrals, there seem to be a lot of requests for panelled skirt patterns. I am guessing this is because of the skater skirt tutorial! Please leave me a comment if you want a tutorial on how to do these, and how many panels you are after. If there are other pattern cutting tutorials you want, please let me know, and I will do my best to get them online for you.
Tag: block
Spot That Jacket
Ok, apologies need to be made…. I have neglected my blog. It’s not that I wasn’t doing anything else, I just didn’t have much to write about until I had finished this project. I know I had posted that fabulous green and turquoise silk, and I will still make it up. Although it may not be along the lines of the dress posted! While indecision plauged me though, I had something lined up!
I had bought this spotty cotton and silk grossgrain from my favourite fabric shop, aaaages ago. I won’t even try to calculate how long I have had it! Anyway, I had seen a jacket in a shop, about 2 years ago (!) that I liked the neckline of, and I quickly sketched it. This was the basis of the jacket I have just made. Sorry this is a bit blurred!
I wanted something that would fit snugly in the back, and also provide some sort of indication of shape at the waist (a bit of a cheat, as there really is none!). I made the basic tailored jacket block and had husband draw on the panel lines, with me checking in the mirror! Then I cut the block up and transferred the lines onto the paper pattern. I closed the darts and voila! The front is plain, just two panels with welt pockets. There wasn’t much point in doing anything fancy as it would detract from the collar.
The toile was cool, the shape worked really well and I love the curves on the back. Although, thinking about it, you can’t really see the section seams that well amongst all the spots! Oh well. Another thing to think of is the collar. When I toiled the jacket I only did one layer, and it seemed ok, but….. In the finished garment the narrow ends near the centre front seem flat. I am going to have to tighten up the neck edge of the collar pattern to encourage a bit of a rise there. But it is no train smash, perfectly wearable! lol.
So, the structure – I used fusible interfacing from Gill Arnold. I used the weft insertion on the “t-zone”, the hem edges and the upper cuff and collar. The facing, under collar and cuff were interfaced with the fine sheer polyester. This is to reduce bulk while still ensuring support. I made a pattern for a chest piece and cut the canvas on the bias. I didn’t use any canvas in the collar, perhaps once I fix the pattern and make another I may use a bit on the lower edges, just to make sure the shape is held properly. Cotton tape was fused down the front opening edges to make ensure a sharp fold. The shoulder pads are a felted tailor’s set, also from Gill.
And this is the finished product. Daughter no 1 thinks it’s really cool to take photos at an angle, so no need to adjust your sitting position while viewing the pics!
I seem to have spots on the brain, as I am making a blouse now, a black and white spotty silk chiffon!
Drafting a Skirt Block
The straight skirt block is the basic skirt pattern, from which pretty much all other skirt patterns are made. This tutorial is based on the method in Winifred Aldrich’s Metric Pattern Cutting. I have included the two size tables for your reference. You do not need to take every measurement!! For skirts take your waist and hip measurement (if you are not sure where or how to do this, check here). Compare your measurements with the table and get your waist to hip measurement from the table. If you have different sizes don’t stress too much, the waist to hip doesn’t vary that much, so go by the one for your hip measurement.
Charts
So, armed with your waist, hip and waist to hip measurement you can begin.
Step 1.
You will be starting with a rectangle. Draw a line roughly parallell to the top edge of your paper. Put a small line and a #1 on the left of the line.
1 – 2: Measure along the line 1/2 of your hip measurement, plus 1.5cm. Make a mark and lable it #2.
1 – 3: This line MUST be 90 degrees to the line 1 – 2. Finished shirt length. For the purposes of a block, make this knee length, so make this line about 50cm long, and mark the end with a #3.
3 – 4: Is the same as the measurement 1 – 2. Again, make sure all your lines are straight and at right angles to each other.
2 – 4: Close the rectangle.
Step 2.
1 – 5: Waist to hip measurement from the table. Mark #5 and draw a line across the block to intersect 2-4. Mark this point #6.
5 – 7: 1/4 of your hip measurement, plus 1.5cm. Mark #7 and draw a line down to the hem for #8.
Step 3:
1- 9: 1/4 of your waist measurement, plus 4.25cm. Mark #9 and draw a short line up. #10 is 1.25cm up this line.
Draw a dotted line from #1 to #10. Divide this line into 3 equal parts and mark points # 11 and #12. Draw lines from these points at right angles. The line from #11 is 14cm long. Mark point # 13 at the end. The line from #12 is 12.5cm long. Mark point # 14.
Step 4:
Draw darts on the two lines from #11 and #12, 2cm wide. (that’s 1cm on each side of the central line)
2 – 15: 1/4 your waist measurement plus 2.25cm. Mark #15 and draw a line up. #16 is 1.25cm up this line.
#17 is a third of the measurement 16 – 2. Draw a line from #17, 10cm long. Mark point # 18 at the end.
Step 5:
Draw a dart 2cm wide on the line from #17.
Find the halfway point of the lines from #7 to #10 & 16. Mark a point 0.5cm out from this point on each line. Draw a curved line from #10 to #7, and #16 to #7. Make sure these lines touch the point you just marked and that they flow easily to the straight line from #7 to #8.
Draw a slow curve from #1 to #10 and #2 to #16.
Add notations, Back, Front and centres.
At this point, also add your name, the date, and the measurements you used, ie, hip and waist. This will come in handy when you want to check whether or not the block still fits you later on! So now you have a half skirt. To do the next step, you need to ink in the outer lines, the line from 7-8 and the darts. Then use tracing paper and trace out each skirt piece separately, so you have a front and a back. Cut the front out on a fold and cut 2 back pieces. Remember that the block has NO SEAM ALLOWANCE!! So add to the side seams and the centre back. Also remember to leave the centre back open from waist to hip so you can get it on! Keep this pattern uncut. If you need to make adjustments, use coloured pens to mark new lines, and DATE the adjustments. Use the patterns you traced off this one to cut up, otherise you will have to make a block everytime you want a new pattern. This is your template, keep it safe!
I will post the method I used to make the skater skirt next.
Happy drafting! Any questions, just shout, and if I haven’t made anything clear enough, please let me know, and it will be fixed asap!
THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS 