Transcripts
1. Welcome: Hi there. My name's Marcie. When I was a little
girl, I used to love the pages in the
coloring books that made you count by numbers and join the dots to
reveal a picture. Then years later, when I
was a fashion designer, I realized when we
started pattern making that this was
exactly the same thing. The reason I'm doing
this video is because I believe that
having knowledge of the basic slash and spread
method and the development of patterns as they go along from the basic bodice to address, for example, that this
information will help you if you come across certain
things in a pattern that you're not really
sure that you want in it, and then you'll be able
to know that you can change it or how
you can change it. Let's get started.
I want to be old. I want to be strong.
2. Take Measurements: Pattern drafting starts with a standard set of measurements. If you're drafting
for the industry, the example seen here shows the standard chart used for a child aged two to
seven years of age. Beside it shows the body shape that corresponds to
those measurements. If you were going to create
your own set of blocks, you would follow a guide that
instructs you to measure yourself and add ease that allows a garment
to move on your body. These blocks are basically
like your second skin. The first step is that
using a metal square ruler, you're told which
direction to draw a square and where to place
the first point of zero. For the bodice block
as seen on this slide, zero to one is the
measurement of your back from a
particular bone in your neck to your waist and adding one and a quarter
centimeters of E's, that point becomes number one. From here, you square across. You continue to build upon this marking points
and squaring across to finally reveal the
front and back bodice joined at the side seam. These pieces now
need to be traced separately to reveal the individual front
and back blocks. The block is then traced and
seam allowance is added. This original block must
be tested in fabric, which is called making a muslin any adjustments are taken
back to reshape the original. Now that it reflects
your actual body, it will be made in a
manila board and can be used to make any pattern
pieces that you desire, such as shirts, dresses, jackets, jumpsuits, et cetera. The next video explains the actual progression
of block development.
3. Series of Blocks: M. When starting to draft patterns, it's natural to begin
with the bodice block. The first stage
shows that the front and back are joined
at the side seams. They will need to be separated
later and tested for accuracy before being
made into single blocks. I circled the part that is later used to build
the sleeve block. The horseshoe shape
is called the arm si. Using measurements within
the sleeve block is made. Because the sleeve is built using the measurements
from the bodice, sleeves are not interchangeable from one pattern to another. The points on the left
image marked BP and FP are the pitch points which are actually the places
where the notches are. You can see in the right
image that they now sit at number five and number
two on the sleeve block. To differentiate between
the back and front pieces, there are always two notches on back pieces and one
on front pieces. For your interest,
I've next included an image that shows you
how to measure a curve. The measuring tape must be held standing up to get an
accurate measurement. Building on these blocks, it's natural to see
that to make a dress, you have to first draft the skirt block and
combine them at the waist, truing the side seam as seen in red to make it a smooth line. After you have the dress block, you can then create
a jacket block. The pant block can
be done by itself, but if you want a jumpsuit, then you would use the bodice
block and the pant block. A coat block will be made
from the jacket block. The difference
between the dress and the jacket is adding extra room. And a coat will also
require more room as it may be that you will
wear a jacket under a coat.
4. Slash and Spread: A, now the real fun begins. The true creative process of fashion design uses the basic
slash and spread messing. The basic blocks that
I've shown you are the building blocks
for the inner designer to be able to play with
pieces by tracing them onto paper and cutting
them up this way and that. I'm starting with
the bell sleeves. You can see that lines are
drawn from the head of the sleeves to the hem and
without being disconnected, the pieces are spread
out sideways to add fulms through the sleeve
middle and the bottom. It isn't a sled that you see
often and I was thinking that I would probably
tell you that it was mostly used for costumes. But yesterday when I was
watching Coronation Street, I saw the cutest little
blue jean jacket on an actor with a belled fleet, elasticized above the wrist
and it was so adorable. The rest of the jacket was kept quite simple, had no lapel. It had just a neckline
with a facing which allowed the bell sleeve
to become the main feature. Next is the basic skirt. The line skirt and
the pencil skirt only have the lines of
the side scenes changed. A pleated skirt has
fabric added in the middle to provide room to fold the fabric
to make a pleat. Then of course, as always, the final piece is made with the seam allowance and the
notches and other markings, such as grain line, how many pieces to cut, the name of the piece,
and who it might be for. For example, if you're
working for yourself, you would put your name
on it or otherwise the pattern would be made
maybe for manufacturing. Next, I'm showing you the flared skirt that
applies the slash and spread method as the pieces are cut up and not
separated at the top, but just swung over
as much as you like. The distance between
the pieces remain the same and the new piece is
made with seam allowance. Meet me in the next
video where I'll use the slash and spread method
and we will play with pants.
5. Pant Play: Using the same slash and
spread method with pants, I'm showing how we get pleats
in the front of pants. It may not be fashionable these days to wear
pants like this, but everything comes
back again as we witnessed with the belt sleeve
in the previous section. Here, the lines are
drawn from the dart to the bottom and
parallel to it again. Cut open to the bottom, not separated, but just spread the desired
depth of your pleat. Notches are placed at the
original dart spot and at the other point after the spread and the same
for the other pleat. The piece is traced again
and seam allowance is added. Now we're looking at the
side seam or inseam pocket. It's a pretty simple
pocket that is good for a pant that has enough
room to put your hand in. It wouldn't be appropriate for
a pant that is skin tight, better for a pant with a draw string or
elasticized waist. Starting in the top left, you'll notice there are three
different shapes of pockets that you might find if you could see right
through the pant. In my images, I'm
using the design of number two because the depth of pocket is built
right into the design. Right below it in gray, you see how the pant
pocket is sewn to the side seam on both the
front and the back piece. Then the front and back are sewn together at the side seam, going around the pocket
and down to the bottom. Now, if you were using
pocket one or three, you would have to add
another step of sewing to create the depth of pocket as
seen in the smaller images. The extra seam is in red. In my opinion, it's
just a bad design. Where's the advantage
to having to add an extra step of sewing? If you buy a pattern that you
find this pattern piece in, check the instructions
to see if you have to add the extra sewing
because maybe I'm wrong, there's a different way and go ahead and change the
design to the other one. Just make sure that your hand fits comfortably
into the place where the opening is and if you want a deeper pocket, you
can make that too. Next, I'm showing you the standard blue jean pocket actually called the
hip front pocket. From the left image, you see the original pant
block and right beside it, the traced one on
a piece of paper. Then I show you that any design can be
made in this pocket, a straight line or
the curved line. Basically, you cut
away the shape that you want the front of
your pant to look like, then you create
your pocket facing. A facing on any piece
mirrors the shape of the garment and is sewn on the outside and
flipped inside. You'll see them on necklines. Sometimes the top of a pant or skirt has a facing
instead of a waistband, and arm holes without
sleeves have to be faced. Then you have to replace the bit you cut away in this pant, so you fill it with
the same shape around the bottom as the face
a basic pocket shape. You can fill that in
with anything you like, a different color, a printed
fabric, whatever you like. You are the designer. Meet me in the last video
where I will show you that as well as slash
and spreading pieces, you create a whole
different look as soon as you just chop pieces up
into different shapes. See you there.
6. Chop Chop/Conclusion: Sola. Okay. Another simple way to design is to cut the
original pieces up to create visual interest,
contrast, and texture. In this video, I've taken a simple bodice front and made a variety
of different looks. I wish I had the computer to play with when
I was in school. I'm just learning
Adobe Illustrator and this was so fun and an easy way to instantly see the effects of
changing simple lines. The process would be the same
as we've seen all along. You would trace
the original draw the lines using a tracing wheel, transfer each new piece to another paper and add seam allowance,
notches and markings. Yokes are a common way to
add interest to a garment. You'll see them on the back
of almost every man's shirt. The upper portion
has been divided. I think it must be for a more
comfortable fit for men. I don't actually remember discussing why it is
that it's so common. You can see here a simple
yoke at the top of the skirt. Just that line being sewn and top stitched adds a whole
new look to the skirt. Then the bottom
can be slashed and spread to give a bit
of flow to the skirt. The last one on the
right is really fun. It can be seen on
wedding gown sometimes. Then I'm showing you the
princess line, which I. The simple division
of the bodice into three pieces will flatter
any woman of any size. The line draws your eye downward
for one thing, but also, this is a fitted
shape that goes over the bust from under the
arm or from the shoulder. When it's from under the arm, it fits your body like a
glove and from the shoulder, it'll be a little less fitted. It can then follow the
curves of your hips. But if you're a larger woman and want to hide the lower half, the bottom can be
slashed and spread, which will cover everything and it's very feminine
and flattering. This is my favorite design. I'm sick of Okay. Well, that's the
conclusion of this video. I hope that you found it interesting and that
possibly in the future, while you're sewing, you might actually find it was
helpful in some way. I'm always here if you
have questions about alterations you
might be making or changes in a pattern
in the future. Please leave a
review of this video because it's very helpful
to us. Happy sewing. Game play. O
Marcy Newman, SewwwMuchMore!
