Customer Reviews

How to Design Your Own Clothes and Make Your Own Patterns.

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I owned this book for 30 years, but sold it because it did NOT teach how to start with your own measurements to make slopers. Instead, it taught how to buy a basic commercial fitting pattern & then fit it to your own body. Since my body is SO non-standard, that didn't work for me.

I've since found several good books that explain how to make slopers from your own body measurements, but NONE of those books are as good as this one for how to make any style you want using your basic slopers.

This is the very BEST book I've ever found to explain how to duplicate just about any clothing style, collar, or sleeve design you see or can dream up for yourself! The book shows how to take basic bodice, sleeve, skirt, & pants slopers to design ANYTHING else you want to wear.

So I bought it for the second time, & I'll never be without it again!

BOOKS on how to make basic slopers from your own measurements:
Make Your Own Patterns, by Rene Bergh
How to Make Sewing Patterns, by Donald McCunn
How to Draft Basic Patterns, by Lee Gross
Pattern Making By the Flat-Pattern Method, by Norma Hollen (expensive, but worth it!)

I disagree with the previous review. The basis of pattern design starts out with using basic sloper patterns. This is exactly what this book takes you through. Once you have mastered the basic slopers (base patterns), then you are shown how to modify the basics and create your own styles. For myself, after I read this book, I have been able to look at almost any commercial pattern and understand how to make the pattern myself without purchasing the pattern. I also understand how to create my own patterns with new designs.

The drawings are out of date, the the basic information is very usable and the slopers themselves are still the same.

I've only been sewing for a year, and I was frustrated with the mounting cost of commercial patterns. I stumbled upon this book in my library and was succefully altering my first pattern (a blouse) after a few days. This book is well suited for beginners, my only gripe with it is that it doesn't cover men's and children's clothing alterations, only women's.
But it's rather complete at that: you'll learn to alter the five basic slopers (A line dress, bodice, blouse, skirt and pants), how to select and work with fabrics, how to make most collars and neckline, countless sleeves variations, a very useful and easy to understand chapter on moving darts and turning darts into seams, working with yokes, all kinds of skirts, catsuits and overalls etc... The drawings are very clear, all the styles are pictured, I feel I could make anything I want with this book and probably could copy most commercial patterns designs.
As other reviewers said, this book doesn't teach you how to draft the slopers but smallscale patterns are given on p5 and 6, you can blow them up at a copy shop and then alter them to your measurement.

I was disappointed in this book. It is really a big book on how to modify commercial patterns. It does NOT show you how to take measurements and make your own patterns or slopers.

I have not made an item from this book but I have skimmed thru it. It does not teach "original drafting" but how to alter commercial patterns. So i guess it is ok.

I have several how to make your own pattern books and this is one of the best. It's not as detailed as I'd like for it to be, but I'd recommend it.