Make Your Own Clothes: 20 Custom Fit Patterns to Sew [Paperback]

Marie Clayton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 5, 2008

With Make Your Own Clothes, creating custom-fit garments has never been so easy. Learn how to lay out the pattern pieces, transfer markings onto fabric, and create classic and contemporary styles with confidence.

 

Each project includes easy-to-follow instructions and step-by-step photography for key stages with handy technique reference numbers.

 

All the patterns featured in the book are included in the accompanying PatternMaker CD. With this disk, simply enter your own measurements and the software generates a pattern made to fit your body. These can also be adjusted to ensure a perfect fit.

 

Lastly, useful reference flaps fold out with information for pattern symbols and basic hand and machine stitches. Regardless of your skill level, this easy-giong collection will appeal to both novices and seasoned experts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (February 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312376642
• ISBN-13: 978-0312376642
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #715,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good for the price, August 7, 2008

By 

Sewanista (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Make Your Own Clothes: 20 Custom Fit Patterns to Sew (Paperback)

I've got to admit, I only bought this one for the patterns. I don't use sewing instructions, so I haven't even read the book, but I've given the patterns quite a workout. You type in your measurements and the program caculates a pattern which you then print onto lots of sheets of paper (handy hint, shift the pieces around before printing to reduce the page count) and stick together. It's fiddly, but a lot less so than trying to alter a standard sized pattern. I bought this to try out the drafting software with a view to purchasing the full package from Patternmaker, who produced it. I am a patternmaker by trade, but I like the design part, not the drafting from scratch part, so a custom fit basic will save me so much time. I am now teaching hobby sewers, so I've tested the fit on a variety of people, and can see that, with a little care, these patterns will work fairly nicely. The closer to average posture the better, it would seem - the draft relies heavily on the front/back balance being a certain proportion, so women with a pronounced stoop or very upright posture may find it spits out a weird looking pattern that doesn't sit right, and you really need some pattern experience to see how to fix it. I have a slightly forward neck, so it interpreted my back length as all height and made a slightly longwaisted pattern that still needed extra length up to the back neck. One of my students has very rounded shoulders, and a short front, so that didn't work at all, another has a very large bust, and the chest width ended up far too wide. Fixable, but fiddly, and if you didn't know what you were looking at I can see that it would be too frustrating to continue.

I like the range of patterns included. The styles are all quite basic, but as a patternmaker, I don't look at detail, I look at silhouettes, and I felt the styles included could be the starting point for a complete wardrobe. With only a little pattern design knowledge, you could get a huge range of well fitting patterns.

There is quite a lot of information regarding the system available at www.leenas.com, and I understand there is a user group also. The pattern system used to develop the program is fully described, with hand drafting instructions. Worth a visit.

My only gripe would be the silly errors. I can't say if there were any typos in the book, because I haven't read it, but the style sketches don't always match the pattern diagram properly, and I find that kind of thing annoying. One of the patterns also seemed to draft up oddly, but I haven't had time to recheck it. I may have typed in a wrong number. You can't save measurements, although you can print out a set you've entered, so each time you have to re-enter the measurements.

All in all, I'm very happy. It's a versatile addition to my pattern reportoire, and it's fun to use. I don't even mind taping the pages together :-) I think that if you have average posture, this pattern will accommodate girth and length variations reasonably well, but if you find you have to always make lots of alterations to store bought patterns, this may not be the easy fix you'd expect.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mrs Sharon Alsop, April 5, 2008

By 

Sharon Alsop "Sharon" (Darwin, NT, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Make Your Own Clothes: 20 Custom Fit Patterns to Sew (Paperback)

very good book for new sewers. Easy to follow direction and easy to understand. I have been sewing for many years, I wish I had this book when I was starting out.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A tad dissapointing, August 28, 2008

By 

themarkmaker "themarkmaker" (Melbourne Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Make Your Own Clothes: 20 Custom Fit Patterns to Sew (Paperback)

I felt this book was a little dissapointing. The styles of clothes given look as if they are from the 1980's. So it's not particurally inspiring fashion wise. I tried the software disk and its very clunky to use. I think it would have been far better for it to have had a basic straight skirt pattern instead of the very daggy tulip one. I'm sorry, but I just thought it could have been a much better book but it just isn't. If you like stylish clothes this is not worth getting.