Patternmaking Made Easy (2nd Edition) [Spiral-bound]

Connie Amaden-Crawford (Author), Jimmy Hebert (Illustrator), Deborah Meyer (Illustrator), Kelle Schaffel (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2007

Patternmaking Made Easy was written to give aspiring designers, educators, students, and professionals an understanding of how to create and design in a very simple approach, using professional patternmaking skills. This book will provide the insight and knowledge to design one garment or a whole wardrobe with ease and clarity. It will provide them with the means to execute all of their creative ideas in a nearly infinite variety of clothing styles.

The strength of Patternmaking Made Easy lies in its clear presentation of the principles, theories, and skills of patternmaking. Students will learn to develop all 22 blocks/slopers that can process their designs. - not just the basic fitted waist seam block/sloper. The text identifies and defines each block along with the designs that can be created from them. Because it illustrates all the pattern skills the author acquired during her 35 years in the garment industry, this book is one of a kind! It teaches industry efficient pattern skills not found in other patternmaking books. This equips students with the most comprehensive set of skills, thus giving them the greatest flexibility in design variations with the most efficient use of time.

The illustrations and easy-to-read text provide a complete understanding of patternmaking techniques. Throughout this text, emphasis in using the basic design principles of proportion, balance and fit are illustrated. The author teaches through a step-by-step method that easily lets readers learn to create fashionable and professional-looking garments. It is designed for real-world use as you work and has an inside spiral binding so that it lays flat. This book is indispensable for anyone interested in fashion design or costume design.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Patterndrafting For Everyone

Connie Crawford, teacher designer, and garment industry veteran, offers instruction for any sewer - beginner to advanced - interested in learning to draft patterns. Her latest book, Patternmaking Made Easy, is both comprehensive and systematic. Beginning with a detailed discussion of tools and practices used in patternmaking, the text proceeds to the drafting of various blocks, which are then used to develop fashion patterns. The information in the book, though intended to be used for making patterns from scratch, will be useful for sewers who wish to modify commercial patterns, as well. From basic garment silhouettes to details like pockets, collars, and complex shaping seams, all aspects of flat-pattern design are explained.

--Threads Magazine

Book review by ASG Member, Connie Shaw

This weighty tome is invaluable to home sewers who want to draft or change their own patterns. Written for use in fashion education classes for people pursuing careers in the garment industry, the book s introduction depicts perfectly the main goal for the publication: "Its strength lies in its clear presentation of the principles, theories, and skills of patternmaking. "

Readers will learn about creating pattern blocks and slopers, how to apply basic styling steps, ways to correct problems in basic pattern drafts when made into slopers, the reasons why and how patterns should be balanced, and a myriad of principles all relating to flat pattern design. For me, the most outstanding aspect on Connie Crawford s book is her excellent step-by-step procedures for drafting the basic blocks. The language is clear, easy to understand, and the line drawings illustrate the clarity of her how-to explanations. I first used her basic pant draft for myself and learned the value of accuracy and making lines perfectly squared-off when I had to re-do my draft a second time! When assisting some 14 Guild members draft their patterns by Crawford s instructions, for the most part I found them easy to follow.

A most-welcome segment contains step-by-step instructions for making a custom dress form out of papier mache, including drawings and photos, as well as how to construct a stand for the form. Whodathunk it!

I am familiar with several popular texts used in fashion design classrooms over past years (although Crawford s book is replacing some of them) and have found most of them to be very intimidating. By contrast, the Crawford book is user-friendly. I m delighted to own it.

--Tucson ASG

About the Author

Connie Crawford shares her love of sewing and patternmaking by bringing a new level of understanding to the professional arena and the home clothier. Connie is an inspiring lecturer with 35 years of experience in apparel manufacturing, and is the author of 6 fashion related textbooks. She taught fashion design classes in patternmaking, production, sewing, and draping at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising for 23 years. With this knowledge, Connie gives lectures to professionals as well as the home clothier.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 459 pages
• Publisher: Amaden-Crawford Inc.; 2nd edition (June 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964951657
• ISBN-13: 978-0964951655
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.9 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #435,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear directions lead to successful pattern drafts for the amateur, September 29, 2009

By 

Ruth A. Nelson (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Patternmaking Made Easy (2nd Edition) (Spiral-bound)

I've been sewing for years. I have taken an extensive pattern drafting class and an equally extensive draping class. These helped me get an idea of pattern construction but NOTHING got me to actually succeed like this book. I read the instructions carefully and drafted (from plain paper to fitted muslin) two pairs of pants for two very different women in one day. Just from the instructions in this book.

I have also used her sleeve drafting instructions to get sleeves perfectly the first time. I have NEVER been able to do this before. I also shared the simple, clear instructions with a couple of relative beginners and they were adjusting sleeve patterns to fit within minutes. If you have some sewing experience, I dare you to try. You will be SO happy you plunked down the considerable price for the book. It is a reference you will use over and over and over again.

And if you like visuals, go ahead and get the companion DVDs. They move fast but as an enrichment and visual guide for the book, they are invaluable. Read, prepare and follow along.

I'm serious - two pairs of beautifully fitting pants on two very different women in one day.

26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Poorly written/edited., February 27, 2009

By 

J. Molloy "Living Life" (Anywhere life takes me) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Patternmaking Made Easy (2nd Edition) (Spiral-bound)

We used this book in my pattern drafting class, and I feel it was poorly written/edited. I'm no English instructor. However, I feel the editor doesn't know how to form sentences properly, or didn't proof read this, so that a lay person would understand the instructions. I found myself reading each step SEVERAL times. Had I not seen the steps done in my class, I would NEVER have been able to properly draft my sloper. Also, my instructor showed us an easier & more accurate method of locating the bust point. Ms. Crawford also added ease to the slopers. My instructor had us eliminate any ease because it is with the design of your garment when ease would be included. The sloper is the baseline starting point from which one would alter a commercial pattern or create new designs. Lastly, she talks about what tools are used in the industry, but doesn't go into detail as to how to properly use them.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Brought my sewing class to an unhappy standstill, February 10, 2011

By 

D. King (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Patternmaking Made Easy (2nd Edition) (Spiral-bound)

My pattern-making class was moving along smoothly. After everyone had all their measurements, we turned to the instructions in this book to make the sloper. Disaster struck. The instructions are unclear, not well explained, poorly copyedited, based in some steps on random numbers not derived from the measurements at all. Terms not previously used are given as starting points for later steps. Geometric points don't connect. All seven people in the class were stumped and the teacher was frustrated by her inability to explain; she had to keep saying "ignore the book and just do what I tell you."