FREE SEWING PATTERNS Design & Make your own clothes.
You have two choices now that you have decided to make your own clothes – either make your own patterns with the help of tutorials in this site or buy commercial sewing patterns. Both are good but making paper patterns is a little bit more adventurous than getting ready made pattern. Read on if you are up to it.
Most of the clothes available in the retails shops today are made like cookies – of the same pattern, of the same size. Without considering that God has made us all unique. No other body is the same unless you are a twin. Check out the post on How to dress according to your body shape for more on this. After learning to sew your own clothes, before long you will be doing it yourself. Not that sewing is very inexpensive; it costs money to buy fabric and the factory made general sized clothing is sometimes very inexpensive. They don’t last long which is another matter. Think of yourself as a designer and you will be wearing good quality clothes which will last a very long time.
Learn ART OF DRESSMAKING
If you have been buying clothes off the shelf till now but now you feel you should make your own clothes – you are at the right place. You can now own clothes which are more fitting and more comfortable and can wear it with a pride of having made it yourself. Not to mention the kind of pleasure you get when you make something yourself. It is not very difficult to make sewing patterns yourself. In fact it is easy once you know how to. Just allow yourself to make small mistakes and then you are ready to go. Make the first garment in an inexpensive fabric and you will be able to forgive yourself for the mistakes you inevitably will be making with your first few projects drafting a pattern can be done on the paper or the cloth directly. Once you have made paper patterns, unless your body has not changed, you can keep on sewing with the same pattern again and again.
Main advantages of using paper patterns
- Time saving, if making the garment / or a single piece of garment like a sleeve, again; as, once you make a pattern you don’t have to waste time the next time you are making a similar dress, in taking measurement and marking on paper etc ; you can just go about choosing your fabric and start sewin.
- Ease of use is an obvious advantage as, if we mark directly on to the fabric and if there is some alteration in the measurement, the markings you have made may mess up your cloth.
Marking tools to transfer the patterns to your fabric
A very useful and cheap marking tool which will be available with everyone is a piece of soap. Use left over thin slithers of soaps from your bathroom and stores them near your cutting table. They can be used to mark on fabric- the advantage being that unlike all the traditional marking tools I have mentioned below they can easily be removed by rubbing gently with a wet cloth.
How to cut your fabric by using a pattern
Pattern pieces normally represent a garment’s right half. Fold your fabric in half lengthways with right sides together. Place the paper pattern piece straight on fold and pin spaced about 10 cms apart; cut accurately. Do not forget to place one hand near the cutting line for stability while you cut with the other hand.
Some tips when marking your own patterns on to the fabric
- Mark accurately – be as precise as possible
- You do not have to mark on the 2 fabric layers but while cutting this has to be taken into account
- Always test your marking tool (chalk or pencil or tracing wheel) to see the impact on your chosen fabric and whether the mark will remain, or will it stain the fabric etc
- Be sure to use a sharp pair of sewing scissors. If your scissors are blunt the edges will turn out ragged.
- Take long cuts rather than many small cuts on straight edges and short cuts on curves.
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