The Pattern Making Primer: All You Need to Know About Designing, Adapting, and Customizing Sewing Patterns

by Jo Barnfield, Andrew Richards

The Pattern Making Primer is the ultimate sewing guide for amateur designers! This essential primer is designed for beginners and experienced sewists alike, providing step-by-step instructions and expert tips to unlock the secrets of pattern making. Whether fashion is your hobby, your passion, or your profession, this book is your key to unlocking endless creative possibilities. Learn how to draft garment patterns and prepare your own fashion Unlock your pattern making potential with The Pattern Making Primer, and no matter your skill level, soon you'll be making a wide variety of garments and fashion designs!

Genres: Sewing, Nonfiction, Crafts, Fashion, Patternmaking, Reference

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2012

Reviews

[W. eFred · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5! There is a lot of useful information in this book and I definitely want to add it to my library, since I think I’ll be coming back to it a lot. However, it’s not as accessible to beginners as I would like. There are some things that go unexplained or that I don’t think I could replicate without more information.

[Gummi Drops · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to agree with Kayla, that this book didn't really give a good explanation on slopers. It had a great how to sew, fabric, supplies list, etc. section. It even talked about different shapes of sleeves, and skirts. I hate to disagree with Gaile, but this book does not teach you how to draft your own. It seemed to have taught me how to alter a sloper to get the shapes described, but not how to draft my own sloper to work off of.

Do not get me wrong, I definitely recommend it to beginner's as a, "This gives you the bare minimum basics, and lets you know if you want to learn more about drafting your own patterns." This book taught me a decent amount, surprisingly. I really enjoyed my time with this book, as it helped me understand how to construct my garments.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started off strong and then drifted off. I hoped for more of the calculations and directions for drafting patterns. Really, only the circle skirt is explained, and then it moves on to types of adjustments. It shows the fit issue and where to make the adjustments but not the measurements and math used for the example. There were also fit issues that I personally have that were not covered. It's a good start, though, if you want to finish the book with 100 new questions.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introductory sewing book with a lot of basic information on how to use commercial patterns. I found the information on how to draft and alter a sloper to be more useful to my personal sewing projects, but the reason I bought this book initially was for the fitting correction guide. The way the common fitting issues are depicted on a form combined with the way the corrections are shown on the slopers helps to communicate how and which corrections should be made in which situations.

[Jane Dugger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally, very nice instructions on how to properly create an A-line skirt from a straight skirt. And the different between a Princess seamed bodice (to the neckline) & a Vienna seamed bodice (to the armhole).

[ELDEE · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this is a pretty detailed book and it assumed I knew more than I do. I knew the basics of the subject and can see how this material would be useful in a classroom setting. I think I need an interpreter! I could see myself reading it in a different way in the future.

[Lia Marcoux · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear and thorough, with great diagrams. But nothing about pants!!! I only care about pants right now!

[Margery Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting and maybe not directly helpful to my sewing but gave me a much better understanding of things

[Amanda Ramos · Rating 4 out of 5]

For advanced sewers, this book throws you in the deep end, and is very thorough. But if you do not understand your basics, this is not at all beginner friendly.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful, but it seems as if it cannot decide whether it is a beginner's book or not (ie, it has a "how to sew" section, but does not explain some terms). Also, more of a pattern /alteration/ book. Not pattern drafting- just a picture of what a bodice sloper sort of looks like. Would like more on drafting and more explanation of ease allowances (a few seemed just a "take my word for it" sort of deal).

[Gaile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once you have learned to sew the next thing you need to know to save money as patterns now cost the earth to buy is to draft your own. All the tools and techniques you need to draft your own are in this book. It includes illustrations and photographs as well.