Sewing Patterns: Tips and Tricks

Dear users and authors,
How do sewing patterns work? Would you like to share your thoughts on this?

The sewing pattern is the make-or-break factor for the garment you’re sewing—especially with clothing, a good sewing pattern is absolutely essential. To create one yourself, you should at least have someone who knows what they’re doing show you how, because trying to do it on your own with absolutely no idea how to start usually doesn’t work out.
It’s not just the measurements that are important in a sewing pattern; what’s just as important is what’s called wearing ease. That’s the extra width that makes the garment fit really well and ensures comfort. After all, clothes that fit like a suit of armor and don’t let you move properly drive you crazy and make you grumpy. For many sewing patterns, the seam allowance (SA) is already included—it’ll be listed on the pattern itself or in the description. However, there are also many cases where the SA is missing, and you’ll need to add it when cutting out the fabric. This means you shouldn’t cut right at the edge of the pattern; instead, mark a line at least 1 cm away from the edge of the pattern, and that’s where you can and should cut. Many people even use 1.5 cm or more for the seam allowance, but I personally find that a waste; for me, 0.75 cm is enough—about the width of a sewing foot—but that’s only because that’s how I was taught. Even with a pattern from a magazine or a standalone pattern, you should have yourself measured accurately beforehand and compare those measurements with the pattern. Because I’ve seen it happen so many times that people tend to overestimate their measurements. When you ask for their clothing size, you often hear “38” or “40,” but when I measure them, it usually turns out to be a “44”—and then you get an offended look. After all, the garment is supposed to fit afterward, and you should be able to get in and out of it without a shoehorn ;-) :-)
You should always have a second person take your measurements, because measuring yourself doesn’t work—the measurements simply won’t be accurate. When you measure yourself, you move around, bend over, etc.—so how is the bust height or skirt length supposed to be accurate if I’m leaning forward? To take a full set of measurements, you need dozens of measurements, starting at the neck and ending at the ankle circumference.
For me, for example, I always have to alter patterns for tops because I’m about 4 cm shorter on the right than on the left, and I have to distribute those 4 cm so that my armhole is still the same size as in the original—thankfully, that part hasn’t changed—so I always make a basic pattern with my measurements and use it for every top I sew, because you can use and adjust a basic pattern however you like.
Pattern drafting is a science in itself, and if something is written somewhere and you want to sew it, you should follow it, because they know why it says one thing or another.

Best regards, Inge