Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified

I am in the very beginning stages of pattern making, but am an experienced seamstress, if that is even possible. Pattern drafting has always severely frightened me, however I wanted to posses the resources to design, draft, and ultimately sew my own clothing.. I have sewn a lot of clothes without patterns, and been successful, except I would never be able to recreate the item. That being said, I did not know how to get what was in my head, onto paper, with the right measurements. Design It Yourself addresses all the problems that come with different body types. Big busted, darts to make it fit, length, style, all of it! Design It Yourself has a warm relaxed style of writing, and is extremely easy to understand. (unless you are a beginner to sewing itself) The pictures of the clothing are very clear, and the (few) pictures of the patterns as you draft them are so easy to understand. I love this book, and am very happy that I got it, learning to draft these simple patterns is just the first step to creating more fitted, more complicated patterns I am a visual learner. If I want to learn a new skill, I first read and read and read directions to accomplishing this. Hands on does nothing for me, and neither do pictures help that much more. This is why I like this book. Tons and tons of directional words, creating a dialog in my head, that connects and creates the pictures of how to draft patterns. This book does not have step by step pictures in the book, it does not cater to any other learning style then visual. You will not love this book if you are a beginning sewer, or if you can not learn visually without pictures.

I've been interested in drafting my own patterns for a long time. I took a class once. Bought a book or two. But I always got overwhelmed and discouraged. Luckily, before I gave up, I took a chance on this sweet little book. Turns out this was exactly what I needed. Ms. Patch's modern, unfussy approach skips over a lot of the intimidating techniques involved in creating a conventional sloper, plunging you right into the fun and creativity of turning a few simple measurements into contemporary clothes you'll actually want to wear. Her technique is especially well suited to working with knits, which are more forgiving and easier to fit than woven fabrics. The first project I attempted was the T-shirt, which I modified to be a flirty tunic. To her basic design, I added a wide neckline, an empire waist, and a flared bottom half. It was a shape I'd had in my head but could never find in stores or in pattern books. To my amazement, it came out even better than I'd hoped. I get lots of compliments on this shirt -- best is when people ask me where I bought it. Having this taste of success with my first project absolutely hooked me. Now I'm borderline obsessed. Much of the book's value comes from its relaxed approach. Just looking at the photos throughout, you can see that author's emphasis is not on perfection. The garments on the models look distinctly home-made, in fact. But perfection is a bore and a creativity killer. I found the DIY quality of the clothes charming, refreshing, contemporary -- and most of all LIBERATING. This is not international hostage negotiation: this is clothes, and it should be FUN. One caution: The book assumes a certain amount of sewing experience. It is not a sewing instruction book, nor does it claim to be. But if you've made a simple skirt and a top or two from commercial patterns, you'll be fine. And one criticism: The author does not adequately address the subject of wearing ease (the extra room that's built into a garment for comfort and ease of movement). In fact, the word "ease" doesn't even appear in the index (although it does make a brief appearance in a glossary near the end). She implies that you can plot your actual bust and waist measurements and end up with a T-shirt you'll be able to wear in public. This is misleading, as the T-shirts she shows in the photos have plenty of ease built into them. It's a puzzling oversight in an otherwise wonderful book. I can see that I'll soon want to add more drafting skills to my arsenal so I can attempt more ambitious projects, and there are plenty of books out there for that. But this book provided precisely the inspiration, encouragement, and permission I needed to get started. So glad I took a chance on this book. It's almost criminal how much fun I have alone in my apartment with my roll of butcher paper. Thank you, Cal Patch!

This book is easy to use, the directions are straight-forward, and she gives you permission to make mistakes and try whatever adjustments you want! The designs and variations are inspiring. I have been sewing for over 40 years, but got tired of buying new patterns every time my size or my style preferences changed. This book got me started on making my own patterns, from taking measurements to drafting a pattern to making my own T-shirts right off the bat! I still have a lot of fit issues with these drafts (I am definitely not built like these models), and I have had to do a lot of research on my own to solve some problems, but I now feel confident enough in my developing skills to go on to try more complicated drafting techniques from other sources. I will always be grateful to Cal Patch for getting me started on what I hope will be an exciting adventure into creating and wearing my own designs!

I bought this book as a way to help me avoid store-bought (sweatshop) clothing cheaply. I'm a semi-beginning sewist. Thrift stores don't consistently have what I want, and sewing patterns that are stylish are not super widely available (of course there are some that are great--Sew Liberated for one) -- and patterns can get expensive. So this seemed like a good answer. I consider this book to be a book of patterns--much like other popular sewing books out there--that you make yourself. It's not going to teach you to create highly tailored clothing. Instead, it gives you instructions for four very simple basic patterns -- t-shirt, shirt, dress, pants -- that you are then taught to modify by adding gathering, fullness, length, ruffles, drawstrings, etc. What I really love about this book is that it gives you instructions to make both woven and knit patterns. That's something I haven't really seen much of in the sewing world. Cal also has some great instructions on finishing seams -- I've never actually heard of a mock french seam before, but it's brilliant! I've already made the a-line skirt, including a formerly-scary invisible zipper (so easy!), with great success. So yeah, I think that the best thing overall is that this book demystifies the clothes-making process, taking it out of the hands of experts and giving anyone the ability to whip up a basic t-shirt. woohoo!

Molto carino.

sehr nettes buch wie man relativ einfach seine eigene kleidung entwerfen kann. schöne basismodelle, die man in unendlichen varianten selbst anpassen und gestalten kann.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to make their own clothes. It simplifies pattern making and teaches you to to make the basics & adapt them to make, well potentially almost anything. Well worth the buy.

I have been purchasing quite a few sewing books. I have yet to make something from here yet. But the idea of making clothes from your own sizing is something that has intrigued me and is exactly what I want to learn. I am sure I will use this a lot.

So far this book has been helpful and enlightening. I am enjoying it. Thank you!