Pattern Drafting Practice

The last part of the T-shirt class, this Wednesday, is on drafting a T-shirt pattern from personal measurements. All of the T-shirts I made myself last summer were done using the pattern I copied from a commercial T-shirt, which was the method I taught in last month’s T-shirt class. In order for me to teach the students how to draft a pattern from their own measurements, though, I have to be able to do it myself. That was yesterday’s project.

I had the husband help me get an accurate set of measurements of the key parts of my body. I used a couple different tutorials for drafting guidance. One of them suggests using Dollar Store wrapping paper, which has 1” grid markings on the back, for drawing out the pattern. That was a brilliant suggestion. Dollar Store wrapping paper is far cheaper than fancy drafting paper.

I decided that the first iteration was going to be done strictly according to the formulas given. After making a muslin from that pattern, I would go back and make the changes I thought needed to be made.

That was the plan, anyway.

I could see right away that the neck opening, as drafted, was going to be too small. The person who created that particular tutorial is very petite, and I think she likes close-fitting clothing. I widened the opening.

I also noted that the armscye and accompanying sleeve shaping resulted in a high, tight armhole. Armhole/sleeve fit is a matter of personal preference. I decided to leave that as drafted, at least for the first iteration, to see if I liked it that way. Armhole shaping is one of those paradoxical situations where a close-fitting sleeve actually gives better range of motion than a deeper, looser sleeve, because you’re not hauling around a lot of excess fabric every time you move your arm.

After I finished the back bodice drafting, I laid the new bodice pattern out on top of the old one to see how closely they tracked to each other.

The white, bottom layer is my copied T-shirt pattern. The red Christmas paper is the pattern drafted from my measurements. You can see that the bottom half of both patterns are very similar, but the top parts are different, especially in the armhole and neck shaping. This doesn’t mean that one is wrong and one is right; there are many different ways to clothe a body. All this means is that the fit in that area is going to be different depending on which pattern I use.

[Lots of sewists use the “Frankenpattern” method, where they cobble together pieces from several patterns into one new one.]

I went ahead and made a T-shirt, start to finish, from the red pattern. I think the fabric is either a rayon/spandex or a rayon/poly/spandex blend:

It fits me well—yay, it’s long enough!—and I plan to wear it when I teach the class on Wednesday. You can see, though, how high that neckline is, even with the mods I made. I will drop that even further. And while the sleeves fit, they are a bit tight for my taste. I think I am going to deepen that armscye just a bit and flatten out the top of the sleeve cap for a slightly more relaxed fit. Basically, I’ll end up drafting a new T-shirt pattern for myself that is an amalgamation of the two patterns.

[There is a bit of excess fabric at the sides near the bust—basically a dartless bust dart—which is visible because my dress form is not quite as well-endowed as I am.]

We’ll see how class goes this week. I am not sure I will continue to teach this level of pattern drafting because I am not sure most people are interested. But I could be wrong.

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I’ve gotten lots of positive comments on the Blue Thistle quilt. That one will get written up into a pattern for sure. (Incoming, Joanna, in a few weeks?)

I spent a couple of hours cleaning and organizing yesterday after I finished the T-shirt. One of the issues I have is that even though all of this stuff comes under the umbrella of “sewing,” it’s a lot of different kinds of sewing. Bags are different than quilting, which is different than garment-making, which is different than serging, which is different than hexies and embroidery. I enjoy them all, simultaneously. Supplies and projects were scattered all over the place, though, and they needed to be corralled because I can’t work efficiently when the place is a mess.

I’ve got four quilt tops to baste: Churn Dash, Blue Thistle, a mystery project, and the appliquéd antique hexie quilt that has been languishing for over a year. Churn Dash has a backing. I had the perfect backing fabric in the stash for Blue Thistle—I think I have enough—and I have a backing for the antique hexie quilt. The mystery project needs two borders and a backing, but I’ll have to do some shopping.