Question: Can I create a pattern from a favorite dress, blouse, or skirt without taking the original apart?Answer: It can be done -- and it only takes patience and a few tools!
This tutorial is for folks who have a garment they'd love to reproduce as closely as possible. We've all had a favorite dress or blouse that fit us just right, haven't we? We wear it for years until it is almost worn out, and then we mourn the fact that we can't buy a replacement, since the design has long since been retired from the original store or catalogue. So what's an seamstress to do? Take a pattern and recreate the garment!* [Note: The instructions below are for a dress but will work just as well for blouses or skirts.]
The following is a list of tools I consider must-haves for this project:
- Cardboard cutting surface (those ones that fold up like an accordion are great) or another large surface you can pin into (like a quilted cork board).
- Lots of pins (heavy-duty quilting pins are best)
- Good quality paper that comes on a wide roll (I get architect paper for about $12 a roll -- lasts forever and is 36" wide).
- Pencil with a soft lead (so you don't have to push down too hard for a good, dark line).
Now, get ready to do a bit of a dance with the dress you want to copy! This takes slow, patient work, but it is worth it if you have a favorite dress you'd like to reproduce!
- First, turn the dress wrong side out. Fold the bodice in half vertically so that you have a center front fold--armholes and shoulder seams should match. Pin the dress together to keep from losing the shoulder and underarm seam lines. Also pin around the neckline. This is tricky, especially if you have tighter sleeves. The dress won't want to lie down totally flat. That's okay. Just do your best.
- Now, roll out a length of your paper long enough to fit the bodice top to bottom. Lay the dress out on top of the paper, then pin it directly to the cutting board through the paper. Do your best to keep the center front and the seam lines straight. If something won't lie flat, just leave it for later. For instance, you can pin the bottom of the bodice down, the center front, the side seams, and the armhole. If the shoulders won't lie flat, just leave them be for the moment.
- Fold the skirt up out of the way, but bunch it so that it doesn't cover the outline of your bodice. Trace around the edge of your bodice as far as you can. If need be, unpin the bottom section in order to get the shoulder/neckline area to lie flat -- AFTER you've already traced the bottom section, of course! Neatly pin down the shoulder/neckline area and trace them. Once you've traced around the entire bodice, unpin the dress and mark the pattern piece with its name and note the seam allowances (1/2", 5/8" etc.).
- Repeat with the bodice back, skirt front and back. Also use this method with the sleeves if they are fitted sleeves. For puffed sleeves, you will actually need to measure the fullness of the sleeve and compare it to the circumference of the armhole. Let's say the armhole is 15" and the sleeve is 20" -- that means you have 5" more in the curve of the sleeve than you do in the armhole-- 2.5" front and back. Use a curve tool to create the top of the sleeve, but use the method above to create the bottom edge and side seam (if they are ungathered--for a sleeve gathered on the bottom as well as the top, follow the instructions for the upper curve to create the lower edge). This is not as hard as it sounds--it just takes some thinking and calculating!
- If you have any special areas like darts or gathers, you need to measure the fabric that went into them and mark where they go on the pattern piece. To create darts, you'll have to mark the center point, then slash and spread the pattern at that spot to match the width of the dart. For example, measure the lower width of the dart on the inside of the bodice and double the width (since the dart is folded in half). If you have a dart that measures one inch across the bottom, it's a two-inch dart. Mark the upper terminus of the dart (the point) and measure from the bottom of the bodice to the dot. The stitching line of the dart will become your slash line on the paper pattern. After you mark the line, cut it to the dot, then spread the slit apart until the bottom of the slit is two inches wide. Tape paper behind the dart so that it doesn't go back together. There's your dart!
With a little trial and error, you'll soon be a pro at recreating favorite garments. It really is easy--just takes some time and lots of patience!
Warmly,
* Please note that these instructions are for personal, private use only. It is not kosher to take a current design and produce knock-offs for sale!