How Patterns Work: The Fundamental Principles of Pattern Making and Sewing in Fashion Design

Let me be clear in that this will not tell you how to make or alter patterns 100%, this book for me is a reference book. I am studying fashion design and so have taken both a draping and pattern making classes and will basically tell you this book is what you learn in college classes. More in-depth however, this book doesn't teach you how to do much other than making a basic bodice sloper by draping a piece of paper on a professional dress form (which I think is very clever since I learned it by using muslin fabric which waste and cost more). It touches on the basic principals like how darts work and dart manipulation, the slash and spread method and even tells you the basic key points of measurements. If your looking to teach yourself pattern drafting, this is a great book to read before diving straight into the material in my opinion since it teaches you terminology and the process of a garment, both on a small scale and larger mass production scale. I highly recommend this book for someone who really wants to learn the fundamentals, one thing I will point out though for people who have taken it and such, just like how it differs from place to place, terminology is a bit different than what I learned in school but, you understand what it is since of its very simple explanation. I also enjoy that at the end of each chapter they give you a chapter overview. This is definitely staying in my sewing book library.

I have purchased pretty much all of the top books on sewing and patternmaking. This is by far the clearest book with the clearest instructions. It has really helped me break down the ideas behind the techniques in a way that makes sense to me. I've become a better sewist because of these books! There is also a TON of content. Highly recommend.

I am a self teaching myself to be a fashion designer and have reservations on enrolling on a dedicated school of fashion due to financial constraints. I have bought almost 60 books to date about fashion, tailoring, sewing etc. Anything that would help me become a fashion designer. It is overwhelming to me since this is all new and I don't know where to begin. I believe I'm a good illustrator but I'm still refining on my skills. This book to me seems to be the next step towards constructing my illustrations. I love it because it talks about the very basic terminology and principles in pattern making and helps me adopt a set of skills that I can work with for my own designs. It is a book I would be using a lot and I know it will help me understand all the more complicated pattern books that I have so far. Much simple and straight forward guide for me.

This book IS NOT a learning tool on HOW to create and become a pattern maker and no you wont be snapping up any pattern making jobs just off reading this book. Its more of an information guide to beginning to learn about developing patterns, for example: I had read this book exactly days prior to starting class at a prestigious design school in my area for pattern-making 1 and everything she spoke about like seam allowance, notching, dart manipulation etc I had already went onver in the book, so with that I had an advantage of already knowing sort of what she was talking about. Now when I say I had already went over it in the book I didn't know how to execute/use these principles to actually create a garment but I was fully schooled in what these principles were and in theory how they WOULD be executed. Definitely a must for a beginner on the subject who wants a FULL knowledge of patterns, not for those looking for the "Matrix brain down-loader" type swiftness of learning patterns (Where she goes, "Tank I need to know how to fly a plane" and voila! lol).

I am very pleased with this book! Through a long, frustrating process, I began with commercial patterns and settled on designing and drafting my own patterns. I discovered the need for blocks, toiles and custom patterns. I wish I had started with this book. It would have saved me years of frustration. It starts out very basic, but I found that refreshing. I needed to begin from the beginning to get where I need to go. I recommend starting from the beginning, and at least mentally, going through the exercise for paper fitting a block. It's worth the effort. One of the things I found extremely encouraging is that even professional designers don't get it right the first time. And it's worth the time and effort to perfectly fit the block because that is where perfectly fit patterns come from. If you (or someone you know) are just thinking of learning to sew clothes, start here. If you have been sewing for awhile but need a better understanding of why things sometimes don't work out the way you expect, this is a excellent reference. And if you just want to get back to basics, this book does it.

This book is awesome so far. First let me say I am a beginer /intermediate sewer. I have do e home decor and some clothing but not successfully. I wanted a book that would teach me why am doing what I am doing and this is it. I was so happy to have found this book. Instead of saying do this it explains in easy to understand terms why you are doing this an to the purpose of doing it. I have only gotten a third way through and I understand more than before I got this book. So if you are like me and need to why you are doing what you are doung this is the book for you. I highly recommend this book!

Pros: If you are an absolute newbie, this book is basic enough to walk you through it the rough concept of 3D to 2D pattern making. The book is thick enough to seem intimidating, but the content is fast reading. It might be a good start in a junior high home economics course. Cons: For anyone who has used commercial patterns before, then this book is much to basic. There is not enough information presented to explain how to take the body measurements and then convert them into a working pattern. There is nothing about how to make a pattern work better or how to make adjustments for irregular bodies or asymmetrical designs. As a self-taught hobby seamstress looking to bring pattern making into my repertoire, this book was very disappointing.

The book was very unsatisfactory. It just showed how to make a tube with the chest measurements, waist measurements and hip measurements. It said to refer to other books to make the full pattern. Why would I need this book if I have to refer to other books which give me a full pattern. I returned this book and got a refund. I had to pay Rs.250/- courier chargers to send this book to Delhi. I live in Mumbai

I've just bought the book, together with How Pattern Works. Better than expected, better than my school books, in a word better than ever. Let me say that it is written in a very simple and clear way, although rich of concepts and complete, full of examples and diagrams. Useful for both beginners and pro. I'm definitely satisfied.

This is a great text. The key here like the title says is "The Fundamental Principles". I saw another piece of feedback saying it wasn't great as there person wanted to learn how to make patterns. This isn't the book for that. This is the quick to pick up guideline for when you already know how to make a pattern and you just want to refresh or remind yourself of the fundamentals. Easy to read on my iPad too. Thanks.

Logical, clear explanations that build knowledge as the chapters develop. Designed to offer an understanding of three main methods of adapting patterns or pattern blocks to achieve various outcomes. 1) Cut & Spread Technique 2) Pivot & Trace Technique 3) Drape techniques Teaches you the ‘why’ as well as the ‘how’ to help you decide the best methods for you and your projects. It left me feeling confident now to choose the right way for me to adapt the patterns that haven’t fitted as well as they could and to continue learning how to refine my own pattern making skills. It’s also clarified quite a few techniques I’d struggled to grasp from other books on Pattern making. It’s an easy read and a good reference guide. Like a fool I bought it and left it sitting on a book shelf for almost a year - I’ve just read it through in a couple of days and it’s a really logical well thought out book that I’ll refer back to time and time again.