Think back to when you were new to sewing. Perhaps it was last week. Or maybe 40 years ago. Remember how intimidating a new design was?
You thought, “I want to make THAT.” You bought a gorgeous blue fabric only to find yourself staring at the picture wondering how to even begin such a thing.
Your next step was to figure it all out…
Starting a new period design hasn’t been too difficult for me. I feel blessed. You start by breaking down the design into workable sections and estimating pattern shapes. Not hard, right?
But it amazes me how some sewers verbalize that they have no clue where to begin. Then they beat themselves for weeks and months to get the dress together only to have it be an enormous disappointment. Don’t do that. You can do this!
(Just so you know, I’ve experienced this same phenomenon where, even when knowing what to do, the project still flopped… yeah.)
All good projects begin with a pattern. It’s one of the 5 Elements of a successful historical costume.
If your foundation is not solid that gorgeous silhouette will crumble down. It’s all about developing the dress over the right silhouette (read: undergarments) and that starts with your pattern. No matter if you use a purchased one or drape your own.
So why is it that so many have a hard time with this?
If you can’t draft a pattern, buy one! If your brain does well with drafting and enlarging patterns from books – go for it that way. (And bless those who have that skill!)
I love patterns! They are one of my true collections (not the random dust bunny set or the masses of pens in the office). I’d much rather save and buy a good pattern than to figure out how wide my skirt panels should be at the hem so it fits over my hoop.
Granted, some 19th century skirts are cut to measure. I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about not re-inventing the wheel when it comes to a new bodice or new sleeve design. The point is to build (and fit) what someone else has already given to us. (God bless these hard working pattern makers too!)
Take a respectable bodice pattern. Mock it up. Tweak. Fit. Alter the pattern and make a fresh copy. Then sew it up.
Next time use the 1st generation pattern – that nice fresh copy you made after all those pesky alterations – to mock up, tweak, and fit again. Copy it fresh into a 2nd generation pattern copy. Repeat….
See that? No new wheel invented here! Hooray!
This is not a hard thing. Don’t go out and buy *another* pattern and start the fit/tweak process all over (unless, of course, it’s a new time period; then you are back at the 1st generation of a pattern).
So where do you find such a great pattern to begin with? You can always check out the Pattern Page, but here are my favorites.
Regency
Sense & Sensibility (tell Jennie I said Hi!)
La Mode Bagatelle – one complete pattern for the whole Regency wardrobe
Romantic Era
Past Patterns – try the Full High Gown and Fan Front Bodice
Early Victorian/Civil War
Laughing Moon – #114 Round Dress and #111 Early 1860s Dress
Truly Victorian – TV446 1860s Darted Bodice
Bustle Era
Truly Victorian – hands down the best for shapes to start with & tweak
(Although, Mantua Maker has some good skirt designs you can use too.)
Late Victorian
Truly Victorian (yes, again)
Of course, I’m partial to Truly Victorian (as you can see) because I think Heather’s patterns make fantastic starting points. I’ve been using them since 1999 too.
As with all patterns start by taking your measurements – twice – over your period undergarments.
Select your size(s) carefully and following any special instructions included on the pattern sheet. This is very important. Then as mentioned, make a mockup, make pattern alterations, then reuse the new version for your next project.
If you sew multiple garments from one time period – Stop inventing the wheel and using a new pattern each time! Simply use what already fits you and avoid the migraines (although, I can’t guarantee you’ll not have headaches on future revisions, but at least the initial stress and hair-pulling will be over with after the first run out of the pattern envelope.)
Do you find yourself grabbing a new pattern each time you start a new costume? Why? Or do you constantly revise your existing fitted pattern stock?
This post was originally published in June 2013.
Great advise and information! I have used purchased patterns for my costumes up until now. I am feeling more confident and have started a mock-up using parts of two different patterns and my own drawn pattern piece to replicate a Fashion Plate. Im really excited to see how this ends up. If it comes out I think it will give me the boost I need to start making my own when I cant find what I want.
I love historical costumes! My only problem is I’m a plus-sized woman. I’ve had to create my own style simply for the fact that I hate tight fitting ‘Modern Clothing’. I use pattern pieces from various patterns to get the look I want only I’ve had marginal success. Regency is my favorite but I often find the patterns are too small. I have learned by error mostly that it is wisest to use a muslin (a test garment) so you don’t waste fabric; a hard lessoned learned. I can’t remember what they’re called, but how do you make a muslin that you fit a pattern to? I’ve read a lot about them, but I’ve had little success in making one of my own. How do you make one for yourself without someone else’s help? Where do you find your fabrics? I’ve never seen Organdy at the shops I’ve been too, even the ones who cater to re-enactors. I though I’d died and gone to heaven when I found Dimity a few years ago, but I’ve not seen any since then and it is one of my favorite fabrics now. I wish I had used both pieces for period outfits now. One is a more modern shirt and the other is my modern take on a regency dress. Basically I’ve shortened it to wear with pants though I wish the neckline fit me better. Am I just dreaming? I’ve had to add up to ten inches or more to some patterns to get them to fit and even then they’re not right. I’ve been sewing for nearly twenty years now and I feel like a beginner still in some things. Can any one offer some good advice?
All of my regency stuff is from the same pater. I will post a picture of all of them When I finish my latest gown.
Well, my first sewing experience was over 40 years ago, I still remember falling in love with patterns. I seriously wish now I had taken more dressmaking courses and learned about muslins (I learned from mother, grandmother, and home ec sewing course). I know years ago I would just put some pieces together, sew them up, and wear them, but I was thinner and younger and could get away with those things. Now I have patterns I have worn out, replaced and remade over and over, because they fit me well. I’m at the age where I need a little more stuctured fit, but I love my comfort more! I envy you people who have the dedication to make and wear the period clothes, they are so lovely.
That is funny. Most of my projects begin with buying a gorgeous blue fabric! The beginning of your story made me laugh, but I also love patterns, and only hope I can make some of the ones I have collected.
I love patterns and I have a ridiculously large collection of them. Sometimes I use them to make the garment on the pattern front, but I’ve been known to frequently use them as a jumping-off point for other things. Most recently I ruthlessly modified a 1980s dress pattern into a suit jacket circa 1912 for a play. It wasn’t perfect (I ran out of time) but it looked good and the actress loved it. I look for patterns that have basic shapes that can be tweaked for different time periods. Muslins/mockups are my friends!
This. One of my proudest moments / darkest sewing secrets is that I once made a regency dress by basing the bodice pattern on some kind of “make a Bollywood outfit for halloween” pattern… It had darts in the back pieces, so I kinda approximated period construction by simply dividing the pattern piece into two along a line drawn from the top of the dart to the edge of the pattern. And there I had the diamond cut for the back all ready!
Very cool!
I am of such a size that there are no patterns that even come CLOSE to fitting me, but I found a few tutorials about drafting basic blocks that you can then modify from, and I have the Janet Arnold books. I’ve been keeping the basic block–labeled with my three major measurements and the date it was drafted–and basing new patterns off of that. In the past I’ve done a new block for each garment, but that’s mainly been because I’ve only done them once a year! It’s amazing how much measurements change in a year. Now that I’m branching out into Victorian and Steampunk, I’m keeping the patterns to re-use as well…
Thank you sooooo much for this article I found myself chuckling along as I read this. This is so simple and obvious and yet I do always feel as if I can never use the same pattern twice that I have to start all over again from scratch and do a whole new pattern, always the most off putting part for me. I just want to get on a make it so the the idea just gets shelved like all the others. Just fiddling about for a few hours with the ones that already fit and I like the design of to make the new one is just common sense yet it does seem to have evadded me. Lol. Now off to dust off my old pattern blocks. Thank you 😀
I love revising patterns! This is partly due to the fact that I have never found a commercial pattern that would not need to be altered to fit me nicely, so I kinda have to do some revising anyway, whether I want to or not… So I much rather re-use an already tweaked pattern than have to start from scratch with a new one I haven’t fitted to myself yet.
Also, if you really look at a lot of extant costumes, the styles and construction don’t vary that much within a given period of fashion. For example, most regency dresses are constructed from very similar pattern pieces. What makes one dress so different from another is the fabric, length of sleeves and hem, layering, and all kinds of embellishments that have very little to do with how the garment itself is put together.