Dressmaking – Sew School

So many of my students have all the skills needed for dressmaking but are apprehensive about following a commercial pattern because they look so complicated and wordy. They are wordy, but only because they are trying to give you all the information you may need. Much of this information is general stuff or irrelevant to the garment you are making. Once you have worked your way through a few patterns you will find it easier to skip to the bits you need.

My advice is…“Just have a go! What’s the worst that could happen?”
You may well make lots of mistakes, but, honestly, that’s one of the best ways to learn. I would recommend, however, that you use a cheap cotton to try out a garment… before cutting into anything special!

To help get you started I have put together a step by step list…

1. Work out your size…

Don’t expect to be the same size as you are in the shops! Unfortunately pattern sizes are usually bigger.
You MUST measure your bust, waist and around the fullest bit of your hips. Find and ring these measurements on the measurement chart, which is usually located on the back of the pattern envelope but can sometimes be found on the pattern sheets. You will probably be a combination of sizes, which is fine.
These measurements are usually offered in inches or cm. Inches are an English measurement and cm are used by the French. I prefer to use cm if possible as it is a smaller measurement and so more accurate.
Also check the garment measurements. They can be found on the back of the envelope or on the pattern pieces. These are the measurements the actual garment will be. They are bigger than your size as they include a certain amount of ‘Ease’. Ease is added to give room to move but also depends on the design of the garment. Some garments, like coats, have a lot of ease and other garments such as a bodice has very little. If you prefer a slimmer fit, you can choose a size with less ease.
To conclude this section… in the shops I am a size 10 but looking at the pattern measurements below my size is a combination of size 12 and size 14. Looking at the finished garment measurements, I would go with a size 12 as the pattern has lots of ease and I don’t like my garments too roomy.

New Look Pattern by Simplicity

2. Use your size to work out how much fabric to buy…

To work out how much fabric to buy, go to the size you decided on or the largest size you measured. Look further down the chart, on the back of the envelope and go to the style you want to make. Take a note of how much fabric you will need in each width.
Fabric comes in two widths 45” /115cm or 60”/150cm This is because you may well need to buy more fabric if the fabric you want to use is the narrower width. Fabric amounts are usually given in metres/yards for each width.
When choosing your fabric, pay careful attention to its thickness and how it hangs. Your garment won’t look how you’d expect it to look if you choose a fabric just by its appearance on the roll! Choosing the correct fabric is such a difficult thing to get right and will take practice. Dressmaking patterns generally suggest suitable fabrics so maybe go by those to start with.
It is advisable to wash and press your fabric before you cut out or at least give it a good steam with the iron. This will help to avoid shrinkage.
The pattern envelope will also tell you what else you will need, such as interfacing, thread and fastenings.

Burda Pattern

3. Cutting out the paper pattern pieces…

Take everything out of the envelope and find the instruction sheets. Usually on the first page of the instructions there will be a list of pattern pieces. Work out, depending on the style you want, which pattern pieces you will need.
You can cut out your pattern pieces directly from the pattern sheets or, if you think at some point you may want to make a different size, you can trace your size onto a separate piece of paper. You can buy pattern paper from Amazon or Ebay or you could use any thin paper as long as it’s big enough for the pattern pieces.
Press the pattern pieces with a cool iron so that they are nice and flat. If you are a combination of sizes just move gradually and smoothly from one size line to another at the appropriate place.
At this point, if you haven’t already, you need to measure the length of your body… back neck to waist and also waist to desired hem length. Check it against the measurement chart. If the size you are cutting is longer or shorter than your measurement, there are places on the pattern where you can lengthen or shorten it. To lengthen, cut between the lines and add the necessary amount. To shorten, fold between the lines and pleat out the necessary amount.

Cynthia Rowley Pattern by Simplicity

4. Cutting out the fabric pattern pieces…

For help with placing your pattern pieces on the fabric, locate the relevant cutting layout in the instructions or on the pattern sheets. There will be several options depending on the style you are making and whether your fabric is 115cm wide or 150cm wide. Most cutting layouts are for fabric ‘WITH NAP’. This means the fabric has a direction, such as a pattern or shine. If this is the case, all the pattern pieces must be placed in the same direction from top to bottom down the length of the fabric.

Most of the time you will be instructed to fold your fabric in half, with the right sides together, along the length. The selvages should be together with the fold of the fabric on the opposite side. This way you will end up with two of each pattern piece or one on the fold.

Pay careful attention to keeping the pattern pieces straight by placing the double-ended arrow symbol (indicating the straight grain) parallel to the selvage. The selvage is the self-finished edge of the fabric that runs down the length on both sides. If this double ended arrow symbol is pointing to an edge it means you need to put this edge on the fold of the fabric.

You must also take note of any other instructions written on the pattern pieces especially how many you need of each and whether you need one in lining & interfacing too.

All patterns have notches/balance marks on them. These marks match up on pattern pieces to be joined together so it’s difficult to sew the wrong pieces together or put in a sleeve back to front! You can cut triangles opposite the notches or mark the notch position underneath the pattern. I would never cut into the seam allowance.

A lot of patterns have markings that will need to be transferred onto the fabric. These markings could be darts, pleats, pocket placement, zip or button holes etc. Depending on which side you’ll be sewing, some need to be marked on the wrong side of the fabric (darts/zip) and some need to go on the right side of the fabric (pleats/pocket placement/button holes) You can transfer these markings with a pencil, tailors chalk, thread or a special dressmaking transfer/tracing paper. Using a pencil or chalk is the quickest way as long as there aren’t too many marks! Chalk and thread come out if you are marking on the right side of the fabric.

Cutting Tips…

When cutting out the fabric pieces, if you are right handed, cut with the pattern on your right so you can hold what are cutting off with your left hand. If you are left-handed do the opposite. Keep a bit of tension on the fabric you are holding but be careful not to pull it away from the pattern. Look at the ends of your scissors when you cut and try to keep the blade upright. To avoid jagged edges, stay in contact with the fabric as you open the scissors for the next cut by pushing them forward as you open.
Keep the pattern pieces pinned to the fabric until you need them so you don’t forget what they are!

5. Sewing the garment together

Find the step-by-step instructions on how to put your garment together. They are mostly found as folded paper sheets. They will be numbered and accompanied by diagrams.

Simplicity Burda

These instructions may jump from one style to another, which can be a bit confusing. I find it helps to somehow highlight all the information relating to your style. You will be relieved to find that many of the instructions are not relevant to you.
Before you start just check your seam allowance. A 1.5cm seam allowance is normally included in the pattern but just double check this in the General Directions. These are usually found on the first page of the instructions.

Simplicity Burda

Unless what you’re making is fully lined, you will need to decide on how you are going to finish off the seam allowance. You must do this as you go along because it’s impossible to do to it all at the end. I have listed the most common ways below…

Zigzag over the edge. It’s the quickest way on a regular sewing machine.

A French seam looks really neat if your fabric isn’t too thick.

Using an Overlocker is really quick and neat if you’re lucky enough to have one.

Now it is time to follow the step-by-step instructions. If you get confused whist following these at home it will help to google the task in hand… whether it be understitching, setting in the sleeves, attaching a waist band or facing, binding the arm holes, etc

GOOD LUCK!

If you get completely stuck, book yourself a private lesson with me! :o)

INTERFACING is an extra layer that is attached to the back of your main fabric to give more body, to stiffen it and/or to stabilise it. Once it’s ‘backed’ onto the main fabric, it is then treated as one.

There are many different options and weights of interfacing, so to decide which one to use, think about what it needs to do…

You may want to stiffen something a little bit or even a lot, such as a collar and cuffs on a blouse compared to a mans formal shirt. You may want to give something structure so it can hold it’s shape and not collapse, such as a bag or maybe a sculptural piece of clothing. You may want to stop something stretching, such as a neckline or curved waistline. You may want to stabilise something but still keep the stretch, such as the neck line on a stretch garment.

It’s always a good idea to test some options on a piece of scrap first. If you have a small stock of various interfacings to experiment with, you can choose the best one for the effect you want. With clothing I prefer to start with less and build up, rather than using anything too heavy and rigid. The one I use the most when dress making in my classes is Vilene H180 fusible. It’s nice and soft so the fabric still behaves like fabric.

You can get fusible interfacing and sew-in interfacing. If you are partially interfacing something it could be better to use sew-in so you don’t get an edge showing from the right side. Sew-in interfacing is often used in tailoring. You don’t want to be able to notice the interfacing at all from the right side. It needs to work as one piece. If a fusible interfacing fights with the main fabric, you probably need to use a sew-in interfacing.

I have taken the following information from William Gee, a family run haberdashery in London. I buy all my interfacings online from here and I have never been disappointed. https://www.williamgee.co.uk

It’s what’s on the inside that counts…

It’s an old adage that it is what is on the inside that counts, and when it comes to constructing a professional garment, it makes a huge difference to collars, cuffs, waistbands and more…

There are three main types of interfacing:

Non – woven: made from fibres all pressed together it creates a fabric like felt or paper. It has no grain, so avoid wastage by cutting any which way. It offers a firm support and no flexibility. It also tends to be the cheapest option.
Woven: have a grain and should be treated like other woven fabrics. They are more flexible and tend to be softer.
Knit: are the most flexible of interfacing, they have two-way stretch and are used to add support without compromising the stretch of a fabric.

You can buy these as fusible (with glue you can iron-on) or sew-in; they come in various weights. Just remember to always buy the weight that matches your fabric i.e. if you are sewing with a light cotton pick a light interfacing, if you are sewing with heavy wool pick a heavy interfacing. Vilene is the biggest company that produces these fabrics and they tend to be the best quality.

With fusible interfacing make sure that you place the shiny side down on the wrong side of your fabric and iron. Try not to get glue on your iron as it ends up a big sticky mess that will transfer to everything you try to iron afterwards. Keep it clean with an iron cleaner stick. Or if you’re lucky and have a lot of space have a spare ironing board cover and iron just for these sticky jobs.

To take your garment to the next level, why not try some more traditional, high-end interfacings?

Silk organza: Used on lightweight fabrics to add body or “puff” so try it in sleeves for extra puff or as petticoats for full skirts (not as scratchy as net or tulle!) but it can also be used in collars and cuffs for lightweight support – think blouse not dinner shirt.

Top tip! Save your silk organza scraps and use them as ironing cloths. You can see through them and it will help reduce shine or burns caused by your iron on delicate fabrics.

Power net/tricot: A soft knit fabric that can offer some support to the wearer as well as the garment. Embrace your inner couturier and try inserting a corselette [1] into a wiggle dress to smooth those lumps and bumps! If you are making a vintage dress why not try cotton bobbinette like the Dior “New Look” dresses

Horsehair: Not actually horsehair anymore, otherwise known as canvas (sometimes mixed with goats hair). This is usually used in tailoring for jackets and waistbands. Not ready for Saville Row yet? Try pad stitching [2] a waistband on a skirt or trousers and notice the difference!

Taffeta: Beautiful for silks or medium cottons. The stiffness of this fabric makes it great for interfacing.

Petersham ribbon: Do not confuse this with grosgrain. Petersham ribbon is stiff and ridged like grosgrain but the edge of the ribbon is bumpy and it can bend a bit like bias binding (whereas grosgrain can’t). This is excellent to use as waistbanding [3] but also for waist-stays and supporting a neckline on a strapless dress.

Confused about what to use? Then when in doubt use another layer of the fabric you are using!

[1] A corset like structure usually with boning that adds support to the dress and the wearer that is attached to the dress.

[2] Pad stitching is a form of stitching that attaches the interfacing to the main fabric. Through a series of long stitches you can help mould and shape the fabric. Time consuming but gives beautiful results.

[3] Instead of a facing on your waistband try using

Category: Dressmaking

HOW TO FOLLOW A COMMERCIAL DRESSMAKING PATTERN

Interfacings