Secrets From a Pro Patternmaker: How Patterns Are Made

Podcast Transcript

Sarai
Welcome back to Seamwork Radio, where we share practical ideas for building a creative process so you can sew with intention and joy.

So Haley's out on maternity leave with her new baby, so I have a special guest today. I'm talking to Robin, our pattern development manager here at Seamwork. She's been patternmaking with us here at Seamwork for more than seven years now.

Prior to that, Robin worked in the ready to wear apparel industry as a pattern maker with companies like Patagonia, UGG, and Hanna Andersson.

Robin is going to share all her secrets for developing patterns, from Haley's initial design sketch to the finished PDF patterns you download each month. She'll talk about the process for developing patterns digitally and then fitting them on live models, and she'll explain how the patterns are graded and how they become the final product that you sew with at home.

Stay tuned for the next episode, and Robin is going to bust five common fitting myths.

Robin, thank you so much for being here.

Robin
Oh, it's my pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Sarai
Yeah, this is going to be fun. All right, so we are talking about how patterns get made today. Let's just go through it, and we can start at the very beginning.

What's the first step in the process of transforming what starts as a designer's sketch into a usable pattern? What's the first step?

Robin
The first step, we look through our back catalog and see what we've done in the past that has similar style lines or ease, whether it's a woven in our knit fabric. We find something that's close, not super close, but that has the same details so that we don't have to reinvent the wheel.

It's helpful if we don't have to start over from scratch because we've already got pieces and we know the construction and that thing. We'll find something close, and we will alter that to look like the sketch. Add in all the details and the trim and the style lines and check the ease, make sure it reflects Haley's intent for the design.

Then we will send that to the sample sewer, and she will make a prototype, which we then fit on a live model.

Sarai
I think that's really interesting because I think a lot of people believe that we start with a sloper every single time and start from scratch every single time.

Why is it better to start with an existing pattern versus building it from the ground up?

Robin
Yes. Again, that's so that we don't have to redo all the work that we've done in the past and that we know already works. Starting with a sloper would mean adding ease, adding in every style line from scratch, adding sleeve caps and lengths, and cutting in for details and pockets. It would be redoing all of that work, but we've already done that work.

It's more efficient to start from something that we've done recently that we know fits well, we know the shoulders are in the right place, or has the details that we already need.

Sarai
It saves a lot of time.

Robin
So much time.

Sarai
When Haley gives you a design, what's included in the design sketch? What kinds of things does she give you?

Robin
She gives us so much information. She puts the sketch on a croquis so that we can see about how much ease is in there. She gives us the trim that she wants, sometimes construction techniques. She tells us what fabric the design is intended for so that we know what to develop the prototypes in.

Sometimes she gives us hem heights or collar heights rights, slit depths, that thing.

Sarai
So all the details that you would need to know.

Robin
Everything that she can think of. Sometimes we decide them on the fly or we look at the sketch and decide proportionately what that looks like, because we do want to make the pattern look like the sketch. If she's showing a three-inch hem and didn't give us a measurement, we're not going to make a one-quarter-inch hem.

Sarai
Just to paint a picture for people, would all that information be included in the sketch itself? Are there numbers that go with the sketch? How is all this information packaged for you?

Robin
She usually has that information under the sketch. She'll show us what she wants it to look like on both size ranges, with and without croquis, front and back, she'll give us inside views so that we can see some of the finishing, and then she'll put all the written information below that.

We transfer all of that to what we call a tech pack. We'll put the sketches in there. We'll put any information she's given us about fabric or trim, and then we'll detail out all of the seam allowance information and construction techniques that we want built into the protos.

Sarai
I think it's so interesting because it's such a partnership between you guys. I think a lot of people think design is this very creative process of drawing pictures, and patternmaking is something very technical, but really it's this symbiosis between the two.

Robin
Absolutely. Haley works very closely with us. She's at all the fittings. She is the one who fit approves patterns in the end. She decides whether the silhouette is correct or if something needs to be shorter or longer.

We work together and we tell her when we don't think something works construction-wise, our sample sewer weighs in with things that may be hard to sew or would be easier to sew. All of that information. We all work very closely as a team.

Sarai
Yeah, it's a real team effort.

Once you start developing the samples and fitting things, how do you decide what kinds of fabrics that you're going to use to develop those samples in?

Robin
We try to keep it as close as possible to the final fabric that it was designed for. For instance, if it is a knit with negative ease, we're not going to use a knit with only one-way stretch. Or if it's something made for a rayon, we’re not going to use a muslin, which is very stiff, whereas a rayon is very drapey. We try to keep it as close as possible.

Sarai
Are there certain fabrics that you turn to again and again?

Robin
We do use a lot of muslin. We also use a lot of voile, which is a very lightweight cotton and mimics some of the fabrics that we intend things for a little bit better. Sometimes the thickness can be very important in that.

If Haley's designed jeans or something with a very structured look, we'll use denim or we'll use—the muslin is very structured. But if she's got something with a lot of folds and a lot of drape, we want to use something lighter weight so that we can mimic the drape that she's intended on the sketch.

Sarai
Yeah, and that's something that we as home sewers, also have to keep in mind when we're making our own muslins and samples at home.

Robin
Absolutely. If you're making a muslin or a toile at home, and the design has a lot of drape, you maybe don't want to use, say, a denim or a twill. You want to use something that's going to look like the final garment should look and has about the same thickness so that when you're sewing your muslin or toile, you know what you're going to expect when you're sewing your final garment.

Sarai
I think one thing I've heard from a lot of sewers is that when you're making something in knit, it's really hard to make a muslin because all knits behave differently. So how do you handle that when you're making your samples for fitting.

Robin
Absolutely. Again, we just try to mimic what the final fabric is supposed to be. If something has negative ease, we use a four-way stretch because we know we can achieve that negative ease.

That's why we give stretch measurements in the instructions so that the final user knows how to mimic that. But yes, different knits have different kinds of stretch. If the garment is not intended to be a rib, we're not going to sample it in rib.

But if it is, and we do have some things that we've intended that—rib has much more stretch to it—we want to sample in that so that we can mimic exactly what's going to happen in the end.

Sarai
Yeah, because they do all behave so differently.

Robin
They really do.

Sarai
I know that's something that I struggled with definitely in making knits and trying to get the right fit is that, unless you make two of the same garment, it's hard to know.

Robin
Yes, it is. I think it's helpful to expect that you're going to have small changes. You know, some people I know like to add more of a seam allowance so that it's easier to take in or let out if they need to. But I generally expect that when I make a toile, I'm going to have to make some small adjustments, you know? 

For me, it's often taking out curves because I don't have as many.

Sarai
That's interesting. Are there certain fabrics that you think if somebody's planning to sew their final garment in a certain fabric, for example, that they should make a muslin first for sure because that particular fabric can present problems? Are there are certain fabrics that have those triggers?

Robin
Yes, I mean, absolutely. I know it can be more expensive to use the final fabric. Sometimes you can get a less expensive one, maybe in a different color or print. But absolutely, you want to get as close as possible so that you know what's going to happen and you can anticipate final changes if you need to.

Sarai
Yeah. For me, for knits, that's always an issue. But also things like linen that tend to stretch a lot. I feel like there's a few fabrics like that.

Robin
Absolutely. If I was doing a pant in linen or say a rayon viscose, which also has a lot of give to it, I would absolutely want to muslin it in the same fabric.

Sarai
Yeah, definitely. That's a really great tip. Okay, so we've You talked about that process of going from the design to your first pattern, making that sample.

What's the process of fitting and developing the patterns from there?

Robin
Oh, yes. We fit on live models, one for each size range. We alternate them week to week.

We'll make the first prototype and fit it together. We'll write down the changes, make those adjustments to the pattern, and then repeat, rinse, and repeat until we have a fit-approved garment.

When the models are here, we have them move. We have them pretend to drive a car, all sorts of things, walk, shake their body so that it settles on their body where it would in real-life situations.

We use professional fit models, so they are used to this thing, and they give us such great information about what's happening with it on and how it moves. If something's tight or if there's something scratching in the wrong spot, they're going to let us know. Sometimes it means moving seam a little bit or adding some ease. Very, very helpful.

Sarai
Yeah. It's great to work with professionals. We're lucky to live in a place and work in a place where there is an apparel industry, and so there are these professionals available.

I think people really underestimate the work that goes into being a model, either a photo model or a fit model. It really is a profession and a set of skills.

Robin
Yes. The alternative, too, would be fitting on a form which can't tell us anything. They don't usually talk. They We hope they don't.

But also the garments stick to forms because of the material they're made out of. It's not sliding around your skin. There's so much you can't see on a form. I don't think I could do this without live models.

Sarai
And of course, the movement, like you were just talking about. It really changes things.

Robin
Oh, yes. We often have them sit down in pants and a skirt so that we know we have enough ease and things aren't wrinkling weird.

Sarai
Maybe that's something that people can take away for their own fitting at home, too, is to think about how you move and incorporate more of those kinds of movements.

Are there any movements you would specifically tell people to try while they're fitting their clothes at home?

Robin
Definitely the hug or drive a car, sit in a chair. You don't need to go overboard. I don't recommend doing jumping jacks in a jumpsuit if you're not going to do jumping jacks normally in your everyday movement.

Sarai
I do them every day, though.

Robin
Do you?

But walk around, sit down, drive a car, pick your child up, reach for something on a shelf, that's a big one. It really affects the draft of a pattern because the way we draft sleeves, for instance, they can be drafted for movement.

If we are looking, maybe making a T-shirt or something that is casual and people live in, as opposed to a business, I'm going to show up in court or address the CEO of a company. We want to make sure that they can move. If we want them to reach for a top shelf, we know we have to draft that sleeve differently than if we want it super slick.

Sarai
Yeah. That's a really great tip. Are there any challenges you've seen with using live models? I know you mentioned before models changing their bras.

Robin
Yes, we try and keep everything consistent, and different bras can change where things sit on a body, or they can even change the measurement. We've seen that happen a lot. When, for instance, if we are making a strapless dress or something that's more halter, we are going to make sure we've got the right undergarments on them every single time so that we know exactly what's going to happen.

Because our models are professional, they're prepared for that. We have extra bras and things here that we keep clean so that we can shift things around. We use the same models all the time. They're familiar with us. If we've got one bra for one model, she's the only one wearing it.

Sarai
I think that's another thing people can take away from home. It's thinking about the undergarments that you're wearing with the actual garment. If you're wearing something different when you're sewing, then maybe change into the bra you actually plan to wear with it.

Robin
Absolutely. It makes a difference.

Sarai
Yeah, it really does. I've noticed that myself. Have you ever had a model get stuck in a sample?

Robin
That It happened once or twice. Sometimes we miscalculate. We're only human. If it happens, it's typically only a first proto. Although recently, I did have... We have a design coming up where Haley really wanted the neckband to sit on the neck, and I made so many iterations of this neckband, and in the end, most of them were on the fold, so they had extra stretch. In the end, I made a... Not in the end, right before the end, I made a two-piece one and she could barely get it over her head. I had to take her ponytail out. She's like, It was still tight. I was like, Oh, goodness. Okay, we can't do that.

Sarai
Don't want to choke anyone.

Robin
We don't want to choke. It has to be able to get over your head.

Sarai
And get off of your head.

Robin
And get off. Yes, yes.

Sarai
I know. I've definitely had some moments in dressing rooms of getting stuck in clothing, and it's not pleasant.

Robin
Yes, that's when you really have to breathe and calm down before you pull it off.

Sarai
Have you ever had to cut somebody out of a sample?

Robin
Out of a sample or into a sample? Or into it, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Again, sometimes we make miscalculations on those first protos, or we miss something we should have thought of and add a slit to the design at the center back.

Sarai
That's what first protos are for, huh?

Robin
That's what first protos are for.

Sarai
All right, so then what happens after the pattern is tested and it's fit approved?

Robin
Okay, so after it's fit approved, we grade the pattern. Then we export them into Adobe Illustrator and pass the patterns off to our technical illustrator, Gina, who makes the instructions.

Gina will sew up the pattern as she goes along so that she can create accurate illustrations and get all the steps right. Once the instructions are complete, we create the labels for each piece, isolate the smallest and the largest sizes, and send them to our technical editor.

She will sew up those smallest and largest sizes to the letter with the instructions and pass back notes on the pattern and on the instructions. Then we'll update all of those and send them out to our copy editor who does copy edit notes, which is mostly on wording. But she checks all the links and she checks the measurement charts, and things like that.

Sarai
She makes sure everything is picture-perfect.

Robin
Exactly, yes.

After they come back from our copy editor, we update any last minute things, and then we lay out all the pattern pieces in the 16 different forms, not 16 different forms. I think it's four different forms of PDF files, projector, AO, print it home, et cetera, for both size ranges. Then we pass them off to our lovely ambassadors.

Sarai
They test them out and give us any feedback.

Robin
They test them out and give us any feedback. At that point, there's really Isn't it much to change, but sometimes there's a word missing in the instructions or little small things that we have to update.

Sarai
Yeah, they find all those things, and they also can sew them in different sizes and things like that.

Robin
Exactly. And they can really clue us into when something that we think is clear isn't as clear as we think it is because we do it every day. So we're so used to what we're seeing that our eyes miss things sometimes, and we forget that we know things that not everybody knows. They're really great about clueing us into those things so that we can make sure that we are as clear as we can be.

Sarai
When you're so close to it, sometimes you don't see all the things that somebody looking at it from the outside can see.

Robin
Absolutely. I'm notorious for that.

Sarai
I think everybody has that issue.

So you talked about the whole process of putting the pattern together, start to finish. What tools and software are you using for this?

Robin
So we use a system called Optitex. It is a specific pattern drafting system in 2D, although they do have a 3D component. It has so many tools that mimic what you would do on paper patterns, but on your keyboard, so that we can see everything laid out. It can make measurement charts, measure all the seams, measure caps and arm holes. It's really a fantastic program. There are other programs, but that's the one that we use.

We also use Adobe Illustrator. That's where we make all the labels and the pattern brushes that you see when you open up a paper pattern. Each size is a different pattern brush. We use Excel for the tech packs, but those are the main ones.

Sarai
What about 3D pattern making? I know that's something that I've heard talked about quite a bit.

Robin
Yeah, 3D pattern making, it's been around for a while, but it's really making advanced strides now. We don't use it. I think it's really advantageous for ready-to-wear companies that send patterns overseas or have factories overseas because it can save a lot of shipping costs and shipping time. Sometimes companies wait a month or two for the next prototype to come back, but we have an in-house sample sewer, so we can update things instantly instantaneously and have them sewn in a day.

Sarai
I know it saves a lot of time to do 3D. Do you think it gives you all the same information that actually sewing up the sample physically would give you?

Robin
No, I really don't. There are so many things that you see when you sew something up that you don't see when you don't.

But really, every time I sew up one of our samples, when I'm developing it, I learn things about it. You don't get that in 3D. Mostly, it's for like, Okay, we have some wrinkles here, and I think it's this pattern change. So you can make that pattern change, and the system will show you what it looks like on a body.

My concern with it, and I haven't done a lot of research with it, is that I don't know that it encompasses all of those little, the other measurements in a body. You can tell it the bust, you can tell it the waist and the sweep and the cup size and the bicep. But what about the height between your waist and your underarm, which is already ambiguous because there's no line on our body. We're not Barbies.

There's so many other little measurements, or the difference between your center front and the side seam and your side seam and the center back. Can you tell those systems what exactly you want those measurements to be?

Plus, those seams can move, too. It just feels a little not exact to me, but again, I haven't done a lot of research, and it's definitely something we would be interested in looking into.

Sarai
Yeah. And I know Erin, our other pattern maker, has some experience with it.

Robin
She does. She's worked with CLO3D. I believe Optitex also has a 3D system. I'm letting them get all the kinks out and improve it as much as they can before I get into it. But Erin liked it.

Sarai
I could see it both ways. I could see it being useful for just a first pass. And then also I could see it being not as useful as just sewing the prototype. That's something we can learn a little bit more about.

We've talked a lot about the drafting. What about actually grading a pattern into different sizes?

Robin
Yeah, there is so much to grading. The first thing to know about grading is how much the measurements increase between sizes. This is actually pretty standard industry-wide.

For the body circumference, that's the bust, the waist, the hip. Sizes typically increase and decrease in one-inch increments up to about a size eight. From an eight to a twelve, it's an inch and a half in the total circumference, and above that, two inches. Then there's also length and height grades, things like that.

Sarai
Tell me a little bit about that. Why is it that the grade is smaller and smaller sizes and larger and larger sizes?

Robin
That's because it's related to the total circumference. What it increases and decreases is, for example, it's not a percentage, but that's the example. It's a percentage. It's a portion of that total circumference. When the total circumference is a smaller number, one inch is a bigger proportion of that than if the total circumference was a larger number. So we try and keep proportionally incremental changes.

Sarai
That makes a lot of sense. So one inch is a larger proportion of, for example, a size zero than one inch is for a size 18, 20 or anything.

Robin
Exactly. It wouldn't be enough of a change to see on the body.

Sarai
Yeah. So that makes a lot of sense. You mentioned that the grade happens not just in the circumference, but also vertically. Can you talk a little bit more about that and why that is?

Robin
Absolutely. We grade our lengths between center front on a top between center front and waist, a quarter of an inch per size, and the same for our bottoms, a quarter of an inch per size.

Typically, I mean, everybody has a different height. Lengths and heights are the easiest things to fix on your pattern. But the way growing works, there are people who don't grow taller, but as sizing goes up, we have a lot of tall people. And so that grades that.

Sarai
Like, statistically, a taller person is more likely to be a larger size.

Robin
Correct. Yes. As you get taller, you also also grow, your bones grow both ways. So we need to accommodate the people who are as well getting taller.

Sarai
Yeah. And then you have curves to accommodate for as well, vertically?

Robin
Yes. As you get curvier, you're going to need more fabric lengthwise to go around those curves. So we try to account for that as well.

Sarai
That makes sense, too. I know there's a lot of confusion, I think. I've seen confusion about why when something grows in size, height grows as well. But it makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Statistically, that's just how sizing works, and you're trying to accommodate the most people into that size that you can.

Robin
Yes, absolutely.

Sarai
All right. So What happens after grading then?

Robin
Well, there's more to grading. Oh, okay.

Sarai
Tell me more about grading. Okay.

Robin
So once you have those, once you know that total circumference grade, what the patternmaker needs to do is divide that grade between the different points on the body all the way around. It'll be smaller measurements at each point, and they will all add up to that total circumference grade.

That way, if you have, say, a dress with princess seams, that total grade is going to be divided in there, too, so that all the different parts of the garment grow proportionally.

Sarai
Okay. How does that work in optitex in the system? How do you actually do that?

Robin
There are grade tables. The system has blank tables, and we build in the amount. What it does is each rule, for instance, a side-seam bust point or a center-front neck point, we tell the system how much we want that point to move in the X and Y axis. We assign names to each point and apply them during the grading process for both our size ranges.

But then that's the high-level view of it. You can't just apply all the points and be done with it. You really have to consider the proportions of the garments, the pockets, darts, so many smaller things that when they all come together, everything grows in the right amount and looks right.

Sarai
It's you apply these rules, but then you have to fact-check them.

Robin
Exactly. We check all the seams and the measurements to make sure everything is matching. There's also something called holding the grade. And that's where you can say, okay, I want this sleeve to grow a half an inch each size, but stop at size 24. I don't want it to grow anymore past there. So we can tell the system to do that so that we don't get too big in certain areas or too small. That happens.

Sarai
Does that come up a lot?

Robin
Not a lot. We do it sometimes on the larger sizes because not everything grows. Shoulders And the limbs don't grow as much as busts.

Sarai
Oh, yeah. That makes sense.

Robin
Right. And limbs don't get longer. If you had that grade, a large grade on a sleeve, your sleeve could be down to your knees. Yeah.

Sarai
Could just get longer and longer.

Robin
Longer and longer. So sometimes we hold the grade so that things like that don't happen.

Sarai
Yeah. So when you have these rules set, are you able to apply those rules to different patterns, or is it a different set of rules for each pattern?

Robin
No, we have a different set of rules for the two different size ranges, but we use the same rules on every pattern. And then we also consider the style lines and where things are growing and where we have seams.

Sarai
You can go in and make adjustments and things.

Robin
Exactly. For instance, something with a drop shoulder. We have a point called shoulder armhole. But we wouldn't apply that point to a drop shoulder because a drop shoulder is also covering the cap. For something like that, it either needs a new point assigned to it, or we have to think about how much we want that cap to grow as well as the shoulder and add those together so that if that seam is halfway down your upper arm, it's growing in the right way. It's growing enough, but not too much.

Sarai
It's really interesting. Then what do you do from that point? Once you have those grade rules applied, what happens?

Robin
Then we check all the measurements. Sometimes we isolate sizes to put, say, pockets on a pant to make sure that the pocket looks the correct proportion to the pant. We'll do that for different sizes and make sure everything looks right. Then we'll export the patterns and send them to Gina to illustrate the instructions.

Sarai
We talked about that a little bit. Then Gina does the instructions, and that's when the whole editing process starts once that's done.

Robin
Yes.

Sarai
Cool. All right. Well, are there any myths about patternmaking that you would like to debunk?

Robin
Probably several. That might be another episode, though.

Sarai
Yeah, let's do another episode on that. We'll talk about patternmaking myths.

Robin
I'm excited for that one.

Sarai
Robin can debunk for us. Well, thank you so much, Robin. It was great having you on today.

Robin
It's my pleasure. I love talking about patternmaking.

Sarai
I'm sure everybody loves hearing the story of how a pattern goes from a sketch all the way to a final pattern that you guys can produce at home. It's really cool to see behind the scenes for our community.

Well, I just want to talk a little bit about our community before we go. We are lucky to have some of the nicest and most helpful sew as you can imagine in our private community, and that includes our professional pattern makers. So our team, along with thousands of Seamworkers, are here to talk to you and cheer you on. You can ask any question about sewing with absolutely no judgment, and you'll always get some amazing answers. You can also share your finished projects and create goals, and we'll even email you reminders to keep you on track. It's the perfect place to go if you need a quick boost of creative energy.

If you liked this episode, we would love it if you would leave us a review. We really appreciate every review we get, and we love to hear from you guys. If you have a second, just give us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you listen.

Thank you so much for joining us today. I'm Sarai.

Robin
And I'm Robin.

Sarai
And this is Seamwork Radio.