Patterns, soul sucking demons.

This was one of the pictures that popped up when I searched for "Soul sucking demon."

I decided that being the skilled seamstress and clothing maker that I am, that my next project would be to design a pattern for myself and then make a piece of clothing with that very pattern. Little did I know when I started at the beginning of this week that by the end my soul would be gone. Poof!

A footnote on my experience, it's recommended to have a mannequin or at least something people shaped. This also removes a step at the beginning.

What is recommended*:

1- Design a piece of clothing. Preferably something within your means of doing.

2- Drape fabric to get the desired look. Pin in place.

3- Cut fabric.

4- Lay out fabric pieces on pattern paper, trace. Add pattern shapes and lingo.

5- Celebrate

*- This is highly abbreviated.

What I did*:

1- Take my measurements. Feel accomplished, go to sleep.

2- Use 'How To Make Sewing Patterns**' to learn how to make draw out a pattern. Take a nap.

3- Wake up. Compare pattern to my body.

4- Pin the pattern to fabric anyway and improvise. This is how I role.

5- Pin and Sew.

*- Again, highly abbreviated.

**- This book is amazing.

I took a few liberties. In general it worked, it's not the best method or the most efficient and hopefully for my sake I get better at it. The best thing I can suggest is to buy the book I mentioned above. It gives a great overview of shaping fabric on a body and the basics of pattern making. One small word about the book is that's it's old, 70's old. So it's pretty much ancient technology. But for serious, because it's older the style of the patterns he lays out are slightly outdated. As long as you go in knowing that going in, it's no big deal. I didn't so this is how my pattern turned out.

The second line up is the waist line and also where the book recommends the bottom of the pattern should be. Hmm... So, I tried to modify it last minute to make is longer, that's the bottom line, but even that wasn't long enough for me. I ended modifying it even further once I got it on the fabric. Knowing how short he suggests the pattern to be the front portion turned out better.

Here's the design in muslin, not the most attractive fabric, but hopefully once I transfer it to "real" fabric it'll look nicer. Right now it just looks like a very large onesie.

I'll keep you updated.