Drafting the Initial Patterns

The initial patterns guarantee that you will have an appropriate amount of fabric to cover the body. You will need to have one pattern for the front and one for the back. There is a description for how to draft these patterns on the pages of my book and the videos below. I have a new approach for drafting the women's front that is different from the first edition of my book, see the Women's Front Draft PDF file.

• Men's Front
  (pages 57 through 59, 2nd ed. [pages 46 & 47, 1st ed.])
• Men and Women's Back
  (pages 60 through 62, 2nd ed. [pages 49 & 50, 1st ed.]
• Women's Front
  (pages 63 through 65, 2nd ed.)

When you create these patterns, you will be dividing measurements by 1/4, and 1/8. I show easy ways of dividing measurements by using my Scale Rulers or by folding a tape measure as you will see in the videos.

The Back Pattern

The Front Pattern for Women

The Front Pattern for Men

Adding Seam Allowances

Preparing the Fitting Shell
After you have drafted a front and back pattern, create a fitting shell by cutting the patterns out of gingham. Once the fitting shell is cut, you may either sew or pin the front to the back at the shoulders. Do not try to sew any more of the fitting shell than the shoulder seam because the correct shaping must be determined in the preliminary fitting.