62 replies to this topic

[MANSIE WAUCH]

 

I once read an article about families who used old newspapers.  I assume the ink didn't smear

 

In the old days of bespoke, waistcoats were often made at other workshops. It was customary to cut the waistcoat back pattern out of newspaper to send with the cloth front. this was then used by the waistcoat maker to cut the linings for the back.

[Henry Hall]

I agree with Hutch in principle. If the professional way of doing it is with manilla, well that's tough luck on me because I can't always get hold of it. My last pattern was on thin brown paper of which I currently have a large roll.

 

It's true that thin paper is near to impossible to chalk around as would traditionally be done, but Hutch wasn't recommending it for that, rather he was relating how generations of dressmakers have used it - and many dressmakers are professionals too.

 

If the pieces end up cut out correctly what does it bloody matter?

[Schneidergott]

I met a couple of professional dressmakers in Germany and they all used brown paper (not as heavy as manilla) to draft their patterns. For blocks they had heavy cardboard.

In principle it doesn't matter what paper or other material you use, but if you are a professional time is money and fiddeling with tissue paper takes more time.

If tissue paper is all you can get, then, for flips sake, use it. 

If you have other/ better alternatives use those. If you want something a bit more sturdy and still transparent you can use plastic gift wrap.

[jcsprowls]

@Henry Hall,

 

Are you using these patterns more than one time? And, are they *real* patterns with seam allowance included, trued, notched and drilled with each piece engineered (i.e. under-cut, over-cut, controlled fullness, etc.) to account for processing (i.e. fulling, shrinking, gathering, shirring, folding, mating, turning, lining, etc.)?

 

If not, then, you're cutting drafts which is perfectly fine...

 

The trade-off is the paper isn't heavy enough to accurately copy pieces or use flat patternmaking methods to engineer the pieces with a high degree of precision. If you will only ever make one-offs, then 40# - 80# kraft paper is sufficient. Especially if the one-off maker will draft anew with each project.

 

As I keep saying: context matters.

 

This rant it's not directed at you, specifically:

 

Words are not interchangeable. Please respect them and use them like carefully selected tools. While it is possible to drive a screw using a hammer, the workaround does not compel the hammer to be a screwdriver.

[Henry Hall]

They are eventually real patterns and indeed when I have final patterns I transfer them onto stiff paper to keep them. I don't use tissue paper, personally I prefer the thicker paper for chalking around, but I hate to see people having their methods rubbished as 'unprofessional' because they don't tally with another's methodology.

Edited by Henry Hall, 20 September 2014 - 06:50 AM.

[DesertElephant]

To swing it WAY back onto topic, I went ahead and bought some Marking Paper that is 48" upon which to practice my drafting.  I think, because I've not done it before, I'd rather do it in full-scale first that way it will be easier to get a feel for whether I did the math incorrectly.

Edited by Schneidergott, 21 September 2014 - 02:35 AM.

[hutch48]

For the sensible folks here, fortunately the majority, this is the distinction I personally use. With the specialised tissue I buy from E.M.Greenfields I pin the pattern onto the double fabric layers then cut around them in what is more or less the same technology as traditional dressmakers have done for many years. This suits what I make fine in that when finished the garments are not modifiable, there is no adjustment allowance and the only criteria is strength and accuracy. The greatest risk I have with patterns made this way is simply losing them if I have not used them for a long time.

 

The other end is templates made from clear plastic that are traced around with normal tailors chalk and any allowance for seam design, fold overs and the like are added later to requirement. This plastic is clear, very easy to use and position and extremely robust, again the greatest risk is losing them if you have not used them for a long time.

 

 

I had already taken the tissue pattern off but this is the type of stuff (in summer) that I cut out in this manner. This is pinned up again for the next OP which is overlocking the front and back seams.

 

 

These two were all I could find in a hurry, the left side template is a post cutting seam marker where sighting what you are doing is critical, the other is a template for marking out pocket flaps, pin 2 layers together face to face, mark them out, stitch around the marking line, cut off the excess to the width you require, turn the flap around, pop the corners and stitch around the edges again. Nice strong, straight pocket flaps done quickly and easily.

 

Now with the many very experienced folks here, this is all simple stuff, nothing high tech or overly complicated and it gets the job done.

[Schneidergott]

I apologize for not stopping this earlier.

 I edited this thread, meaning I've removed this ongoing "discussion" about who is "right" and who is not!

We are all entitled to have our own opinions, but it is absolutely pointless to defend them in the way it has been done here.

 

I will add Mansie's post from another thread and that will be it.

 

So from now this thread remains locked.

[Schneidergott]

 

I had intended to post this on the pattern paper thread before it was locked, or removed entirely because of the bad direction it has taking, but missed it.  So I have decided to make a new thread for general advice. .

 

I would like to give some advice to the beginners who might have been  confused by some of the advice in the other thread.

 

I worked in the clothing industry for over fifty years and in that time I have cut patterns out of many different types of card and paper, as mentioned in one post, even newspaper. My first set of block patterns (which I regard as tools of the trade,) were actually made out of large cardboard box's, (this was in the early fifties and supplies of paper like you have today was unheard of, the country was still recovering from the second world war.)

One of my waistcoat patterns was made from a section of a box lid and had a ridge across the middle of the pattern, which could be folded back and forth like a flap. This cardboard was so thick (not the corrugated variety) by the time I had cut out the full set of patterns, my hand ached for a month!

   I advise anyone starting out, to use whatever they can obtain. If it is large enough for a pattern it's OK. If you are only making one or two garments, you do not need top quality card, you may need this type if you are intending to make a career out of clothing and you would like your own blocks, even then; if you get a job in a workshop, the firm should supply the paper or card.  Tissue, brown paper, wallpaper on the roll, use that for a beginning.

 

Finally, if you wish to practice on your pattern drafting, a good way of saving time and wasting reams of paper, is to use an old piece of dark overcoat material and mark your pattern with some tailors chalk! If you make mistakes (and you will) you can brush it out with a clothes brush and start again.

 

We would all like the best of everything, but you need to walk before you can run!

 

 

 

 

Mansies last sentence sums it up. I have seen many amateur golfers and guitarists with many many of the latest golf clubs and guitars, does it make them better ? No.

There,s an old saying, all the gear, no idea.