Making patterns your own.

Making a sewing pattern fit well can be time consuming, which is why I encourage my students to re-work the same patterns several times before starting the fitting process all over again with a new pattern. To avoid having a wardrobe of all the same outfits, you can “hack” your well fitted pattern, creating unique new versions of the original. My good friend Nigel May from Create and Craft TV says patterns are merely “a serving suggestion” a phrase I’ve now stolen and used many times when teaching!

Hacking can also cover small style details like pockets and fit.

A few ideas to get your creative hacking juices flowing!

• Add a flat collar you’ve previously made to a round neck top/dress pattern
• Convert a round neck into V neck
• Add a style line at the hip point of a shift dress and add some hidden pockets
• Lengthen a shirt pattern to a shirt dress
• Move side and bust darts to the neckline to create an interesting neck feature.
• Substitute a straight or pencil skirt pattern to the emery dress if gathers aren’t for you, or vice versa add a gathered skirt pattern to a more fitted style dress
• Divide up a shift dress or T shirt pattern to create colour blocks in the style of a Mondrian painting
• Experiment making up a woven pattern you love in knit fabric
• Add an opening where there previously wasn’t one, eg a button fastening down the centre front/back of a simple top

Just like following a recipe, it’s a good idea to make the pattern up exactly as the designer intended before you start messing around with its ‘ingredients’ or pattern elements. This also allows you to refine the fit.

Once you’ve understood how the pattern works, it’s then much easier to play around with. I like to do a pattern audit after making up for the first time, making a note of all the details I particularly liked, this helps me decide what aspects to change on another hacked version. Don’t be afraid of mistakes, not all your ideas will pan out, but you will learn a lot by creating a few duff pieces.

The basic principle of garment design is based around dart rotation, or moving darts around. Even if you haven’t studied pattern cutting, this is a fairly easy process to understand, and it will open up so many opportunities for pattern hacking. Darts don’t even have to stay as sewn darts, they can be converted to gathers or pleats or tucks. Megan Nielson has an ace post on dart manipulation and most good pattern cutting books will show a few examples.

Essentially darts can be moved around the bodice radiating out from the bust apex at any angle. You can see all the possibilities in the diagram above

Some simple rules for hacking

• ALWAYS make a copy of the pattern before hacking it, otherwise you’ll never be able to make another hack or the original again.
• Add seam allowance to every new seamline you’re creating. If you’ve decided to colour block a shift dress for example, each of those new seam lines will need seam allowance added on either side, or the dress will be way too small.
• Prepare yourself for a little maths! When hacking together pieces from different patterns, you need to measure the areas that will join together and make sure they fit. This means you may need to add in extra or take away some bits of the pattern.
• Factor in the original fabric choice advice on the pattern when going off piste. Often I remove the seam allowance or cut a size smaller if using a knit with a woven pattern. Add more seam allowance if using woven cloth and a knit pattern
• Make a mood board of clothes that suit you, and identify the elements that match your pattern stash, this will help you mix and match your patterns for hacks you’ll want to wear.
• Remember that this is now your pattern and sew it your way. So if you like to wear something less fitted, you can, if you prefer your trouser legs more tapered than the pattern, then taper them. The beauty of paper patterns is that they can be changed to suit our own tastes