Garment pattern designer Liesl Gibson says she thinks about the fit whenever she creates a new pattern. In Episode 28 of Sewing With Threads, the founder and chief designer of Liesl + Co. Inc., describes a few fitting factors she considers when pattern drafting: the amount of ease needed, style, and a sewer’s personal preferences.

Designing for multiple lines

In addition to producing the Liesl + Co. line of apparel patterns for women through her own company, Liesl designs the Lisette line of women’s apparel patterns for Butterick. She also creates Oliver + S children’s clothing patterns and the Straight Stitch Society line of small project patterns.

Her Lisette keyhole dress for Butterick graced the cover of Threads #208 April/May 2020.

Liesl Gibson’s focus for 2020

For her Liesl + Co. spring 2020 line, she focused on making patterns for knit fabrics with details that help with fit. You don’t need a serger to sew garments from these patterns, Liesl says.

During the podcast, she reveals how and why her patterns have evolved from basic to more fitted. Unchanged, she explains, is her inclusion of detailed instructions to make the garment construction easier for home sewers of all skill levels.

Find out how fast fashion influences Liesl’s patternwork, how the Oliver + S pinwheel tunic + slip dress design developed, and how she works with slopers and blocks.

Also learn about sewing machine feed dogs from Liesl and from “Q & A: History of the feed dog,” Threads #209 June/July 2020.

She even shares how living in Madrid has affected her fabric shopping experiences.

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Baby Lock, creators of the Celebrate four-thread serger. The Celebrate includes adjustable manual tensions for perfect stitches on any type of fabric. Jet-Air Threading threads the Celebrate with the touch of a lever, and the presser foot’s 6.0-mm height makes serging on thicker fabrics a breeze. Best of all, you can now buy Celebrate online for $999. Visit BabyLock.com to find a participating retailer.

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