Hello everybody:
I’ve been sewing for some years, and it is now time for me to graduate to patternmaking; unfortunately, I can’t attend formal classes due to family responsibilities. I’ve been following Helen Joseph-Armstrong’s book but I have a few questions, and I was wondering if anybody would have the answers to them. First of all, I can see where notches are needed but the book doesn’t necessarily explain how to make them. Is there a particular place (measurement) on the shoulder, the arm or the side seams where the notches need to be? Also, in terms of trueing, blending and equalizing the patterns, the book is kind of vague. Can anybody explain these terms in more detail? Or perhaps point me to some other books about this subject?
Thank you so much for all your help, and I am so excited that I found this forum. Sewing is my life!! 🙂
Replies
Notches are simply match points that you can place anywhere you want them. Generally I like to make them by matching the seam lines, drawing a line across the seams (like across the shoulder seam) and then separating the patterns and adding the seam allowance. It is in adding the seam allowance tha things sometimes begin to look uneven and you can sew things together incorrectly, but if you have added match points, even tiny clips in the fabric things go together accurately.
Trueing the seam is simply redrawing the seam to straighten it out. If you take a fold in an a-line skirt, for instance, the side seams will have a place where the sides are no longer a smooth line. Trueing the seam simply straightens out that seam by drawing a new line , perhaps from the hip level to the hem.
I would like to know what "equalizing the pattern" means, too. Not many of us are equal anywhere any more.
Edited 4/2/2005 10:41 pm ET by suesew
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