Pattern Cutting for Garments

(Pattern cutting produced by Myself)

     Finally, I am at this stage of the project where I can begin the contraction of my pattern pieces for my final garments. At the start, I was feeling rather vulnerable as I haven't done pattern cutting for quite a while now. Saying this, I used the basic template for my skirt and trousers, but when it came to the top half of the silhouette, I had to use the stand. When this happened, I shocked myself… It turns out that I have the natural ability to pattern cut using subtraction cutting whilst on the stand and it was much easier that I perceived. Once I got into the knack of it, it took such little time to create the pieces. Pattern cutting is such an essential skill to have as not only a designer, but any sort of sector within fashion to get a general knowledge of garment construction, styling and fabrication which can be seen and done in many ways. Now I find working on the stand is much easier than using a template as you feel much more yourself with your creation that cutting around a basic, cliche shape for a garment. This has made me get really excited about working up to the real construction of the fabric, although it would be wise to do a toile before anything else, just to make sure that I know what I am doing, rather than messing it up all together first time round. 

(Calico patterns produced by Myself)

     Working with calico was rather interesting as it made me feel like I was working with the fabric that I would be using for my real garments. Calico in particular is a very sturdy fabric and it was very malleable to cut away from and pin. I really do wish that I could have more hands on experience with pattern cutting, but because our course is more focused upon design and development, we don't spend much time on the physical construction of the garment which is a shame. Perhaps I should look at going into summer classes for pattern cutting across all the UAL's, as I know they have a good reputation for these short courses. Moreover, I feel that from all the stand work I have done throughout my Final Major Project (FMP) has helped me even further with this pattern cutting process as have a much stronger idea as to what I want in height, structure and overall appearance, especially on the stand but it will be even more interesting on a human figure.

    Thinking in terms of the shape of the garments, the skirt pattern in particular will not be very easy to walk in, hence I will have to adapt this to my model when it comes to the photo shoot if I need her to stand or pose in a certain way, but I am sure I can push through that challenge when I come to it. In addition to this, it was interesting to see how my other fellow classmates worked with pattern cutting, as there are many ways to do it. Some students purely used the templates, others took a shape from their book, cut it out and then looked upon placement whilst it was on the stand and I was the only one in the area who seemed to be doing the subtraction cutting pattern making which was slightly daunting at first because I didn't know whether I was doing it right or wrong, but there really is no right or wrong to it. In regards to my theme, this pattern cutting process can correlate with Dementia in which I am cutting away the memories from the pattern and leaving only a few to keep the piece together and I think that is an interesting way to look upon this process. Overall, I think my templates were carefully and thoughtfully transferred from my 2-D final design illustration into a 3-D structure and I am very happy with my patterns; I can't wait to begin constructing my garment!