Peggy Sagers: From years of experience, I have learned that the more we know about patterns, the better our results will be.

A lack of pattern knowledge can be frustrating.

Draping and flat pattern are related, but how?

I'm a firm believer that understanding patterns helps us become more successful seamstresses.

I have invited a college professor who teaches basic patternmaking to help us all.

So today, flat pattern and drape on "Fit 2 Stitch."

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ male announcer: "Fit 2 Stitch" is made possible by Kai Scissors.

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♪♪♪ Peggy: Over the years, I have always felt that if we do anything about sewing we should know patterns.

And many of you agree with me and some of you do not, and I completely respect that.

But I decided today if maybe you heard the very same thing from someone else, maybe you'd hear it a little bit differently, so I've invited Barbara to appear on today.

Barbara is a pattern--she's not just a patternmaker.

It just goes so much more beyond that and she's got way more training than I do so I wanna talk about that for just a minute.

You--tell me where you started.

Originally, where did you learn to make patterns?

Barbara Trippeer: Sure, so I had the good fortune of studying at Parsons School of Design in Paris and-- Peggy: Now let me just say that again.

Parsons School of Design in Paris.

Barbara: Yes.

Peggy: Wow, that's impressive.

And you went there and got your first training and then go ahead.

Didn't mean to interrupt but that's impressive.

Barbara: That's okay.

I earned my bachelor of fine arts in fashion design in France and my first job out of school was for Paco Rabanne who unfortunately passed away not so long ago.

I was very blessed to live in France for a good amount of time until my visa ran out and where I returned to New York City to launch my career.

So having worked in the industry for large companies and small companies, did work for Brooks Brothers and Neiman Marcus, I later on-- Peggy: Patternmaking?

Barbara: Design, all sorts of variations of design.

Patternmaking is definitely a critical element and I've had the good fortune of working with some amazing patternmakers.

Later on in my career I was teaching at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

My mentor had been the head patternmaker at Christian Dior, and so the techniques that I'm gonna be sharing with you today and your audience, and as I share with my students, are patternmaking techniques I've learned.

Peggy: So I really appreciate your information because that relationship between flat patternmaking and drape, I think, is very misunderstood.

And if you could just walk us through that, I think a lot will really benefit.

Barbara: Absolutely, and I thank you again for having me up here.

So today, what we're gonna talk about is some of the basic building blocks the designers use when--to build out the patterns that some of your customers might see when they go into the store.

So we're gonna talk about the fundamentals, how--what excess is, excess fabric, and how that becomes a dart and how a dart can become any number of styling things or a seam.

Peggy: Let's just see it.

Barbara: Yeah, so we have on here, most of the time that designers are gonna be working on half of the mannequin and, in design, we are blank starting point.

Our piece of paper is called muslin.

So the muslin is an undyed fabric.

It's greige goods.

I prefer to use a more coarse quality.

It's more of a canvas tone but you can use more of a poplin quality.

It really depends what your final project is going to be.

Peggy: That's just a preference.

Barbara: It's just a personal preference.

What I like about the coarser quality, the canvas quality, is that it's very easy to follow the grain line, and the technique that I was taught by Maria Leveras, who was the head patternmaker at Ralph Lauren, is to pull the grain out.

So that's, literally, you're gonna take a pin and you're gonna pick a thread and you're gonna carry that thread all the way through and that will make a very clear line in the muslin and that's how you can really see the straight of grain.

And the reason the straight of grain is important is because it affects how the fabric drapes on the body so that oftentimes it won't skew, it's gonna hang nicely.

If you have a pattern, it'll match up correctly.

So we're gonna show here today how to build out a basic bodice and a basic skirt and so I just have this basted version up here to show what the final version will look like.

This is the building blocks before we get to any of the design features.

So I'm just gonna take this off for now.

Peggy: And those statements, I think that we say them all the time but I think they're really important.

You keep going.

I'll just say those building blocks, they are the building blocks before we can design anything.

Barbara: They are.

Peggy: They're the fit elements.

Barbara: They are the stick figure underneath the garment's design, so I'm just gonna put this over here for now 'cause this is what we will be tracing off later.

And so we're gonna start with our muslin with noting where the line is, the grain out, which is where we started.

And you wanna leave about 2 inches from your neck and our first point that we're gonna pin is here at the center front neck.

And then I'm gonna let this just hang straight and I wanna align--if you have a dress form, you wanna align the straight of grain with that center seam.

Now, I do wanna talk about these seams for a moment.

These seams are, just because they've been based there arbitrarily to make a nice balanced seam, human beings are not going to have their seams in quite the same space.

Peggy: And it's interesting because I do think a lot of people think the side seams have to be in a particular place, and they simply don't.

They simply follow a dress form that someone created.

Barbara: And in good design, you'll often see that you're gonna have to move that seam, like a forward shoulder to have the garment fit better or oftentimes, the side seam on a pant will be forwarded, gives a slimmer look.

Peggy: Yeah, we see that with Armani.

Armani's got this--side seams.

Barbara: So that's the latest thing.

So we want this to be straight and then we're gonna manipulate this to the side seam so that this falls also straight.

And I'm just pinning it there, loosely 'cause we're gonna-- and you'll see already there's all this excess here.

So we're gonna--now, the scary part which is where most intra people get a little frightened, so I'm gonna--if you wouldn't mind grabbing my scissor right there.

Peggy: Oh, this is the fun part, right?

Barbara: So this is the fun part.

So I'm gonna do my first snip.

I just wanna trim the neck line here so that it's about a ½-inch seam allowance it allows.

And then we're gonna have to clip this so that it lays flat as it moves around the neckline.

So I'm gonna snip here, first, at the center front, and then about every 1/4 of an inch we're gonna just lightly snip to the seam allowance so that it stays 1/4-inch and I'm just letting this relax.

Basically, I'm releasing the ease and so that it's going to lay smoothly all around the neckline.

Peggy: And I wanna just say that often the base is not necessarily draped.

I wanted you to drape it.

I asked you specifically to drape it so that they could see the difference between drape and flat pattern.

Barbara: That's--once you build this block, once you understand what the darts represent, you can do a whole lot of design features.

Peggy: Yeah, so this is draping.

We're taking the base and we're draping it to create the base block.

Barbara: The block, yes.

Peggy: It could be measured but measuring, to me-- Barbara: You can also measure too.

We'll talk about that.

So the first thing I want to discuss is all of this excess fabric that we have here.

So this fabric is going to be what becomes our first darts.

And so once I have the excess here from the side seam, I'm just gonna trim this 'cause now we don't need all this excess here.

I'm just reducing it so that--and you're just gonna tear that off.

Okay, so I'm pinning this here, along the side seam, which is basically the seam of the--and I want it to be straight so that it's running like perpendicular lines.

That's what we're trying to make.

So now, this excess here.

Peggy: Go back just a little bit so they can see.

Barbara: Yes.

Peggy: Do you need a--scissors?

Barbara: So now, I want to, from the bust is where all the excess is going to come, because women are three-dimensional forms and this is where we need room to move around.

And so I'm gonna just pin this excess off, and I'm just putting the pin there and I'm just gonna tag and I'm gonna put a perpendicular line here to know where my dart is gonna end.

So I'm basically marking the end from the waistline.

And I'm gonna come back, and if you could hand me my pencil, actually.

So now, I'm going to mark where this waistline is.

I'm marking the center of that waistline.

And I'm just putting some dots here to know where that ends.

Peggy: But if you're doing this on yourself, you could actually just wrap a tape measure or a piece of elastic.

Barbara: Absolutely, to measure your waistline area.

And so I'm just going to pin off--I'm just--the thickest part and then it's gonna gradually thin out.

And then also you'll have some excess here.

This is gonna go into your shoulder.

The reason, so some blocks, we're gonna talk about these blocks.

Basically, what we're doing, this template.

So you have excess.

There is gonna be excess here up at the shoulder and excess that goes into the dart from the waist.

This--where there's a dart at the top, above the apex line.

The bust, there's a invisible line, and a measure line that cuts through the entire center of the bust.

That's called the bustline.

Peggy: There you go.

Barbara: So, when we have a dart above and a dart below, that is called a balanced sloper when meanings there's some at the top and you--the reason that a balanced sloper is helpful is if you decide you wanna do a princess line.

That excess from the dart is gonna go into the princess line.

When we only want a waist dart or a side seam dart or just a shoulder dart, that is called an unbalanced sloper, so that's where we can manipulate all the excess into one section.

So I can manipulate this so that all the excess moves into the waistline and it's basically gonna shift this.

So it really depends what the ultimate final design that you want to do.

Peggy: Sure, but different blocks have--had the same exact fit but the darts were in different starting places.

Barbara: So you can manipulate different places, yes.

So once we have pinned this out and you'll mark your shoulder seam, you'll mark your neckline, and then-- Peggy: And again you're just using the dress form as a base for that shoulder seam.

Barbara: And I'm just using the dress form as a base.

And once we mark everything, then we're going to take it to the table and trace it off.

Because, of course, there's gonna be--so I've taken these versions over here to the table to show you, so once you've marked it, you're gonna take it to the table.

You're gonna pin it back down, and we're gonna first trace it off so that we're basically copying what we did.

Peggy: You're copying the drape you just did?

Barbara: We're copying the drape we just did, so if we--for example, here's my front bodice and I've stitched this one up just to check the fit, but I'm tracing it all off so you can do this with a tracing wheel or you can do this-- Peggy: And that's a good idea what you just said.

Once you've draped it, you can sew it up and check the fit.

Barbara: Yeah, and that's what we recommend in the design process.

You reconfirm the work that you did, and this is just basted so that you can see what it looks like in a contrast color so that it looks very obvious.

That's what we would use to test it to make sure, do the side seams align, do the shoulder seams align, are they the same?

Peggy: But this process is so important, and it's one time.

Barbara: This is checking your work at the very beginning.

And checking your work all throughout the stages is very, very critical component for a successful permanent design.

But before we transfer them to a more permanent block or pattern or before we add seam allowance, we're going to want to true the pattern.

We're going to wanna--and the way that we do that is we're going to close the darts and true the shoulder seams and we're gonna walk the side seams together.

Peggy: And this, whenever you're doing this, you're really just kind of, could we call it, fine-tuning?

Trueing, fine-tuning's fair?

Barbara: It is.

What we are doing is fine-tuning, yeah.

Yes, balancing.

There might be some things that need to be balanced.

So this is the paper version that I took from the bodice block.

I did both a front and a back.

And so now we wanna make sure, do our side seams match up?

Do our shoulder seams match up.

So the first thing that you're gonna wanna do is true the shoulder seams.

Peggy: And would you add the seam allowance before you true or after you true?

Barbara: After you true.

So the trueing--so we're doing this on the raw block, for example.

Peggy: Got it.

That would make sense.

You're trueing that before you add the seam allowances.

Barbara: And that's the number one issue my students will often do, is they rush to add the seam allowance and then they have to fix it.

Peggy: That's 'cause when we add the seam allowance, it means we're almost done.

Barbara: Yes, so to true-- to close--to true a dart we need to close the dart.

So you're gonna, first, fold on the apex which was that center of the dart that we had.

And then we want to--it's a little bit like origami, you're gonna fold on the dart leg that's closest to the side seam, and then you're gonna go back and you're going to have the two dart legs kiss.

So you want the two dart legs to kiss and you'll notice that my original line was uneven so now I need to, in my red here, this is where I've corrected.

So I'll need to straighten that line.

That's trueing the shoulder line, so that it is now aligned.

And then I would have to do the same thing on the back because we wanna make sure that the shoulder lines are the same.

So again, I'm gonna fold on the dart and I'm gonna fold on the dart leg that's closest to the side seam.

I would do the same thing.

I would true that line, and now I need to make sure that the--and I use tape is where it often helps to keep those closed.

Peggy: 'Cause we're gonna be comparing the width of the seam.

Barbara: Yes.

Peggy: It does help to have tape, doesn't it?

Barbara: Yes.

And so now, what we're gonna do is we want to check to make sure that the width of the seams are the same.

And so, you wanna first line up here, at the neckline.

It's most important.

You're always gonna start here at the top.

And now look, you'll see if I have a difference, I need to correct that difference because, obviously, if I were to try to sew those two together-- Peggy: They wouldn't match.

Barbara: You're gonna have a problem.

Peggy: So would I just split the difference between the two?

Barbara: Balancing is splitting the difference.

So if there is an 1/8 of an inch or more, we're gonna wanna split the difference between the two and then redraft.

So you're gonna come back in and my new line will be the middle between the two of them.

Peggy: Sure, and you can just use your French curve to draw that in.

Barbara: And then you would use your French curve and you'd add your new seam allowance.

So that is your new line.

And then the same thing too, let's do the side seams.

Peggy: So, it's fair to say mistakes are gonna be made.

Barbara: Always.

Peggy: It's just a matter of you're gonna catch-- Barbara: So this is why the trueing and balancing process is super-critical.

Peggy: Yeah, especially if you do it 10 o'clock at night.

That's what I've learned.

After 8 o'clock, it's just not quite the same.

Barbara: So when you do the same thing with the side seam, you wanna make sure and, of course, when you're at the underarm, so this is where right angles are very important.

Obviously, when you're sewing an underarm or any kind of rounded shape, we don't want it to have a "V," a point, because that's gonna be a non-technical term, wonky, when you sew it.

So we, in fashion design, and we're doing--everything is based on a right angle.

So you want a right angle where those two seams are gonna join so you'll just straighten that for that 1/4 of an inch between them, and then you wanna make sure that your side seams are the same and, again, if there is a significant difference, you're gonna need to balance that between the two and split the difference.

And then you'll redraft that.

Peggy: Okay, cool, very cool.

And then I add seam allowance.

Barbara: Right.

And then once--if you have a problem where you've noticed that there has been a lot of balancing, it's always a good idea to retest your muslin.

So that's where our little sewn, basted, mock-up comes into play.

So, once you've gone through this process and you've drafted and you've tested, I always say before you take it to the seam allowance, make sure you test it again.

Better safe than sorry, because if you're making a million-dollar garment, you don't want any kind of problems along the way.

All the stages are important.

And in fact, that's why, for the design students, as they do in the design houses, they usually make the first garment completely in muslin or a variation, not the million-dollar fabric, first, right?

So you wanna work out all the kinks.

You wanna test it.

Peggy: I always tell my customers to use fashion fabric that they don't really love.

And that way they can make a wearable muslin.

Barbara: Right, as long as the fabric is gonna be comparable from a drape standpoint or a thickness standpoint, it's gonna respond the same as what your final garment will be, for the testing.

So once you have worked out the kinks we got into it then it's gonna be a more permanent version.

So we will make them into what's called a block.

So in our design practice, when it's a block that we use a lot, oftentimes you're gonna see that put into vellum which is a material that's more like a plastic so it's gonna last for a very long time.

Peggy: So is it fair to say a block is a base that's been adjusted to fit?

Barbara: It's the basic template from which we'll be able to do all of our design.

Peggy: Perfect.

Barbara: And so--or, if you don't have access to the vellum, 'cause it is a little bit more expensive.

Oak tag works very nicely.

So here you can see this is my--same thing, this is my unbalanced sloper and then, in this version, I just cut out the darts so I can play with it.

And then, also, in the design world, sometimes if I'm working through a lot of designs, I like to work on half scale.

So I have a little-- Peggy: This is my cute little friend here.

Barbara: --my little, yeah, my little-- Peggy: It's adorable.

Barbara: My little lady.

So we, oftentimes, if they're working through a more complicated design, which is the technique that Madeleine Vionnet used in--a very famous draper--working on the half scale to build out the design idea.

So, oftentimes, that's what-- Peggy: And I worked on quarter scale in college.

I think it was too little.

I think the half scale's much easier to deal with.

And you don't waste that much fabric.

Barbara: The Barbie doll version.

Peggy: Yeah, it's almost really hard to kind of see anything on that quarter scale.

Barbara: And then as your designs become more complex, you can see here, this is a block for a dress which is gonna have the front bodice block and the skirt joined together.

So your fit might change so a very fitted garment, like the dresses that we have here on the form, is gonna have two waist darts.

A semi-fitted garment, more like a shift dress, is going to have one waist dart.

And a trapeze or a tent dress will have no darts, a boxy dress, an easy dress, will have no waist darts.

We'll release all the darts and we'll straighten that side seam or add flare.

Peggy: Sure, sure.

Barbara: So those are some of the different things.

Same thing with a jacket.

Often, it's based on an original block that has two darts.

Peggy: We have a minute.

Let's show 'em how to move darts.

Barbara: Yeah, that would be great.

Peggy: I think they'd be interested.

Barbara: So, yes, we're gonna do some dart manipulation.

Peggy: 'Cause it's fun and it's really easy.

Barbara: This is where the real--you have instant gratification about what your design is going to look like.

Peggy: So now you've done all the work, let's learn how to move 'em.

Barbara: I'm gonna start with my unbalance sloper.

There's two methods, two techniques, that you can use to manipulate a dart.

One is called the slash and spread method.

That's the one that's gonna be easiest to-- where my scissor went to.

Right here.

That's gonna be the easiest one to visualize.

The other version is called a pivot method and so the more advanced patternmakers often use the pivot method 'cause it's faster and it's less waste.

Peggy: The pivot method is?

Barbara: Yes.

Peggy: I always thought that slashing was faster, 'cause you just slash, slash, pumph, you're done.

Barbara: Trust me.

My mentor, Leonard Best from Christian Dior, was a whiz at the pivoter.

Peggy: Oh, that's interesting.

That is interesting.

I appreciate that insight.

Barbara: Yeah, so we're gonna start here.

We're gonna pivot--we're gonna slash and spread and we're gonna move our waist dart up into our mid shoulder point, let's just say.

So the way--the easiest way to find the mid shoulder is to pinch.

So if you put the two shoulder points together and I just put a little pinch there, et voila, that's the center of my shoulder.

When you do your final darts, unless we wanna be Madonna from the 1990s with the Gaultier cone boobs, oftentimes we want what's called ease here.

So we don't want things to go all the way up into the bustline that make things very pointy.

So you usually have at least a ½ inch to 2 inches away from the center of the breast, and I mean the nipple area, which is the apex, which we allow for ease.

So that's what this is.

And the true apex is usually about a half inch below our armhole, and I'm aligning that here, again, perpendicular line, super and super-important.

This is where I know where the center is.

So the true apex of this dart is always the dart center, so the way to know that is, literally, I could measure this.

This is a 3-inch dart, so the half of it is an inch and a half.

And that's gonna be--that would come right up there to the true apex.

That's where the true apex is.

And that is what I'm now going connect to my new dart.

So this is where I want my new dart to go.

This is where it is right now.

So I'm just gonna redraw these legs a little bit for our slash and sled process.

Peggy: And depending on your style, you could do many, many things, many, many options.

Barbara: Yeah, we have a few other--I have another one here that we'll show.

All right, so I'm gonna just cut this open.

I'm opening my dart here at the waist.

Don't worry, it will be replaced by a new dart at the shoulder.

Peggy: And then once we move the dart, we draw in the legs.

This is the best--the most fun to me, is cutting-- Barbara: So this is my original--maybe that's the instant gratification part of it.

So don't cut all the way to the end 'cause then it'll fall apart.

Peggy: To but not through.

Barbara: No, I'm literally just gonna close this so now these are kissing again.

I'm closing the dart at the waist, and look at that.

I have a new dart here at the shoulder.

Peggy: Barbara, you're a genius.

I think it's amazing how important these elements are, and you've just done a beautiful job of making them so simple for us.

Thank you.

I wish we had more time.

We just don't.

Barbara: Thank you so much for having me.

I really enjoyed sharing these with you and your audience.

Peggy: Thank you.

Thank you.

The phrase "deep pockets" to most means that someone is very wealthy and has a lot of money.

But to sewers, it means joy.

Many of us, when making pockets, make them deeper and wider because we like 'em that way.

We'll learn about all kinds of pockets next time on "Fit 2 Stitch."

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ announcer: "Fit 2 Stitch" is made possible by Kai Scissors.

♪♪♪ announcer: Reliable Corporation.

♪♪♪ announcer: Plano Sewing Center.

♪♪♪ announcer: Elliott Berman Textiles.

♪♪♪ announcer: Bennos Buttons.

♪♪♪ announcer: And Clutch Nails.

♪♪♪ announcer: To order a four-DVD set of "Fit 2 Stitch," series 12, please visit our website at fit2stitch.com.

♪♪♪