Patternmaking is an integral part of my day to day work. Since my flamenco dancer clients are looking for individual designs there are times when I face a challenge: an unusual dress cut, collar, sleeve etc.
That’s when a good reference book becomes invaluable. The one I reach for first is “Patternmaking for Fashion Design” by Helen Joseph Armstrong.
I’ve had it for ages but admit that when I used it just jumping to a specific section and applying the indicated pattern modification it didn’t always give me the result I was after. Only once I realized that each section builds on the previous ones and took the time to study those as well it all fell into place.
Needless to say that I learnt an awful lot in the process.
So this is not a quick fix – draw a line here and another one there and you’re done – kind of book. But if you have the patience to study it and understand the foundations it will open a whole new “patternmaking world” for you.
(Version 5 is the current one, I’ve got version 3 and 4)
