patternmaking
Sewing Challenge: How to recreate a Mrs Maise...
The Shapes of Fabric · 15.03.2021This month I have a retro sewing theme; what a perfect excuse to attempt recreating a Mrs Maisel dress I’ve been eyeing for quite a while! In...
Creative Pockets tutorial
The Shapes of Fabric · 23.02.2021“Thanks! It has Pockets.” Sounds familiar? It’s a meme you’ve probably bumped into quite a few times if you’re active in the online sewing community. In fact,...
How to Draft Fitted Bodice Patterns for Strap...
The Shapes of Fabric · 10.11.2020This tutorial will show you how to draft a strapless, fitted bodice pattern. You can then use it either as a top, or add a skirt and make a dress. I...
5 Dress Pattern Ideas for the Summer
The Shapes of Fabric · 04.05.2020Quite frequently I get requests for tutorials on how to draft a dress pattern. And in fact I don’t have many dress pattern tutorials on my...
How to Draft Patterns for DIY Barbie Clothes
The Shapes of Fabric · 12.04.2020This month I wanted to do something different: DIY Barbie clothes! At the time I’m writing this, we’re in the middle of a world wide lock-down and...
Draft a Jumpsuit Pattern the Easy Way
The Shapes of Fabric · 24.02.2020There have been some requests for a jumpsuit pattern -tutorial, so here we go then. I’ll show you how to draft a fitted jumpsuit, starting from the...
Draft your own Dartless Bodice Block
The Shapes of Fabric · 24.11.2019A while back I posted the basic bodice pattern -tutorial. That one was with darts. So now this pattern should be easy. The Dartless Bodice Block is...
How to draft the Basic Bodice Pattern
The Shapes of Fabric · 07.10.2019I have received lots of requests for a basic bodice pattern tutorial. It took me a while to finish this, because I didn’t want to copy any existing...
The Making of a Shirt -starting from the pattern
The Shapes of Fabric · 22.09.2019I managed to finish another garment for myself. I know this would’ve been great for the summer, but it works in the autumn as well: a white shirt....
Welt pocket tutorial
The Shapes of Fabric · 25.06.2019I’ve received requests to shed some light on pocket construction, so I prepared this welt pocket tutorial. And because it’s my tutorial, of course I added some variations to the theme to make it more...
Learn pencil skirt pattern alterations
The Shapes of Fabric · 31.03.2019This week the skirt patterns are back! As anticipated, I’ll show you some pencil skirt pattern alterations. So if you love fitted skirts, this...
Follow along: making a dress from scratch! -pt1
The Shapes of Fabric · 16.03.2019It’s already mid-March. Remember how I wrote about participating in the Make Nine -challenge this year? Well, it’s about time I do...
Simple skirt pattern alterations
The Shapes of Fabric · 04.03.2019Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to draft your own skirt patterns? Well, I’m going to help you get started on that. Last time I wrote...
Special occasion sleeve patterns
The Shapes of Fabric · 19.01.2019I hope you aren’t bored with sleeves yet! I prepared a few more patterns for you. These are a mix of different styles for special occasion -garments....
Pleated sleeves
The Shapes of Fabric · 09.11.2018Continuing with the sleeve-theme, this time I put together all kinds of pleated sleeves. They are beautiful, but unfortunately also high maintenance: every time you wash the garment, you’ll need to press all the pleats...
TR Masters’ Challenge 2018 -round one
The Shapes of Fabric · 09.09.2018The first round of this years TR masters’ challenge finished at the end of August. This is the first time the Challenge has been divided in two...
Meet Nelly Trines and her amazing designs!
The Shapes of Fabric · 01.09.2018Ok, I’m ready to start my new theme here. As I wrote in the previous post, from now on, I will be promoting other sewing-related Instagram-pages. I...
Bamboo-bodice explained
The Shapes of Fabric · 17.06.2018I recently received a request to make a bamboo-bodice -tutorial. That fits perfectly in my latest theme: TR-cutting. As I’ve said before, you can find a bamboo-bodice also in the Pattern...
After Masterclass
The Shapes of Fabric · 04.06.2018So I finished the TR Masterclass, then what? The great thing about this class is that after you’ve finished, you get to participate every year in the Masters’ Challenge organized by Shingo Sato. This time there are no...
Adding sculptural shapes to panels
The Shapes of Fabric · 28.04.2018Continuing with the same theme as last time, the panel-construction. Now I’ll show you some other shapes you can create by using this technique. If...
Let’s draft some panel-skirts!
The Shapes of Fabric · 22.04.2018Summer is quickly approaching here in Milan, and that inspired me to write about skirts. Not just any skirts of course, but panel-skirts. I want to...
When pleats won’t do, try layering!
The Shapes of Fabric · 30.03.2018Now that I have explained how to add pleats, the perfect subject to write about next is layering. It’s kind of like pleats. It’s a technique you can...
More pleating techniques
The Shapes of Fabric · 25.03.2018So, as promised, here’s another post on pleats. They are so versatile that I wanted to introduce a couple of other variations: the pleated stripes and pleats across pleats. Because...
Speaking of pleats…
The Shapes of Fabric · 17.03.2018Pleating is another way of adding details to your clothes. Probably the first thing that comes to your mind, is a pleated skirt. But pleats can be placed in other ways, too. You can pleat...
How to draft patterns that create patterns -part 2
The Shapes of Fabric · 11.03.2018Now that I have explained the base, it’s time to draft the actual pattern and start folding! Like I mentioned in the last post there are two...
How to draft patterns that create patterns
The Shapes of Fabric · 08.03.2018Adding a few pictures right away so the title will make more sense. These are examples of surface patterns I’ve made: As you can see, it’s all...
Dart manipulation basics
The Shapes of Fabric · 28.02.2018I realized I should actually write a post about dart manipulation, as that is an important part in practically every design. Darts are fundamental in a fitted garment, unless you’re using...
