I teach maths and I have talked to our other maths teachers at school about giving this as an end of year task to our top maths students in year 9 and 10. I know none of them would have done something like this before and they will love the challenge. I even flicked your vlog to our principal (who is a maths teacher as well). I just think this is a brilliant exercise in problem solving. Thank you so much for providing another 'real world example of math'. Cheers
I've actually developed a weird hobby of drawing out old patterns in small-scale (usually 1/8), and when I have time sizing them up to full-size, so this will be quite helpful when trying to draw things that will actually fit!
I think small-scale drafting can be a great way to navigate the more obscure drafting instructions. Figuring out the tricky bits beforehand and also checking if things look about right, before you delve into the human-sized drafting process. Plus, tiny patterns are cute :D
I'm a lurker. I don't make any of the beautiful things you make, but I love watching your videos for the historical tidbits and the random knowledge drops. Your piano intro has become super soothing. ❤️
The non-gendered way you're describing this stuff is so helpful! I'm working on designing and sewing modern menswear for my transmasc body and this approach to historical drafting is exactly what I needed math-wise and so affirming on the gender front. Thank you!
@@olhamukhina7570 Yes and no (I think). To me it sounds simply like a more technical way to look at the data that is relevant. What are the expected measurements and proportions vs. those of the actual person. For example, as someone with a female body I'm having problems with most drafting guides for female clothes because my weight distribution is not what they assume it to be. Talking about where I am "holding weight" means focussing on the important bits for the task at hand without being judgemental about my body. A more abstract way to look at the body - that is also gender-neutral :)
@@craftlete I understand your point, though holding weight in different ways for different people is different from carefully avoiding calling female breasts what they are🤔 or at least one can use comfortable euphemisms if shy. But calling breasts just weight.. well it’s not what that actually is. It’s the question of definition and meaning
@@olhamukhina7570 But it is just weight/distribution when it comes to drafting a pattern. The definition and meaning of words are ALWAYS context-dependent, not set in stone. This is why there tends to be lot of confusion where, say, science and medical reporting interfaces with non-scientific readers, for example, since the terminology used on one side can mean vastly different things to those on the other, depending on the context and lexicon they're familiar with. And of course, terminology shifts dramatically over time (like Nicole's difficulty figuring out what "high shoulder" and "low shoulder" referred to). A man could have a very similar amount of weight up front as Nicole (say, a dude with a fleshier power-lifter shape) and obviously still not have "female breasts." Likewise another person could be very muscular across the back with almost no weight across the front and little hip-held weight, and yet still be fully female in terms of their identity, or carry a lot of upper body fat while having small breasts (male or female). If you end up using gendered terminology like "breasts" to identify what is being accounted for or measured, when what you really mean is "full bust" or "upper chest," it just can create more confusion than clarity and result in different people measuring different things depending on how they interpret what is said. The terminology being used here means everyone can reference the exact same terms and get consistent, accurate results, no matter what they may personally call those areas. tl;dr - specific industries, crafts, disciplines and other sectors have specific terminology that may not be the same as lay terminology for the same things. When it comes to drafting and cutting patterns, weight distribution is the more appropriate terminology for creating accurate results.
@@sonipitts Thank you :D When I wrote my original comment, I couldn't really put into words why focussing on measurements and data without relying on gender-specific terms made sense to me from a logical point of view. Which is why I related it to discribing a body without judgement. But reading your reply I realise that focussing on measurements and the mass distribution around a circumference is useful in a universal way - provided the units are established, of course :D
Pattern drafting always feels like magic to me. I'm always amazed when I plug in my numbers and get a pattern even though I've been doing it for 30 years. You did a super job on explaining how to customize a draft for a different body than expected. I learned some new things from you.
And that's what I Love about sewing. There's always another iteration of a technique. My Lockdown thing was teaching myself how to sew from You Tube. After around nine or ten tries I was able to draft my own shell dress for the Foundations Revealed competition. Took most of the year. Thirty years drafting - it definitely is magic. - Cathy (&, accidently, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown
@@stevezytveld6585 I learned to pattern draft while I was pregnant with my son, I took a semester long class at our junior college. My final project was a maternity dress! Every time I wore it to work, I got complements. Maternity clothes in those days was a bit too cutsy for my job.I ended up making my wardrobe for work.
Is your dog Falcor?! But as someone who has done a fair amount of drafting, it's soooo soothing to watch someone just bust through that math and work getting it done. The comments you made about adjusting menswear for unexpected (to the designers) body shapes was really interesting to pay attention to. It gave me a lot of ways to think about adjusting patterns for my husband, who is barrel-chested, so also doesn't fit patterns well. Love the video -- can't wait to see where you take it from here!
Adjusting for the temporary bust makes more sense. I’ll probably have to rewatch a few times, though, as I’m still a bit fuzzy on when to use the actual bust, or temporary. I find drafting so much more straightforward and logical, now, having watched a pro like yourself do it several times. Thank you for making me feel so much more comfortable and confident in sewing.
people will coo over many vids, and I do as well, but just realized your vids are some of the very few I save to my fiber file, your videos are packed with brilliant info. Thank YOU, for starting a channel and sharing with the world, because WOW! you impart so much useful knowledge its just amazing.
This is great! I'm working on a 1930's style three piece suit. I'm gonna use some Progressive Tailor drafting manuals for the waistcoat and jacket, and it took me so long to figure out how to read their instructions. After over an hour of fiddling with a square and another article I found in there about drafting, I realized: When they say "(fraction) of (measure) on the divisions," the number you actually use will be divided by two beyond what you'd expect from the fraction. Example, if I have a 36" chest and they call for "half of the chest measure on the divisions," you might expect them to mean half of 36, which is 18". But they'd actually mean "Half of 36 on the half measurement system we're using cause you're only drafting half of a symetrical pattern." So functionally, whenever I see "on the divisions," it means I need to divide my measurement by two again. In my example "half of the chest measure on the divisions" means "half of half of the chest measure." So 36 full chest / 2 / 2 = 9 inches. It was really straight forward after I figured that out but super confusing and arcane before that.
This is exactly what I've been looking for!!! Reading these by myself is overwhelming but thank you for going through this, it helps me to have someone explain it to click in my brain
@@lovecats6856 Aww, you're sweet. I was serious though! Historic buildings, warehouses, office buildings, grocery stores, restaurants, one of the smashing pumpkins recording studios! 👍🏼 A garment for myself? 😒 Nope! I might have been scarred for life when I got my belly ring caught on the pencil ledge of a drafting table 😬
Thank you so much for this in-depth look at the drafting process! This is the thought process that 1) will be exactly what I need if/when I ever make the space and time to actually sew and 2) helps me for thinking through the way that this and tangentially related crafts work when designing worlds/characters/etc. Without costube, I'd probably end up only using knitting and crochet for the fabrics and designs in my work.
I always learn sonething from your videos. Idea with doing math before drafting is great, I don't know why I never thought about it. For me the most difficult thing is that I never learnt how to do math in inches, we only learn how to convert from metres to inches and the other way in school. When I use book that has something inches I have to do so much math, because my brain doesn't work that way.
Whenever I have to do something in metric I just re-measure entirely in metric first. Easier than doing any conversions. I have a couple rulers with both and I just try to forget that the numbers "mean" something 😂
@@Hair8Metal8Karen Yeah, lately I've been working on 1895 walking skirt and managed to make it 20 cm too big because the pattern instructions were in inches and I've spaced out while drafting. It was hilarious when I've put it on and it slided to the floor :D But the best part is that I thought I've corrected it, but nope, still 10 cm too big. It took me 3 times to get it to correct fit.
your videos get more interesting by the day, I actually enjoy pattern drafting, but I find these old books always leave some vital informations out, and I get easily overwhelmed
I'm working on making a suit from a 1921-1922 pattern and this has been a huge help with understanding how to measure and all around understand what the heck im doing! thank you so much!
I recently drafted my first pattern block and I love the process. So therapeutic. Thank you for walking through the process. The more I watch the more sense they are making.
I always loved any kind of drafting! I learned basic technical drafting in middle school shop class. I only wish my disabled body allowed me to sit, stand, and lean over for the amounts of time needed to do this kind of stuff! So cool to watch!
Thank you so much. Just the instruction I needed, I'm 6' and have never weighed more than 136 pounds (62 kg) I really needed someone to explain how to draft a pattern to actually fit. For some strange reason commercial patterns only go down to small/slim not "able to hide behind a flag pole". 😊
Another great class!!! I have saved this as I expect to find my dream coat pattern in one of these drafting manuals. The hint of doing all the math first is great. Thanks for the great class and helpful hints to drafting patterns!!
Thank you for showing us the process of drafting! I haven't been able to get patterns to fit since I was in high school. I knew there should be a process for modifying or creating patterns to fit my body. Now I feel ready for the next level!
Thank you for this video. This is exactly what is was looking for. Your explanation was very clear and I'm so happy you included tips on adapting patterns to bodies deviating from the 'standardized' male physique.
You continue to be the only costumer I’ve found that I can watch on sheer proffesionallism and just doing the thing in a way where it doesn’t feel like your sentences are all ended with exclaimation points. You explain thing well and in detail, I get information from your fpvideos rather than just “here’s a fun thing I did!” That eeems to be the standard. Thank you sincerely.
Oh my soul! this video has helped so much! I have been trying to make my pattern for ages and ended up resorting to a modern book, which is way less fun. Now back to the 19th century!
Nicole I would like to thank you for linking the pattern paper you use as I've been trying to figure out what you use as I would like to get some myself and use it. I am shock that a lot of the Sewing Stores like Joanns, Hobby Lobby or some of the Small Own Fabric shops has it either (Missing Hancock Fabrics).
I use a roll-end of newspaper (that doesn't have these dots) that a friend gave me when she found a stockpile of them in the house she and her husband bought, but a lot of wrapping papers have a 1-inch grid on the reverse - and you can get them at a steep discount just after Christmas. If you don't need the grid, you can also use butcher paper or builders' paper. Builders' paper is the sturdy paper builders lay out on the floor so they can traipse through your new house in their muddy workboots without destroying your new floor or permanently embedding grit into the subfloor and risking that it might be enough to affect your finished floor. It's similar to the paper in paper grocery bags and therefore more useful than slick butcher paper. My local Home Depot (a hardware/home improvement store) carries it.
I'm non-binary and my "breast" weight is considered to be kind of "weirdly" distributed even though loads of people have side/back breast weight situations. I REALLY appreciate you talking about it this way. 💖
i appreciate the heck out of this vid, especially the babel link in the description. not going to do the 1 button jacket, but the one right above it in the link. not to mention the quality tutorial as well. gonna make me a summer jacket!
Loved the way you look in this video ❤️ I have watched hundreds of flat drafting videos on UA-cam,and I’ve got to say this is probably the only one where I could see me sewing the garment as it stood out so much to me so thank you very much Nicole a very informative and enjoyable video ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you so much for making this video! I know that you've said before that you often don't get as many views for videos on men's fashion, so I'm really grateful that you're still willing to make them. It means so much to me as a trans man who aspires to sew more historical clothes for myself. I hope you have a lovely day!
Question for the peanut gallery... my bust is 49" and my underbust is 39. This means I often fall into the 2XL plus-size range of ready to wear sizes. Unfortunately, the upper back at the nape of the neck is always too big and bulges out away from my body. So if there is a back zipper it is always moving around and getting stuck in my hair. 🤨 How can I fix this on garments that I already own and modify this on my patterns? So far my solution has been to avoid any style that goes up to my neck in the back. If the back neckline is lower it fits fine. Okay that might have half answered my own question, but I would love to hear how other people might alter a garment or pattern in this area.
If it's loose along the entire width of the shoulders (one big long gap) then you can shorten the entire back/shoulder area. If it's just at the center back you should start by opening up the shoulder seams. Figure out where your back height should stop and then figure out how the shoulders reattach. They won't line up the same angle so pin on the body if you can!
Thank you so much for this video! I have been wanting to try drafting authentic 19th century patterns from diagrams but always felt a little intimidated. With your guidance, I know I can do it.
I find your videos fascinating, though I tend to stick to mending more so than alterations or garment assembly (I do everything by hand, and my hands can take it as much anymore). The adjustments to this particular pattern are quite interesting as I'm fairly stocky, usually men's jackets will fit except the extra inch or three I need in the bust area (wide shoulders, long arms, bit longer torso than usual for a woman, so either I can buy too small in nearly all lengths and fits in widths or fits in those and swimming elsewhere). I've wondered about putting gussets or something in the side seams (not quite but sort of underarm area?) to try for the extra, seems that might not be a perfect solution but might be a starting point. Sorry for the rambling, thank you for the video
Thank you so much for this. I'm just about to start my historical costuming journey (Henrician period, maybe some Elizabethan) and my copies of Tudor Tailor/Queen's Servants get here soon. I imagine the info you gave here will help me make sense of any future patterns! Janet Arnold, Modern Maker or otherwise! Now I feel way less daunted by the task
Can you cover portley body or ones with a gut. All the drafts I found are meant for a straight figure. Trying to think about what style of jacket would flatter a bigger body.
You really do make beautiful videos, filled with really good information! I truly appreciate your content. Sorry I was late this week, my work had me slammed ....
I really appreciate the verbage and intentional word choices! 🤩All too often clothing patterns/fashion is so steeped in gendered language it can be daunting to make and adapt it to yourself. Thank you for 'weight carried differently from what the maker is designing'. It's an excellent, inclusive, catch-all work around! It can be tough making clothes for a body where you don't necessarily identify with all the parts of it, but that doesn't mean your clothes shouldn't fit 🤗
------thank you very much for the very helpful videos for the different parts of the suit. I would have loved a cutting/sewing video for the jacket as well, as the construction seems very complicated to me.
So involved 😵💫 I’m guessing at least with how I learn some of what I’m not getting will make more sense in action when I take the plunge I’m planning to use your breeches video as a guide as I jump into the deep end and combine two patterns together hopefully by then I’ll understand better or I’ll have some help from a more experienced sewist in my area since I’m not good at following pattern instructions yet with my visual impairment as is
Thank you SO much for this video! Besides that it is excellently helpful all round on the technical process of drafting from manuals of this era, thank you specifically for the gender-neutral way of referring to the body - not just because it is a much needed shift away from the gender binary, but because it is also a very much needed shift away from narrow assumptions of how people's bodies are "supposed" to be shaped!
Are you looking forward to the new exhibit at Bata in Toronto? Doll sized shoes... Great video. As always. I'm literally in the process of setting up my studio space. Ever thought about doing a Bernadette-style studio tour of your own? As for my space - let's just say that Tetris is a life skill. I'm a mixed media artist - printing, sculpting (clay & polymer), painting (all three), pastels, coloured pencils, mostly manual woodworking tools, photography (plus the balcony garden and fishing). This past Christmas I got in the mail a 1915 hand-crank Singer 99K. Sigh. All of the equipment for which has to fit into a small 1970's vintage one bedroom apartment. Yeah. Prayers, incense, good thoughts appreciated... Saint Mary Kondo, a lowly maker turns her eye's to you... Because. In all honesty. I need a jacket like this. And the only way that's gonna happen is if I make it myself. Operation Sewing Table begins? - Cathy (&, accidently, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown
Bravo! This was wonderful! I may be in the minority, especially for a self-taught sewist, but I actually prefer to draft patterns flat than drape them. I blame the SCA manuals. Thank you for a wonderful walkthrough!
Thank you SO MUCH, pattern drafting from old manuals is so confusing. I do have one question though about the instructions in some of the manuals: I've had several (while I'm drafting for women's garments) ask for both a bust and a breast measurement, without explaining how to get each or what they are. The bust usually ends up being about 2 inches larger than the breast. What's the difference between these?????
It may be the measure of the full bust vs the measure at the highest arm pit point. I usually figure these things out by seeing where they have me apply the measurements. Manuals often have measuring instructions in the front as well!
@@NicoleRudolph that makes much more sense, thank you so much for replying!!!! and I'm sure that most of them have super detailed measuring instructions, I just seem to have found one of the few that has diagrams but not labels, which is of course super helpful lol
Very educatianel. I just started traying for my self. 1940 style blouse . I'm on the right track just need to practis a lot more. Proble gonna rewatch this a couple more times. Allso love those fitting/a justing sesions you and abby do 🤩💗 love your Chanel
Very interesting! Somehow I've managed to do a lot of similar work on the few drafts I've done as you've done them. I've been trying to draft the patterns for an early 1840s men's ensemble lately, and somehow, *somehow* the vest drafting has given me infinitely more trouble than the pantaloon drafting had! I suspect this is due in no small part to the fact that I don't own a tailor's square from the 1840s, because the vest pattern instructions continually reference "The Standard," and I can't find anything about such a term other than it being demarcations on a tailor's square. I've assembled a mockup for the vest, and while I do still need to put it on over my stays to see how it actually fits, I can feel even without it that the armpits are way too small, and I fear what sort of fit issues it'll have over the stays. All of this together is why it's currently sitting in the naughty bag for bad garments. I'm worried what tortures the coat drafting will cause as well.
Drafting manuals were often systems with their own proprietary set of rulers, so what you’re missing is probably the accompanying tool that’s meant to be used with that specific drafting manual.
@@ragnkja That would certainly make even more sense than simply missing a regular tailor's square, given that the few I've seen haven't had the measurements I expected!
On behalf of every transgender, gender-nonconforming and queer in any way, shape or form person, as well as my non-binary self - T H A N K Y O U for using such gender neutral and non judgemental language, especially since topics of fitting gourmets to non-standard shapes and/or not typically masculine and feminine bodies can be so so triggering and painful, yet you've made it so easy, natural, assumptions free and painless, I know I'm going to come back to this video time and time again and I'm definitely going to recommend it to everyone, but especially to every non-cisgender person I know. Once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so so much.
I’ve started doing my drafts to scale to understand the instructions. But I always have have the problem of my bodice drafts overlapping. I then can’t draft the shoulders and arm opening correctly. 😅
Do you think that you'd be able to get a good result from softwares based on clothing design like Marvelous Designer from fitting a jacket to a digital double of our body? MD has a flat pattern that could be printed..
Thank you so much for this! I've been hoping for someone finally tackling these ancient instruction in depth. After trying it out myself however I found that with my build (chest 43; waist 37 and seat 41 it really gives weird proportions. Especially the shoulder ends up way to narrow. Any opinions on whether I should rather be working with proportional values based off of my chest and then do a fitting, or trying to do the alterations like the broader shoulder/back width while I draft? Greetings chris
Good to know how if i need to. But i dont think i would volenteer to do this. Give me drawn patterns and measurements so i know if i need to add a dart, add a strip for length or rotate out the seems.
Where did you get the instructions? I’d love to be able to draft a basic pattern for my shirts and pants (as well as shoes for the ping pong paddles I hobble around on!)
How can I make this pattern work for larger chest and waist sizes? I tried to follow the directions but the points just don't line up at all. Particularly point 17. It does not fall on the line connecting point 15 to A. It always ends up way to far forward
What I never really understood: when taking length measurements, do you hold the tape straight, or should it curve with the body? I'm guessing it depends on what one wants to do with it. For eg: when there is a "total length" measurement, does one "walk" the curve of the center-back, or does one use a straight line from the top- to the bottom-point? In your case, I'de guess, holding it straight. -Or else the vertical lines wouldn't fit properly, right?
It's very much the same! The proportions will change as there is less ease and the shoulders are more narrow, but the instructions themselves are VERY close. I definitely recommend using one of the many drafting books instead of magazines to start. There are so many great vest drafts in those with great instructions and variations!
A lot of these patterns include terms like "first over" and "second over", and they seem to relate to the arm scye depth plus some neck measurement, any idea what this actually is?
Hello! Do you have any plans for videos or recommendations for videos on the fundamentals of making garments? Like different stitches, tips, etc? I'm enthused by my dads younger years (mid 30s to late 40s where I'm told by my mum he was very fashionable) and want to make my own extremely historically accurate men's clothing from 1938-1940 and don't really know where to start..
I don't really have any experience with sewing men's clothing. Can anyone recommend a source for instructions on how to actually sew this jacket or similar items? I'm not sure what else I would need to make this other than just the fabric, lining, and buttons.
Any good tailoring manual would help if it’s a jacket or vest. Some include pants. I know there are free pdf ones online because I have seen them posted, previously. However, a more modern book may help because they include color pics.
Hmmm. Here I thought I was so smart getting exam table paper for drafting, yet it appears that the paper you have with dots is better. I am a novice, so haven't even tried yet.
Instructor Rudolph dropping knowledge while rocking an extremely fresh look in this one
Here, here!
Seconded.
- Cathy (&, accidently, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown
I teach maths and I have talked to our other maths teachers at school about giving this as an end of year task to our top maths students in year 9 and 10. I know none of them would have done something like this before and they will love the challenge. I even flicked your vlog to our principal (who is a maths teacher as well). I just think this is a brilliant exercise in problem solving. Thank you so much for providing another 'real world example of math'. Cheers
I've actually developed a weird hobby of drawing out old patterns in small-scale (usually 1/8), and when I have time sizing them up to full-size, so this will be quite helpful when trying to draw things that will actually fit!
I think small-scale drafting can be a great way to navigate the more obscure drafting instructions. Figuring out the tricky bits beforehand and also checking if things look about right, before you delve into the human-sized drafting process. Plus, tiny patterns are cute :D
I'm a lurker. I don't make any of the beautiful things you make, but I love watching your videos for the historical tidbits and the random knowledge drops. Your piano intro has become super soothing. ❤️
Thank you for doing a video on drafting! I love when costubers focus on this because drafting and fitting well is essential to making great garments.
The non-gendered way you're describing this stuff is so helpful! I'm working on designing and sewing modern menswear for my transmasc body and this approach to historical drafting is exactly what I needed math-wise and so affirming on the gender front. Thank you!
Oh my god that is why this weird way to say “holding weight“, “mass”
@@olhamukhina7570 Yes and no (I think). To me it sounds simply like a more technical way to look at the data that is relevant. What are the expected measurements and proportions vs. those of the actual person. For example, as someone with a female body I'm having problems with most drafting guides for female clothes because my weight distribution is not what they assume it to be. Talking about where I am "holding weight" means focussing on the important bits for the task at hand without being judgemental about my body. A more abstract way to look at the body - that is also gender-neutral :)
@@craftlete I understand your point, though holding weight in different ways for different people is different from carefully avoiding calling female breasts what they are🤔 or at least one can use comfortable euphemisms if shy. But calling breasts just weight.. well it’s not what that actually is. It’s the question of definition and meaning
@@olhamukhina7570 But it is just weight/distribution when it comes to drafting a pattern.
The definition and meaning of words are ALWAYS context-dependent, not set in stone. This is why there tends to be lot of confusion where, say, science and medical reporting interfaces with non-scientific readers, for example, since the terminology used on one side can mean vastly different things to those on the other, depending on the context and lexicon they're familiar with. And of course, terminology shifts dramatically over time (like Nicole's difficulty figuring out what "high shoulder" and "low shoulder" referred to).
A man could have a very similar amount of weight up front as Nicole (say, a dude with a fleshier power-lifter shape) and obviously still not have "female breasts." Likewise another person could be very muscular across the back with almost no weight across the front and little hip-held weight, and yet still be fully female in terms of their identity, or carry a lot of upper body fat while having small breasts (male or female). If you end up using gendered terminology like "breasts" to identify what is being accounted for or measured, when what you really mean is "full bust" or "upper chest," it just can create more confusion than clarity and result in different people measuring different things depending on how they interpret what is said. The terminology being used here means everyone can reference the exact same terms and get consistent, accurate results, no matter what they may personally call those areas.
tl;dr - specific industries, crafts, disciplines and other sectors have specific terminology that may not be the same as lay terminology for the same things. When it comes to drafting and cutting patterns, weight distribution is the more appropriate terminology for creating accurate results.
@@sonipitts Thank you :D When I wrote my original comment, I couldn't really put into words why focussing on measurements and data without relying on gender-specific terms made sense to me from a logical point of view. Which is why I related it to discribing a body without judgement. But reading your reply I realise that focussing on measurements and the mass distribution around a circumference is useful in a universal way - provided the units are established, of course :D
Pattern drafting always feels like magic to me. I'm always amazed when I plug in my numbers and get a pattern even though I've been doing it for 30 years.
You did a super job on explaining how to customize a draft for a different body than expected. I learned some new things from you.
And that's what I Love about sewing. There's always another iteration of a technique.
My Lockdown thing was teaching myself how to sew from You Tube. After around nine or ten tries I was able to draft my own shell dress for the Foundations Revealed competition. Took most of the year. Thirty years drafting - it definitely is magic.
- Cathy (&, accidently, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown
@@stevezytveld6585 I learned to pattern draft while I was pregnant with my son, I took a semester long class at our junior college. My final project was a maternity dress! Every time I wore it to work, I got complements. Maternity clothes in those days was a bit too cutsy for my job.I ended up making my wardrobe for work.
Is your dog Falcor?! But as someone who has done a fair amount of drafting, it's soooo soothing to watch someone just bust through that math and work getting it done. The comments you made about adjusting menswear for unexpected (to the designers) body shapes was really interesting to pay attention to. It gave me a lot of ways to think about adjusting patterns for my husband, who is barrel-chested, so also doesn't fit patterns well. Love the video -- can't wait to see where you take it from here!
Adjusting for the temporary bust makes more sense. I’ll probably have to rewatch a few times, though, as I’m still a bit fuzzy on when to use the actual bust, or temporary. I find drafting so much more straightforward and logical, now, having watched a pro like yourself do it several times. Thank you for making me feel so much more comfortable and confident in sewing.
people will coo over many vids, and I do as well, but just realized your vids are some of the very few I save to my fiber file, your videos are packed with brilliant info. Thank YOU, for starting a channel and sharing with the world, because WOW! you impart so much useful knowledge its just amazing.
This is great! I'm working on a 1930's style three piece suit. I'm gonna use some Progressive Tailor drafting manuals for the waistcoat and jacket, and it took me so long to figure out how to read their instructions. After over an hour of fiddling with a square and another article I found in there about drafting, I realized:
When they say "(fraction) of (measure) on the divisions," the number you actually use will be divided by two beyond what you'd expect from the fraction. Example, if I have a 36" chest and they call for "half of the chest measure on the divisions," you might expect them to mean half of 36, which is 18". But they'd actually mean "Half of 36 on the half measurement system we're using cause you're only drafting half of a symetrical pattern." So functionally, whenever I see "on the divisions," it means I need to divide my measurement by two again.
In my example "half of the chest measure on the divisions" means "half of half of the chest measure." So 36 full chest / 2 / 2 = 9 inches.
It was really straight forward after I figured that out but super confusing and arcane before that.
This is exactly what I've been looking for!!! Reading these by myself is overwhelming but thank you for going through this, it helps me to have someone explain it to click in my brain
Watching and fascinated because I can draft a building on my feet with a distometer and a laptop, but have never tried to draft a garment for myself
Oh my you are so funny
@@lovecats6856 Aww, you're sweet. I was serious though! Historic buildings, warehouses, office buildings, grocery stores, restaurants, one of the smashing pumpkins recording studios! 👍🏼
A garment for myself? 😒 Nope!
I might have been scarred for life when I got my belly ring caught on the pencil ledge of a drafting table 😬
Thank you so much for this in-depth look at the drafting process! This is the thought process that 1) will be exactly what I need if/when I ever make the space and time to actually sew and 2) helps me for thinking through the way that this and tangentially related crafts work when designing worlds/characters/etc. Without costube, I'd probably end up only using knitting and crochet for the fabrics and designs in my work.
I’m always thrilled for a drafting video. Thanks for what will likely be another great one!
Always great to see someone who knows and loves their craft, and of course, sartorial history.
I always learn sonething from your videos. Idea with doing math before drafting is great, I don't know why I never thought about it. For me the most difficult thing is that I never learnt how to do math in inches, we only learn how to convert from metres to inches and the other way in school. When I use book that has something inches I have to do so much math, because my brain doesn't work that way.
Whenever I have to do something in metric I just re-measure entirely in metric first. Easier than doing any conversions. I have a couple rulers with both and I just try to forget that the numbers "mean" something 😂
@@NicoleRudolph I'm the same with measuring tapes. The worst part is when I start measuring in cm and somehow end up finishing it in inches 😂
@@Noel.Chmielowiec then you only find out when it's too late 😆
At least that's how I've experienced it
@@Hair8Metal8Karen Yeah, lately I've been working on 1895 walking skirt and managed to make it 20 cm too big because the pattern instructions were in inches and I've spaced out while drafting. It was hilarious when I've put it on and it slided to the floor :D But the best part is that I thought I've corrected it, but nope, still 10 cm too big. It took me 3 times to get it to correct fit.
This is perfect! I wanted to get into drafting more (I NEED a waistcoat) and this will be so helpful!
your videos get more interesting by the day, I actually enjoy pattern drafting, but I find these old books always leave some vital informations out, and I get easily overwhelmed
I'm working on making a suit from a 1921-1922 pattern and this has been a huge help with understanding how to measure and all around understand what the heck im doing! thank you so much!
I recently drafted my first pattern block and I love the process. So therapeutic. Thank you for walking through the process. The more I watch the more sense they are making.
Most amazing thought ever...how to measure to the bottom of the armscye in back. It may just solve my biggest ongoing fitting problem.
I always loved any kind of drafting! I learned basic technical drafting in middle school shop class. I only wish my disabled body allowed me to sit, stand, and lean over for the amounts of time needed to do this kind of stuff! So cool to watch!
Thank you so much. Just the instruction I needed, I'm 6' and have never weighed more than 136 pounds (62 kg) I really needed someone to explain how to draft a pattern to actually fit. For some strange reason commercial patterns only go down to small/slim not "able to hide behind a flag pole". 😊
I’m a man, but I love your videos. Greetings from the Netherlands.
Another great class!!! I have saved this as I expect to find my dream coat pattern in one of these drafting manuals. The hint of doing all the math first is great.
Thanks for the great class and helpful hints to drafting patterns!!
This is giving my NB history nerd crafty heart so much life.
Thank you for showing us the process of drafting! I haven't been able to get patterns to fit since I was in high school. I knew there should be a process for modifying or creating patterns to fit my body. Now I feel ready for the next level!
Thank you for this video. This is exactly what is was looking for. Your explanation was very clear and I'm so happy you included tips on adapting patterns to bodies deviating from the 'standardized' male physique.
You continue to be the only costumer I’ve found that I can watch on sheer proffesionallism and just doing the thing in a way where it doesn’t feel like your sentences are all ended with exclaimation points. You explain thing well and in detail, I get information from your fpvideos rather than just “here’s a fun thing I did!” That eeems to be the standard. Thank you sincerely.
Oh my soul! this video has helped so much! I have been trying to make my pattern for ages and ended up resorting to a modern book, which is way less fun. Now back to the 19th century!
Nicole I would like to thank you for linking the pattern paper you use as I've been trying to figure out what you use as I would like to get some myself and use it. I am shock that a lot of the Sewing Stores like Joanns, Hobby Lobby or some of the Small Own Fabric shops has it either (Missing Hancock Fabrics).
I use a roll-end of newspaper (that doesn't have these dots) that a friend gave me when she found a stockpile of them in the house she and her husband bought, but a lot of wrapping papers have a 1-inch grid on the reverse - and you can get them at a steep discount just after Christmas. If you don't need the grid, you can also use butcher paper or builders' paper. Builders' paper is the sturdy paper builders lay out on the floor so they can traipse through your new house in their muddy workboots without destroying your new floor or permanently embedding grit into the subfloor and risking that it might be enough to affect your finished floor. It's similar to the paper in paper grocery bags and therefore more useful than slick butcher paper. My local Home Depot (a hardware/home improvement store) carries it.
I'm non-binary and my "breast" weight is considered to be kind of "weirdly" distributed even though loads of people have side/back breast weight situations. I REALLY appreciate you talking about it this way. 💖
i appreciate the heck out of this vid, especially the babel link in the description. not going to do the 1 button jacket, but the one right above it in the link. not to mention the quality tutorial as well. gonna make me a summer jacket!
Absolutely best tailoring channel on the tubes! 🙌
Loved the way you look in this video ❤️ I have watched hundreds of flat drafting videos on UA-cam,and I’ve got to say this is probably the only one where I could see me sewing the garment as it stood out so much to me so thank you very much Nicole a very informative and enjoyable video ❤️❤️❤️
This video was a dream for me for the previous seven months, thanks you so much !
Thank you so much for making this video! I know that you've said before that you often don't get as many views for videos on men's fashion, so I'm really grateful that you're still willing to make them. It means so much to me as a trans man who aspires to sew more historical clothes for myself. I hope you have a lovely day!
Question for the peanut gallery... my bust is 49" and my underbust is 39. This means I often fall into the 2XL plus-size range of ready to wear sizes. Unfortunately, the upper back at the nape of the neck is always too big and bulges out away from my body. So if there is a back zipper it is always moving around and getting stuck in my hair. 🤨 How can I fix this on garments that I already own and modify this on my patterns?
So far my solution has been to avoid any style that goes up to my neck in the back. If the back neckline is lower it fits fine. Okay that might have half answered my own question, but I would love to hear how other people might alter a garment or pattern in this area.
If it's loose along the entire width of the shoulders (one big long gap) then you can shorten the entire back/shoulder area. If it's just at the center back you should start by opening up the shoulder seams. Figure out where your back height should stop and then figure out how the shoulders reattach. They won't line up the same angle so pin on the body if you can!
Thank you! I read that three times slowly before I could totally visualize, but I've got it and I'm taking a screen shot!
I think this is real magic. I feel like I understand so much more about drafting. Thanks so much Nicole, this is amazing!
Yes, more mesnwear! Thank you, great video :)
The instructions on measuring are really helpful.
Thank you so much for this video! I have been wanting to try drafting authentic 19th century patterns from diagrams but always felt a little intimidated. With your guidance, I know I can do it.
I find your videos fascinating, though I tend to stick to mending more so than alterations or garment assembly (I do everything by hand, and my hands can take it as much anymore). The adjustments to this particular pattern are quite interesting as I'm fairly stocky, usually men's jackets will fit except the extra inch or three I need in the bust area (wide shoulders, long arms, bit longer torso than usual for a woman, so either I can buy too small in nearly all lengths and fits in widths or fits in those and swimming elsewhere). I've wondered about putting gussets or something in the side seams (not quite but sort of underarm area?) to try for the extra, seems that might not be a perfect solution but might be a starting point.
Sorry for the rambling, thank you for the video
What an incredibly stylish channel!
Thank you so much for this. I'm just about to start my historical costuming journey (Henrician period, maybe some Elizabethan) and my copies of Tudor Tailor/Queen's Servants get here soon. I imagine the info you gave here will help me make sense of any future patterns! Janet Arnold, Modern Maker or otherwise! Now I feel way less daunted by the task
Can you cover portley body or ones with a gut. All the drafts I found are meant for a straight figure. Trying to think about what style of jacket would flatter a bigger body.
For the life of me I can’t draft a pattern 😢 Nicole makes it sound doable. How I wish I could sit in a class with her as my instructor
You really do make beautiful videos, filled with really good information! I truly appreciate your content. Sorry I was late this week, my work had me slammed ....
Thanks so much for this video, it definitely helped me with my drafting!
I really appreciate the verbage and intentional word choices! 🤩All too often clothing patterns/fashion is so steeped in gendered language it can be daunting to make and adapt it to yourself. Thank you for 'weight carried differently from what the maker is designing'. It's an excellent, inclusive, catch-all work around! It can be tough making clothes for a body where you don't necessarily identify with all the parts of it, but that doesn't mean your clothes shouldn't fit 🤗
You're so good at explaining this! I would love to see more drafting videos :)
Just bought the grid pattern. After your video I am confident to try it myself. The goal is a simple button down shirt.
Grid pattern paper of course 😊
------thank you very much for the very helpful videos for the different parts of the suit. I would have loved a cutting/sewing video for the jacket as well, as the construction seems very complicated to me.
So involved 😵💫 I’m guessing at least with how I learn some of what I’m not getting will make more sense in action when I take the plunge I’m planning to use your breeches video as a guide as I jump into the deep end and combine two patterns together hopefully by then I’ll understand better or I’ll have some help from a more experienced sewist in my area since I’m not good at following pattern instructions yet with my visual impairment as is
Thank you SO much for this video! Besides that it is excellently helpful all round on the technical process of drafting from manuals of this era, thank you specifically for the gender-neutral way of referring to the body - not just because it is a much needed shift away from the gender binary, but because it is also a very much needed shift away from narrow assumptions of how people's bodies are "supposed" to be shaped!
Are you looking forward to the new exhibit at Bata in Toronto? Doll sized shoes...
Great video. As always. I'm literally in the process of setting up my studio space. Ever thought about doing a Bernadette-style studio tour of your own?
As for my space - let's just say that Tetris is a life skill.
I'm a mixed media artist - printing, sculpting (clay & polymer), painting (all three), pastels, coloured pencils, mostly manual woodworking tools, photography (plus the balcony garden and fishing). This past Christmas I got in the mail a 1915 hand-crank Singer 99K. Sigh. All of the equipment for which has to fit into a small 1970's vintage one bedroom apartment. Yeah. Prayers, incense, good thoughts appreciated... Saint Mary Kondo, a lowly maker turns her eye's to you...
Because. In all honesty. I need a jacket like this. And the only way that's gonna happen is if I make it myself. Operation Sewing Table begins?
- Cathy (&, accidently, Steve), Ottawa/Bytown
Bravo! This was wonderful! I may be in the minority, especially for a self-taught sewist, but I actually prefer to draft patterns flat than drape them. I blame the SCA manuals. Thank you for a wonderful walkthrough!
Your glasses are absolutely incredible and I love them. 😍
Fantastic video, as always. ❤️
Thank you SO MUCH, pattern drafting from old manuals is so confusing. I do have one question though about the instructions in some of the manuals: I've had several (while I'm drafting for women's garments) ask for both a bust and a breast measurement, without explaining how to get each or what they are. The bust usually ends up being about 2 inches larger than the breast. What's the difference between these?????
It may be the measure of the full bust vs the measure at the highest arm pit point. I usually figure these things out by seeing where they have me apply the measurements. Manuals often have measuring instructions in the front as well!
@@NicoleRudolph that makes much more sense, thank you so much for replying!!!! and I'm sure that most of them have super detailed measuring instructions, I just seem to have found one of the few that has diagrams but not labels, which is of course super helpful lol
This video just makes me want to draft my own waistcoat ... I might be planning on doing that now
I can't focused on the numbers. Nicole's glasses are so cool!
I've been really wanting to try and make a men's waistcoat for myself. I will definitely be referencing this when I finally get the nerve to do it!
Very educatianel. I just started traying for my self. 1940 style blouse . I'm on the right track just need to practis a lot more. Proble gonna rewatch this a couple more times. Allso love those fitting/a justing sesions you and abby do 🤩💗 love your Chanel
How do we make that shirt your wearing?
I love those sleeves.
I would love to see a video on how to make this shirt! Especially the collar. I don’t get that. You explain it very well ❤️
Hi love your video! Would you please let know where I can get a tailor book like yours, with step by step instructions
OMG. I've been looking for exactly this tutorial. You read my mind.
Thank you for this incredibly helpful video!
Thank you! Excellent vid on a topic I really want to learn. And thanks for final puppy lounging video.
I’m an apple shaped woman. Finding patterns that fit me is so difficult. Thanks for explaining these measurements.
Ohhhh...I always wanted to do that, but didn't even know, where start.
You made it seem quite doable, though, with your explanationa 👍
Well I'll be damned if I didn't go onto UA-cam because I felt like watching your channel and boom
Very interesting! Somehow I've managed to do a lot of similar work on the few drafts I've done as you've done them.
I've been trying to draft the patterns for an early 1840s men's ensemble lately, and somehow, *somehow* the vest drafting has given me infinitely more trouble than the pantaloon drafting had! I suspect this is due in no small part to the fact that I don't own a tailor's square from the 1840s, because the vest pattern instructions continually reference "The Standard," and I can't find anything about such a term other than it being demarcations on a tailor's square. I've assembled a mockup for the vest, and while I do still need to put it on over my stays to see how it actually fits, I can feel even without it that the armpits are way too small, and I fear what sort of fit issues it'll have over the stays. All of this together is why it's currently sitting in the naughty bag for bad garments. I'm worried what tortures the coat drafting will cause as well.
Drafting manuals were often systems with their own proprietary set of rulers, so what you’re missing is probably the accompanying tool that’s meant to be used with that specific drafting manual.
@@ragnkja That would certainly make even more sense than simply missing a regular tailor's square, given that the few I've seen haven't had the measurements I expected!
On behalf of every transgender, gender-nonconforming and queer in any way, shape or form person, as well as my non-binary self - T H A N K Y O U for using such gender neutral and non judgemental language, especially since topics of fitting gourmets to non-standard shapes and/or not typically masculine and feminine bodies can be so so triggering and painful, yet you've made it so easy, natural, assumptions free and painless, I know I'm going to come back to this video time and time again and I'm definitely going to recommend it to everyone, but especially to every non-cisgender person I know.
Once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so so much.
I like your white shirt at 6:12. Please, where can I find a shirt like that?
I’ve started doing my drafts to scale to understand the instructions. But I always have have the problem of my bodice drafts overlapping. I then can’t draft the shoulders and arm opening correctly. 😅
Do you think that you'd be able to get a good result from softwares based on clothing design like Marvelous Designer from fitting a jacket to a digital double of our body? MD has a flat pattern that could be printed..
my goodness this was so educational. THANK YOU.
where was this video 5 years ago when i drafted my first pattern?
thank you Nicole
Thank you so much for this! I've been hoping for someone finally tackling these ancient instruction in depth. After trying it out myself however I found that with my build (chest 43; waist 37 and seat 41 it really gives weird proportions. Especially the shoulder ends up way to narrow.
Any opinions on whether I should rather be working with proportional values based off of my chest and then do a fitting, or trying to do the alterations like the broader shoulder/back width while I draft?
Greetings chris
Good to know how if i need to. But i dont think i would volenteer to do this. Give me drawn patterns and measurements so i know if i need to add a dart, add a strip for length or rotate out the seems.
Where did you get the instructions? I’d love to be able to draft a basic pattern for my shirts and pants (as well as shoes for the ping pong paddles I hobble around on!)
How can I make this pattern work for larger chest and waist sizes? I tried to follow the directions but the points just don't line up at all. Particularly point 17. It does not fall on the line connecting point 15 to A. It always ends up way to far forward
What I never really understood: when taking length measurements, do you hold the tape straight, or should it curve with the body? I'm guessing it depends on what one wants to do with it. For eg: when there is a "total length" measurement, does one "walk" the curve of the center-back, or does one use a straight line from the top- to the bottom-point?
In your case, I'de guess, holding it straight. -Or else the vertical lines wouldn't fit properly, right?
Please do more menswear! it's so hard to find anyone that makes more masculine styles!
Quick question: Would making a waistcoat/vest be much different in drafting? Probably a silly question but I have a thing for men's vests. :)
It's very much the same! The proportions will change as there is less ease and the shoulders are more narrow, but the instructions themselves are VERY close. I definitely recommend using one of the many drafting books instead of magazines to start. There are so many great vest drafts in those with great instructions and variations!
A lot of these patterns include terms like "first over" and "second over", and they seem to relate to the arm scye depth plus some neck measurement, any idea what this actually is?
Hello! Do you have any plans for videos or recommendations for videos on the fundamentals of making garments? Like different stitches, tips, etc? I'm enthused by my dads younger years (mid 30s to late 40s where I'm told by my mum he was very fashionable) and want to make my own extremely historically accurate men's clothing from 1938-1940 and don't really know where to start..
I initially thought you'd used a Thornton's system, it looks so similar
Some enby appreciation for this here
Really nice! Thank you 😊
I like the subliminal messaging right there in center screen 🧡🖤🧡
Thanks so much ❤️
Thanks for the video.
Very cool 😀
I don't really have any experience with sewing men's clothing. Can anyone recommend a source for instructions on how to actually sew this jacket or similar items? I'm not sure what else I would need to make this other than just the fabric, lining, and buttons.
Any good tailoring manual would help if it’s a jacket or vest. Some include pants. I know there are free pdf ones online because I have seen them posted, previously. However, a more modern book may help because they include color pics.
@@mcomeslast thank you!!
..INCRÍVEL MARAVILHOSA ESPETACULAR
Hmmm. Here I thought I was so smart getting exam table paper for drafting, yet it appears that the paper you have with dots is better. I am a novice, so haven't even tried yet.
It's interesting to me how similar this is to drafting for engineering. You even have the dot paper lol.