Replies

1. 
   Nancy_Wertzberger | Jul 02, 1999 06:20pm | #1

   *
   Just checking in! I'm ready to make my second muslin. Just wish it wasn't so humid here --my pattern paper is about to melt!
   BTW, Carol, what brand of tracing paper do you use. I can see the imprint of the tracing wheel on the fabric better than the line it supposedly made.

1. 
   Nedra_Vick | Jul 02, 1999 06:49pm | #2

   *Thank heavens I found you! I was about to have complete mental collapse -- LOL! Man, you don't realize how addicted you are until you have to do without your cyber friends & messages. So now, what have I missed? Nancy, good for you on your muslin! Where's Martha & everyone else?? Nedra

1. 
   Nancy_Wertzberger | Jul 02, 1999 08:01pm | #3

   *Nedra, If you haven't already found it, check out the discussion under Patterns - Sewing world.

1. 
   Judy_Beaton | Jul 07, 1999 06:44pm | #4

   *I'm wandering around in this part of cyberspace looking for the thread where you were talking about Sewing World. There was conversation about the Minott Method. There were notes back and forth with Sean Messenger. I also downloaded the Word Perfect file successfully from it. Where the heck was that thread?Under what section can I find it? I have used "Search" and still can't find it. What's the matter with me anyway?

1. 
   Ginna | Jul 07, 1999 07:23pm | #5

   *Judy -There should be a topic with Sewing World in the heading on the main Gatherings page. Sewing World has come back up and most of us have returned to it. As you can see we still check out Gatherings also. HTH.

2. 
   april_funcke | Jul 10, 1999 01:26am | #6

   *I'm just tuning in on this discussion. What is the Minott method??

3. 
   Ginna | Jul 11, 1999 10:31am | #7

   *April - It seems to be a method of determining how to alter a specific pattern company's patterns to fit you. You start with your measurements and a fitting pattern for the company. To learn more about this go to:http://www.sewingworld.comRegister, then go to the folder for Patterns & Fitting. In the folder is a discussion of the Minott method. Robbie Fanning, a sewing author, recommended the Minott book on pants on an email list I am on.I have not used this method yet but am seriously considering investing in the books needed to do so.

4. 
   thimble_ | Jul 20, 1999 09:37pm | #8

   *dear friends....About pattern drafting...I am a cutter, an old fashioned tailor's cutter, who cuts patterns for individual clients based on their anatomical disposition. I am trained through German and English methods of pattern cutting. Over the past 8 years I have studied the anatomical approach to pattern drafting and have come to the conclusion that unless you first understand a person's figure you will never be able to fit them. Secondly regardless of method used a pattern must be fit on muslin, maybe more than once to achieve the correct fit. And the correct fit is something that only an experienced eye can see. I think Pattern Drafting is by far the most complicated area of study in fashion, and it is not something that can be done accurately on a computer( not for individual sizes anyway, not without the testing of a muslin etc.) I am not familiar with the Minnot method, but I am skeptical of any system that claims perfect results, none of us are perfect so how can a pattern be. I reccomend reading books on pattern drafting from the 30's to the 60's. The tailor and cutter, meuller and sohn and the american mitchell system are the best I have come across, and even their drafts require muslin fittings.I found that to get good results you should stick to one type of drafting method, and draft, draft draft. make basic muslins for all your friends, just to see how each figure has to be fit in a certain way, this will show you how to use pattern guidelines and ease to your advantage. I think it is crucial to have a journal of your findings...for your benefit and every one else's. Personally I am disgusted with the world of fashion today, and it's poorly designed garments. I think that it is up to us that are still interested in the fine art of sewing to pass our skills on from this generation to the next. I will be writing a series of books in the next two years on pattern drafting. Concentrating mostly on personal fittings and understanding of pattern technology( ie why the the position of the shoulder neck point is the single most crucial point on a garment.etc...!)well enough said talk to you all soon....happy sewing!

5. 
   Martha_McKeon | Jul 20, 1999 11:47pm | #9

   *Thimble - thanks so much for sharing your expertise with us! I will look forward to reading your books when they come out.

6. 
   Ann-Mari | Jul 22, 1999 12:36pm | #10

   *Thimble: Are you C. Glazer? I'm very impressed by your offerings--your suggestion for hemming shirt-tails has saved me pulling my hair out! That paragraph on Minott etc. is worth its weight in gold. Keep coming in Gatherings, in ANY category. We all can always add to our "hints" list and change some of our ways. All old rules for sure are not set in stone.

7. 
   thimble_ | Jul 23, 1999 10:29pm | #11

   *DEAR ANN-MARI,thank you for your kind words....I am not C. Glazer ...sorry!thimble!

8. 
   carol_broscheid | Jul 24, 1999 04:52pm | #12

   *I am very satisfied with the results obtained from using Jan Minott's method. If anyone would like to learn more please join us at Sewing World, we're under "patterns, fitting, alterations."

9. 
   Heidi_Jung | Apr 17, 2000 12:13pm | #13

   *Dear Thimble,please let me know when your books are finished. I'm drafting after Mueller & Son.And find it very good too. In pants they have a lot of variations. But like you said, the difficulty is to get an eye for the parts, which don't fit and WHY. Here a book about personal fittings and understanding of pattern technology will be very helpfull for me because I'm autodidact and learning much from books. (Only the drafting I did in a fashion school).Yours Heidi

10. 
    Sandra_M._Brown | Oct 14, 2000 01:40am | #14

    *Hi, Thimble. I was skimming through some old messages and happened to see your wonderfully insightful information on drafting patterns. I hope you know how invaluable your information is. I am echoing some of the others when I say that I cannot wait to see your book. Please be sure to let us know as much in advance as you can.I have come to understand very well how important fit is when trying to design a garment from scratch or when trying to alter a ready-made pattern. Last spring, I enrolled at FIT and started working toward a certificate in ladies tailoring techniques. I was supposed to be there this semester but my section got cancelled and the other section already had an overflow by the time I found out. In the meantime, my thinking has evolved such that I think learning to create a pattern is more valuable to me right now, although I definitely learned a lot from the first course in the series. To that end, I have decided to take a draping class at Parsons in January (only switching to Parsons because for me, as an out-of-state student, it is a little cheaper than FIT) and follow with the advanced draping class. I would also like to take the flat patternmaking classes later on. Do you have an opinion on studying draping v. flat patternmaking, or taking one before the other?