Winifred Aldrich has written many books. Mostly on metric pattern cutting, I've used these books at my night course and they are amazing! 5/5! Lots of stars! etc! Her books tell you about the fabrics to use, some tips etc. They are so basic and tell you how to make the pattern step-by step to your own measurements, and she tells you how to take the measurements as well since it's not quite how it appears. I've made all of my items so far from her patterns and they've all come out so well and they fit properly! What is also good about her patterns is that say your making a jacket, it will give you several options for a collar. Each option will have a picture and a complete instruction, there is nothing fussy about these books. If you seriously want to design I am telling you to invest! They are roughly £30.00, well just under like £27? but they are so worth it! They've 100's of things in them and the knowledge that they hold within those pages are worth every penny!The pictures in them are well designed and are designed to inspire, the options are endless and she recommends fabrics to use! This saves beginners lots of time since they can go into a shop knowing what is good and what is not!
As I said before I give this book 5/5 and completely recommend it. It's been printing since 1985 for a reason!
The best place to look for these books is Amazon.
I like the Metric Pattern-cutting books too. I currently have only the women's wear one, but the children's wear one is next on my list.
ReplyDeleteI have drafted myself the close-fitting bodice. I like her system because it is easier than the American one, and the sleeves and armholes are a better shape.
I recently redrafted the sleeve cap so that it has no ease, which is better for matching plaids. I haven't tested the fit yet, but if you want to try it, you just don't add the 1cm in steps 5-7 and 7-9. Apparently, it's better not to have sleeve ease. You can Google about it and see that many people want to draft sleeves without ease, or adapt their patterns to have less ease in the sleeve cap.
My other pattern making book is the Pattern-making for Fashion Design, 5th Ed. but I have read from a reliable source that Pattern-making Made Easy is better.