Hi Everyone! Let's talk about - Creating unique looks with pattern hacks!
Throughout this 4 part topic, we will cover a variety was to hack your patterns! There are so many ways to mix things up and create unique designs. You can combine pieces from different patterns, I call this one a "mash-up", or tweak an existing piece to add a new design element (this is a traditional hack), or lengthen part of the design (a simple hack), and so much more! I'm really excited about this opportunity to go deep into this topic!
I'll be demonstrating these methods while sewing a variety of Liberty Jane designs to help illustrate how the basic techniques and methods are used. Follow along to understand my thought process, it may seem unconventional, but that's what makes it fun!
There are so many things you can do once you take the fear out of "pattern hacking". It's going to be a fun course!
Are you ready? Let's go...
Watch the overview video for this months topic:
Then, Jump over to the SWC Facebook group to give me some design plan challenges!
Here's a video that was also part of the Sewing Specialty Fabrics course, in this one I show a bit of the process for creating matching dance costumes for my daughter. This is how it all started for me. Once people saw these scaled down miniature versions of the designs I was being asked all the time to recreate things as custom orders. I love to do this, I am constantly flipping garments inside out at the store or collecting images of new fashions to scale down and recreate.
Patterns Used For this Topic (this week):
Liberty Jane T-shirt
Liberty Jane Swimsuit
Next week: Starlight Gala & Blossom
Week One task:
- Watch the videos. Follow along as I explain my process for creating matching garments or scaled down "Fashion in Miniature".
- Collect your own wishlist of design ideas. Share one with me in the Facebook group under the Design Challenge Post. I'll be selecting a few to create design plans for using the pattern hack method.
- I'd love to see your pattern hacks if you've done some or try one out for this new topic!
- Jump over the SWC Facebook Group for conversation and project sharing.
Next Tuesday - Part 2: We'll do some pattern hacking with the Blossom Dress and Starlight Gala Dress patterns.
Interested in more pattern hacks? We have a whole blog dedicated to them on Pixie Faire. Here are a few links to some of my favorite:
2 Comments
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Genine
March 06, 2019
I grew up not knowing that there was any other way to sew than pattern hacking. My mum had a huge chest of drawers full of vintage patterns of all ages and styles. She grew up in WW2 so she didn’t believe in spending money if you didn’t have to – apart from buying fabric. There was always lots of fabric in our house! So, as a pre-teen and teenager, if I wanted any modern clothes then mum and I would look at the photo together and work out the basic styles of each part. Then we would go and rummage in the pattern drawers. Often I would make a 1970s blouse by using the bodice from a 1940s dress and a sleeve from a 1930s pajama top, plus a little bit of pattern drafting to make one of those big 1970s collars. It always worked out OK in the end. I felt more than a little disappointment when I bought my very own first sewing pattern from the fabric store with some birthday money. The design was all done for me, so no challenge there, all I had to do was compare my measurements and then cut out my fabric. I felt quite let down by it all. So I learned to design my own patterns and did a correspondence course in pattern drafting.