That $30 pattern drafting book is way too basic for real design work

Saw someone in a sewing group recommending a pattern drafting book that costs $30 and claims to teach you everything. I flipped through a copy at a shop in Austin last weekend and it was just straight lines for basic shirts and skirts. No info on darts, curves, or working with stretch fabrics. Am I the only one who thinks beginners deserve something more detailed from the start?

3 comments

3 Comments

felix_lane992d agoTop Commenter

Hang on, a $30 book that skips darts entirely? @lilykelly is right, that's like selling a cake recipe that leaves out the eggs and flour. I get that beginners need something to start with, but leaving out the core of how fabric actually fits a body seems like a huge rip-off. Straight lines for shirts and skirts is something you can find in a free YouTube tutorial, not something you pay thirty bucks for. That book should be called 'Pattern Drafting for Cardboard People' or something.

dakotawood3d ago

Blooooow my mind that anyone would drop $30 on a book that doesn't even cover darts. That's like teaching someone to cook and only showing them how to boil water. Straight lines for shirts and skirts is fine for a 10 dollar beginner pamphlet, but not for something that claims to be the whole deal. If you're gonna teach pattern drafting, you gotta at least explain how to shape fabric to fit a body, curves and all. Stretch fabrics are a whole different animal, skipping that is a huge miss. Beginners deserve better than that half baked stuff.

lilykelly3d ago

Back you up on this, @dakotawood - skipping darts is like teaching someone to draw and only showing them stick figures. Darts are the whole reason patterns actually fit a human body (you know, curves and all). A $30 book that dodges that is basically charging full price for half the work.