A Series on Drafting

Well, it's been a while since the last sighting of cardboard on this blog, hasn't it? We've been outside so much these warm summer days that my glue gun is in temporary retirement, till maybe winter. My apologies to those of you who visit with hopes of scoring crafts to do with your kids and instead find nothing but sewing, sewing, sewing and whining about sewing. I'm afraid it's going to get worse:

COMING THIS SUMMER:

I am ridiculously excited to be finally doing a series on drafting here on the blog! I've always wanted to share this, but hadn't felt comfortable also sharing its inexactness. I was lucky enough to be forced to learn this in Homec. It was a good, if painful, start. However, most of my real learning was from mum as a teenager and, later in my adult life, from Auntie Laura. Both have drafted from scratch for years (learnt, in turn, from grandma, who was a tailor), and those years of experience have given them such skill in free-hand drafting that they do it "by feel". I am less of a "by feel" person with drafting - I blame my Science training - I've always felt I needed more precise, objective methods of measuring and drawing. I mean, where mum/Auntie L. would effortlessly sketch a perfect armscye freehand, I would whimper, "Can I use compasses? Protractor?" which was always met with a mixture of scorn and pity. Incidentally, we did have french curves in the house, but I wasn't even capable of using those.

Also, while I did a lot of drafting as a teenager and all through my early twenties, I took a decade's break from it while I was in the workforce. By the time I'd retired from my job (hurrah!) to have my babies and was ready to resume sewing, I could hardly remember all the little tips and tricks that I'd learnt as a younger person. Yes, I had access to books but books can only give one the very basics and none of the practical three-dimensional experience (let alone tricks) that make all the difference in doing it really well. It was frustrating to actually know how to do it and remember that I was once good-ish at it, and yet, 10+ years later, produce hideous, hideous drafts time after time. Those were dark days. Very dark days.

So I waited till I could spend some time with mum and Auntie L. in Singapore to refresh my memory and learn a lot of new old stuff. Then I drafted slopers for everyone who was unfortunate enough to be within grabbing distance - and made a lot of patterns from my own sloper and sewed them up. And started to document the process. Happily, with each experimental draft, especially the awful ones, the fog cleared a little more. It wasn't so much getting the answers - it was elucidating the right questions to ask. "What am I doing wrong?" became the most valuable pathway to getting a better fit. Re-exploring old territory with a new map was ridiculously exciting.

But what's even more ridiculously exciting is that I am teaming up with my very oldest friend Jen from My Measuring Tape to do this series! She is a TAILOR. We went to school together, studied under the same homec curriculum, sewed all through our teenage/adult years, and swore to be each other's maids of honor at our weddings. Someday, when our kids are old enough to be left behind, we are going to fly off to Japan/the world and fabric-shop by ourselves, like the repressed maniacs that we are. She runs a sewing business, in which she tailors clothes for people (not to mention herself, the husband, the daughter.......) And when I say clothes, here's what I mean:

I cannot count the number of times I've gone to her for advice - sewing and other kinds. Or the late-night emails (late night for me, early morning for her) we've exchanged about life, daughters and drafting issues -how to draft for unusually-shaped bodies, how to shape darts, where and when to add ease. There is no other sewing peer in my generation that I hold in higher esteem than her. I am relieved, proud, excited (said that already) to have her do this series with me. You are in good hands with her!So here's the plan: This will not be one of those beautifully-photographed fortnights of inspirational features of things you can whip up with fabric from your stash. Hey, it might not even involve fabric! It could be a little technical for those of you less familiar with drafting slopers and patterns. But so many people have written to ask me about this topic that I thought I might finally do it! We're going to spread it out over about two months to give everyone time to digest everything (and us time to take the hundreds of photos). Here's what we're thinking of:

• An overview of drafting (as we learnt it and now do it)
• How to draft an full-body sloper for a child, including the sleeve block
• How to use the sloper with commercial patterns to (ideally) make those patterns fit your child better
• How to use the sloper to make your own patterns
• How to draft different kinds of sleeves
• How to draft different kinds of necklines

and a little fun feature at the end on 25 (and counting!) different pockets, including patch, welt, zippered welt, inseam and inset/cut-in pockets.

Ah, I hear you asking already: Why not slopers for adults? Let's just say that we'll try kids' slopers first, and see how all that goes down for everyone, before diving into darts and pleats and tucks and princess seams.

So if you've ever wanted to try making your own patterns, or have heard about slopers, follow along with us! We don't promise to take the place of a proper dressmakers' class - we're just sharing what we do, and we hope you enjoy it. Are you as ridiculously excited as we are? Grab our button for your blog, spread the word and come visit us this summer!

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