A Bit of Mail

A couple weeks ago I got my first bit of blog mail!  It was actually an e.mail above is a just a photo of a letter from a Penpal (yep I still penpal with handwritten letters).
Very exciting and full of Questions that I thought you would all like to hear the answers now that I have a little bit of free time between projects.

The message is as follows

"This morning I found your site off the links page on galadarling.  As I was browsing through your posts, I noticed that you don't seem to ever use patterns.  Did you just wake up one day and not use them?  Did you ween yourself off of them?  Did someone teach you how to write your own?  I would love to be able to make beautiful clothes without using patterns, but I'm too intimidated to start.  Your blog makes me want to jump up and sew stuff though.  It's very anti-time wasting. 

Thanks-Meli"

My Response

Hello Meli!

    Thank you very much for the interest and I am happy to know that my blog is not for nothing and is an insight for people somewhere out there.

I actually do use patterns a lot but it is more of an after step.  Majority of my work is done with draping and then I use the piece to make a pattern with afterward, if I decide I want to sell it and need to do production.   I learned pattern making skills in College at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago but have since refined them.  I also learned about grading and production patterns while I interned with Gary Graham in NYC.  A lot of the time for simple shapes I don't need to use patterns because they have been ingrained into my head from years of using them and teaching pattern drafting at Columbus College of Art and Design as a Continuing Education Instructor.

Don't be scared to just jump in with fabrics and see what you come out with.  A good way to get to know patterns without having to depend on them all the time is by taking apart old clothes or cheap forever 21 outfits.  In the process you will also learn about the inner workings like facing, linings, and finishing, etc etc.  It's a little trick I have all my students do before they get into the pattern process and I have them keep the deconstructed pieces until the end of class so I always have something to reference back to when they have questions or can't quite picture how everything fits together.

Good Luck with Everything!
Cheers!

~Esther

If anyone has questions please feel free to post them and I'd be happy to answer them to the best of my knowledge.