Fashion-era home

Fashion-era RSS  RSS Feed

°

For superb Victorian or Edwardian
re-enactment costumes in USA, try the reproduction costume range at:
  Recollections for Victorian and Edwardian costumes recollections.biz

 Pattern Drafting

Hand Drafting A Skirt Block Page 1

 Introduction

By Pauline Weston Thomas for Fashion-Era.com

 

Pattern Drafting a Skirt Block

Free Skirt Block Draft - The Basics

Why Hand Draft a Basic Skirt Block?

There are many pattern drafting software products on the market, but you are probably reading this because you don't want to buy fashion pattern drafting software or use a computer to produce a dressmaking pattern.

Flat pattern drafting by hand is a useful skill to have if you like dressmaking and getting a good fit on garments.  I now mainly use my knowledge to assist me with adaptations of bought patterns where I just want to alter a particular aspect of a style on the few occasions that I now sew since computing has taken over as my main hobby!!! 

Blocks are also known as slopers and drafting a basic skirt block by hand is something I do in about 15 minutes. The less experienced will take about 35 to 60 minutes until they become familiar with the method.  Some will take longer, others less and it can be a very satisfying experience for those who like to feel they don't have to use computer software for such a simple concept.  The actual pattern drafting should not take more than 1 hour even for a beginner, particularly with the stage drawings I provide here.  Provided you have already taken the body measurements of yourself or the person who will have the block you will soon get the task complete.

Printing These Skirt Block Webpage Images

You will see every web page here clearly deals with a different stage or stages of the skirt pattern draft and you can simply print off individual enlarged stage pictures of the sloper by clicking the on screen thumbnail images for an image version that will print without the web page side bars.

The basic or standard block here creates a straight block which is generally perfect for the current fashion skirt called a pencil skirt.  It can be adapted into many styles and even tapered in a bit more according to fashion, but most people love the basic fit of this sloper skirt to their body.

You can use my simple chart here to draft skirt blocks in sizes 10 to 28, but better still take the time to measure yourself with a tape measure and use your own measurements.  The guide below will then alert you if your measurements are wildly out as you compare your records to the nearest stock size. The draft is best done in centimetres as they are easier to divide than inches during the pattern drafting exercise.  Don't be alarmed at seeing parts of your body measure over 100 cm ....

  Insert Your Personal Measurements Typical Measurements UK Size 10 - 28 in Centimetres
    Chum 1 Chum 2 Chum 3 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
Waist         61 66 71 76 81 86 91 96 101 106
Hip         89 93 97 102 107 112 117 122 127 132
Length To Knee         25 26 27 28 29 31 33 35 37 39
Approx Knee Vary with fashion, but larger sizes may need extra length to accommodate rise because of abdomen/bottom.
At various stages pattern drafts need to have built in ease. This is a standard allowance for ease of movement and is generally the same for all sizes at various measurement points.  When manufacturers produce a trade block they adjust the ease to the fashion garment type their company is making for a specific clientele from Miss SlimLine to Miss PlusSize.
Ease to Hip 5cm 5cm 5cm 5cm 5cm 5cm 5cm 5cm 5cm 5cm 5cm 5cm    
Ease to Waist 3cm 3cm 3cm 3cm 3cm 3cm 3cm 3cm 3cm 3cm 3cm 3cm    
                             

Click this tiny thumbnail

to enlarge and then to print out this chart without the web page side bars.

The basic skirt block can later be adapted into a variety of styles and more variations can be created. I'll be dealing with how to split, slash and spread the skirt block later on.  Yes this can be done with computer software, but maybe you want to learn how to do this just for the sake of it.

 Θ

To Top of Page  To Next Page

For more information on Skirt Pattern Drafts go to:-

 *

Picture and Text Stages of
Skirt Pattern Drafting with Pictures

Fabrics

  • Funny Picture of Skirts

 

Google
Web fashion-era.com

About Fashion-Era.com

Fashion-Era.com looks at women's costume and fashion history and analyses the mood of an era.  Changes in technology, leisure, work, cultural and moral values. Homelife and politics also contribute to lifestyle trends, which in turn influence the clothes we wear.  These are the changes that make any era of society special in relation to the study of the costume of a period.Fashion History

Fashion-Era.com can take no responsibility for any information on the site which may cause you error, loss or costs incurred from use of the information and links either directly or indirectly.  This site is owned, designed, written and developed by Pauline Weston Thomas and Guy Thomas.  This site is designed to be viewed in 1024 X 768 or higher.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  Fashion-era.com reserves the right to add or delete information, graphics and links.  Copyright © 2001-2008 on all content, text and images in Fashion-Era.com.  Images and text in this website may not be used on other websites.

Before you write to me for costume/fashion help or information please, please consult the extensive sitemap which lists all our pages.   If you still cannot find the answer after searching the site, then before you email me, please consider if you are prepared to make a donation to the website.

Donations
Reader's donations help this site flourish, in particular donations encourage me to write more articles on fashion history as well as current trends.  PayPal allows anyone with a credit card to donate easily and securely. You may donate any sum you feel appropriate.

If you have any comments, or if you see any broken links, then please email with details of the page url or problem