Introducing Project 009—Fitted Woven Skirts
In our next project, we'll be drafting a basic skirt block and making a few design variations.
Welcome to Sewing With Numbers, a newsletter about sewing, math, design and how to draft your own sewing patterns. Through simple pattern drafting exercises, I'll show you how fun, useful and empowering math can be. ✂️ Posts older than 3 months are archived for paid subscribers. But if subscriptions aren’t your thing, I also have PDF Booklets for older projects in my shop.
Hello my mathy sewing friends! I hope that you're doing well. I took off last week to have a break between projects and catch up on things. We had a holiday weekend in the US and it was a busy one for me! The weather was beautiful in Seattle so I spent a lot of time in the yard, went to a folk music festival and saw two movies at the local film festival. And then this week I went to a baseball game! It's been a lot of fun and I'm ready to dive into the summer season.
(By the way, I highly recommend going to film festivals, especially if there's one in your area. You get to see really unique films that you may never get to see elsewhere, while also supporting your local community and independent artists. Often the film makers are at the screenings and you get to ask questions. It’s a pretty cool experience.)
One last thing before we jump into today’s post, the pdf manual for Project 006—Winter Hats is now live in my shop. The posts in this series are now behind the paywall for paid subscribers. The booklet includes everything from the original series PLUS information from older projects that is applicable. For example, Winter Hats includes the section on drafting with stretch fabric from Project 005. Click here to check it out and buy!
Ok, on to the pattern drafting! Our next project is going to be for a basic woven skirt that is fitted with darts. This is the block that is in the first chapter of every pattern making book. (Which makes me think this should have been our first project but I go where inspiration strikes! :P ) The woven skirt block will make a straight pencil skirt as well as lots of design variations. For this project, I'll show how to draft three different skirts, based on the skirt block. If you wear skirts, it's a great block to have in your collection.
Drafting Reference
Drafting the skirt block is done pretty much the same way in every reference book. I'm going to be mainly using How to Make Sewing Patterns by Donald H. McCunn. I also used this book for Projects 3 and 4 to make a peasant style block and a tunic block. I really like how simple the instructions are in this book and how well the diagrams are labeled. Other books will just label the points of the diagrams with letters but I like that McCunn labels with body part.
Another reason I recommend the McCunn book is because it has instructions for fitting that are approachable and more personalized than other books. Other books are more for a standard model, fashion industry. I am not going to be going into how to fit the skirt block. So, if you want more help with fitting, I recommend finding a copy of the McCunn book either at the library, used or new. Here is my affiliate link for bookshop.org. I currently see a lot of used copies online for $10-20.
One more reference for you that is here on Substack! If you're not following already, I recommend checking out The Sewing Lounge. They also write about pattern drafting and have drafting books for purchase. They recently wrote a piece about how in their book they are sharing two different methods for drafting a skirt block, because one method works better from some people. Link below.
What to expect next
I don’t have a full/fixed calendar to share but I have a general plan. First, I’m going to try to post on Fridays going forward. It will be a little treat for your inbox before the weekend.
We’ll start this series by drafting the skirt pattern block. If the post is not too long, it will also include the draft for Part 1, the Classic Pencil Skirt. Next, I’ll show how to take the skirt block to make an A-line skirt with cut away pockets. The method of drafting cut away pockets can be used on pants and can be rounded or angled. In part 3, I’ll share how to draft a wrap skirt using the woven skirt block. And finally, I will probably share a few more design variation ideas and my own personal project.
I hope that you enjoy this series. There are lots of ways to support this free content. You can tap the "heart" at the top or bottom, share or “restack” the post to help other people find it. Become a paid subscriber or, visit one of the links below.
Sewing With Numbers Drafting Manuals are now available for purchase
Pattern Shop | Improv Quilting E-Course | Ko-Fi | YouTube
Happy mathing!
Beth
I'm not usually one for wearing skirts, but maybe this project will be the start of a fabulous new style for me. This block is just what I need to learn!