Date: 3/7/06 9:55 PM

Another wonderful article by Sarah Jacobs.

Click here to read the article

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- Deepika
Founder, PatternReview.com
Blog: http://www.deepikablogs.com

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Date: 3/7/06 10:21 PM

Great article and mindset. Thanks!

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Date: 3/7/06 10:31 PM

You're right, D. It's a wonderful article. Sure enough, those commercial patterns we all collect have made us overly dependent on them. I don't plan to stop collecting, of course, but I love reading a reminder of how I used to sew, way back before I knew "The Rules". I used to spend my meager allowance on patterns - the cheap ones. The 75 cent patterns were way more than I could afford, so I stuck with the 35-50 cent ones and learned modify them to copy those clothes I saw in Ingenue magazine. (Anyone else want to confess to being old enough to remember that competitor to Seventeen magazine?)

Thanks for the reminder, Sarah, that I possess some skills I haven't used for a long time. Which reminds me...what is this "cooking" activity you mentioned? ;)

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“Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.” -Robert Heinlein and Ann's father. Thanks for the reminder, Ann.

Where are we going, and what am I doing in this handbasket?

Matthew 25:40 (New International Version)
The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

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Date: 3/7/06 10:55 PM

Great job and article, Sarah. A lot of the sewing in my family was done that way. My Aunt Loralee made a robe for me one time by taking some table knives, laying them out on the fabric in a loose pattern shape and cut away. Before I knew it, I had a ruffled robe!

A good place for a novice non-pattern sewer to start might be some variation on a bog coat.

Karla, I not only remember Ingenue, I went on one of their tours of Europe when I was 15. (and had my pictures in the magazine as a result) ETA: I made most of the clothes I took on that trip, too.


-- Edited on 3/7/06 10:57 PM --

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Mary Lynn (Who's finally sitting up and taking nourishment)

Design Degree??? I prefer my artistic license

"A woman who works with her hands is a laborer; a woman who works with her hands and her mind is a craftsman; but a woman who works with her hands and her brain and her heart is an artist." (St. Thomas Aquinas, modified)

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Date: 3/7/06 11:03 PM

I loved the skirts class I took from PR last August. Shannon did a great job teaching how to change one basic skirt into many different skirts. My grandmother used to make all my mother's and aunt's and uncle's clothes. Even their underwear! My mom said she never needed a pattern. AMAZING! I wish I had the know how!

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Date: 3/7/06 11:04 PM

On the subject of cooking, Karla I actually tried Sarah's Quick Cheap Cake and it was yummy! Ok ok I know we are going a little off topic here, but I just want to say that even though I rarely use recipes while cooking, King Arthur Flour's baking companion book is based on the same principle as this article. Basically just learn to make a sloper or a basic cake and then add on your flavorings to make different types of cakes or in this case garments. Excellent article.

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- Deepika
Founder, PatternReview.com
Blog: http://www.deepikablogs.com

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Date: 3/8/06 0:10 AM

That was a very interesting article. I guess she's saying that patterns are to sewing what hamburger helper is to cooking. And I, of course, would never, ever use hamburger helper. I do use recipes most of the time, but I alter them to suit my taste or to accommodate what's in or not in the pantry. I'm not sure I'm brave enough to make complex garments without patterns, but I'm sure I get think beyond the pattern more than I do.

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Susan
Proud member of the vast sewing conspiracy

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Date: 3/8/06 1:44 AM

This is a great article!

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Date: 3/8/06 7:16 AM

I really enjoyed Sarah's article. I already do some of the things she mentions -- both in cooking and sewing -- but when I start to experiment with sewing it's never quick or cheap. But it is always fun.

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"I base my fashion sense on what doesn't itch." — Gilda Radner
http://stitchesandseams.blogspot.com

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Date: 3/8/06 7:26 AM

So glad that this article is getting folks to think. As a side note, I know that there were ( are?) schools in the Carribean that taught garment making without a pattern. The mothers and aunts of some of my friends went to these schools. Unfortunately I have not yet been able to talk to someone who actually studied in such a place.

Would folks here be willing to ask the Carribean born folks in their lives if they know more about those methods of garment design? My husband's mother (eastern European born and a garment worker here in New York early in the last century) made garments this way but passed on NONE of her knowledge on to her daughter.

Learning this method from a skilled practitioner is my Holy Grail.

Deepika - isn't there a problem in math whose solution died with the man who figured it out???? that's what this method of sewing is for me. I'm trying to recreate it with my not so terrific tailoring skills. ( it is always good to have a problem simmering on a back burner)

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sarah in nyc
www.sewnewyork.blogspot.com

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