UserManual:Introduction: Difference between revisions

← Older edit Newer edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 Currently, there is a lack of affordable software tools for creating patterns. Some people resort to using CAD tools or graphical editors designed for other purposes. These tools are inadequate when performing certain pattern making tasks (e.g. adding seam allowance, truing a dart, walking a seam). These programs can create a pattern in a single size, but when you want to make the pattern for a specific person then you must re-create the pattern from scratch. Also, making changes to the design of the pattern is difficult and time consuming. This is where traditional methods of pattern drafting can be very useful. Why can't you tell a program how to change the pattern so you don't need to do it ever again?
-== Why use the traditional method? == <!--T:8-->
+== What is Pattern Making? == <!--T:8-->
-'''Pattern drafting''' is a system of pattern making where the lengths and positions of the pattern lines are calculated using mathematical formulas. These formulas depend on a set of body measurements either from a standard size or an individual's measurements. The better the formulas, the better the fit of the resulting garment.
+'''Pattern Making''' or '''Pattern drafting''' is a system of pattern making where the lengths and positions of the pattern lines are calculated using mathematical formulas. These formulas depend on a set of body measurements either from a standard size or an individual's measurements. The better the formulas, the better the fit of the resulting garment.
 <!--T:9-->
-Contemporary pattern makers rarely use drafting methods because they find it inefficient to start each paper pattern from scratch. Instead, they use existing patterns, called "blocks", as a starting point to create new styles. They modify the blocks using '''flat pattern making''' techniques. These techniques consist of cutting the pattern and manipulating the pieces to relocate darts, add fullness or shape the pattern to fit the hollows of the human body (i.e. contouring). A pattern created with these techniques still fits the standard figure or the individual's body for which the original block was created. However, paper patterns and CAD patterns do not adjust to a different set of measurements.
+Contemporary pattern makers use drafting methods to create basic simple pattern shapes, called "blocks". They use a block as a base to create new styles. They modify the blocks using '''flat pattern making''' techniques. These techniques consist of cutting sections of the block and manipulating the pieces to relocate darts, add fullness, add tucks or other design elements, and shape the pattern to fit the hollows of the human body (i.e. contouring). A complex pattern created from a block will fit the standard size or the individual's body for which the original block was created.
+Paper patterns and CAD patterns do not auto-adjust to fit a different set of measurements.  They must be copied, and rules are applied to increase the pattern in certain locations. 'Grading' is the reason that our clothes don't fit - Real people don't grow or add on pounds in orderly increments! The assumed body proportions in these grading rules are typically skewed toward northern european body types.  A pattern made for the northern Europe body proportions won't fit persons in Korea. For example, when someone grows taller, their armscye doesn't usually get larger. Yet grading causes larger sizes to have large armscyes.  Plus size patterns are infamous for their too-short sleeve lengths and too-wide shoulder widths. Valentina's made-to-measure and boutique-size capabilities can give you the control you need to create patterns which avoid these problems.
 <!--T:10-->
-The advantage of recreating pattern drafting techniques in software is that the resulting formula-based patterns can be automatically custom-fitted to an individual's measurements. However, in order to create patterns that are more complex than the traditional sloper, it is necessary to translate the flat pattern manipulations into formulas as well. We believe that, using a bit of ingenuity and computing power, we can accomplish this task.
+The advantage of recreating pattern drafting techniques in software is that the resulting formula-based patterns can be automatically custom-fitted to an individual's measurements or to a different size.
 ===What's wrong with ready-to-wear clothing sizes?===
 <!--T:11-->
-Why is it important to make the pattern fit an individual's measurements? Because the standard sizes used in industrial production and home sewing patterns are [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-shape-of-things-to-wear-scientists-identify-how-womens-figures-have-changed-in-50-years-516259.html inadequate for a large part of the population]. Women, in particular, deviate greatly from the [http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/design/2012/01/clothing_sizes_getting_bigger_why_our_sizing_system_makes_no_sense_.html standard figure]. In America, for example, only 8 percent of women posses the hourglass figure that has long determined the proportions of clothing. It is no wonder that so many clothes go unsold each year, even after multiple discounts, [http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/04/02/what-happens-to-all-of-those-clothes-retailers-cant-sell/ ending up in landfills].
+Why is it important to make the pattern fit an individual's measurements? Because the standard sizes used in industrial production and home sewing patterns are [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-shape-of-things-to-wear-scientists-identify-how-womens-figures-have-changed-in-50-years-516259.html inadequate for a large part of the population]. Women, in particular, deviate greatly from the [http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/design/2012/01/clothing_sizes_getting_bigger_why_our_sizing_system_makes_no_sense_.html standard figure]. In America, for example, only 8 percent of women posses the hourglass figure that has long determined the proportions of clothing. It is no wonder that an estimated 60% of clothing goes unsold each year, even after multiple discounts, [http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/04/02/what-happens-to-all-of-those-clothes-retailers-cant-sell/ ending up in landfills].
 <!--T:12-->