How to understand sewing patterns (for beginners!)

would you like to learn how to make your own clothes yes do you find yourself lost and bewildered at the mere sight of a sewing pattern [Music] if that is you then welcome you have clicked on the right video [Music] this is a sewing pattern it looks confusing at first and intimidating and just kind of weird i mean how do these random contorted shapes turn into something that you can actually wear if you would like to know the basics of how to read and understand and follow a sewing pattern please keep on watching because i'm going to show you how i used a pattern to make these palazzo pants okay sewing patterns come in a range of different sizes obviously since we all come in different shapes and sizes and the different sizes are usually represented by different styles of lines so that you can easily distinguish between them so you can go right ahead find your size and cut it straight from the pattern however if you do this you are not taking full advantage of your sewing pattern once you cut directly into the pattern there is no going back and you no longer have access to any of the other sizes that the pattern has to offer also patterns can be kind of pricey so you do have to think about value for money and you might want to make this for someone else who's a different size or maybe you yourself change size i mean it happens and then you might think dammit i don't fit my palazzo pants anymore i wish i still had my fill pattern with all the sizes still there instead the most efficient way is to trace the pattern and that means you are not wasting anything for tracing you will need some paper a ruler scissors marker highlighter tracing wheel and an awl and those last two things which also look like they could be torture devices are optional and if you don't have them you can improvise by using regular pins okay so we start by finding our size and highlighting the corresponding lines [Music] roll out your paper and lay your pattern flat on top grab your all or basically any other poking device and pierce through the pattern at any significant point such as the corners the notches the darts etc and to mark lines on your pattern that are not straight but instead are curved grab your tracing wheel and follow the curve with it and if you're using a pen instead simply pierce lots of holes along the curve for the same effect and once you have finished with your piercing it's time to remove the pattern and basically join the dots so grab your ruler and your marker and go ahead adding in the straight lines the curved lines and any markings that the piece has like notches darts green line etc your piece should now be complete and ready to cut out and once you've done this with all of the pattern pieces you are ready to move on to the next stage but first as this is a video for beginners let's talk about the symbols and what they actually mean let's talk about symbols and not the percussion instrument symbols are part of what makes sewing patterns so intimidating i think because it's all these weird ass shapes just peppered around every pattern piece and you have to somehow know what they all mean in a practical sewing sense but once you know them you know them and they're actually pretty easy to follow the symbols are essentially there to make the sewing process easier so they're good so here is a run-through of the most common and basic symbols number one most common symbol notches notches are usually marked by small lines or small triangles at the edge of a pattern piece these are essentially guides for you to be able to match your pattern pieces at the right spots they're actually really important if you want your work to be accurate and neat and all the symbol is asking you to do is snip a little bit of the fabric where the notch is and you have a visual guide for where you need to match your pattern pieces the next common symbol is darts and no not the boring game that old men watch in pubs i'm sorry these jokes are terrible and these are represented by larger triangles darts are crucial for adding body and shape into a garment typically they're found at the bust and at the waist you know because those are typically the places that your body has curves all you need to do is mark these accurately onto your fabric either with some chalk or a pencil and then you can see clearly where they are before you sew them in next we have the green line and this is just a huge big arrow across the center of your pattern piece the grain line represents the direction in which the weave of your fabric should be going so when you lay your pattern piece on top of your fabric the weave of your fabric should be matching the direction of the green line if that makes sense basically the purpose of a grain line is to help with the draping of a garment they're actually really important and also if your fabric has a pattern a green line makes sure that the pattern is going in the same direction on all the pieces the next really common symbol is cut on the fold this symbol simply directs you to fold your fabric over align your pattern piece alongside the folded edge and then cut around it that means you'll end up with a piece which is double the size and also perfectly symmetrical you often see these cut on the fold symbols on like front waistbands or collars things like that now obviously the more advanced and complex a sewing pattern is the more symbols you might encounter but for now these are the most common the most basic to get you started so once you've traced your pattern and you understand all the symbols it's time to cut out your fabric pieces okay so there are a couple of different ways you can use to cut out fabric one way being you can pin your pattern onto the fabric and then just cut round it with a pair of fabric scissors like these or you can lay your pattern flat on top of your fabric use some random miscellaneous objects to weigh it down and then slice it using a rotary cutter which is essentially just a pizza cutter but for fabric usually when you're cutting you're cutting two of the same thing like two legs two arms two pockets etc etc so to make the process a little bit quicker and easier i recommend folding your fabric over so you're cutting through two layers at the same time and this makes sure that they are even and also completely symmetrical which is what you want and of course when you're cutting don't forget to follow the instructions on the pattern things like the grain line make sure your fabric is in the right position things like cutting on the folds if something needs to be double the size things like snipping in your notches that's really easy to forget don't forget and before you know it you should have your army of fabric pieces ready to be assembled [Music] so you've traced your pattern you've cut out your fabric all that's left to do is yeah you still have to sew it usually sewing patterns come with instructions and the more beginner friendly a pattern is the more comprehensive the instructions tend to be so these are the instructions for my palazzo pants and it's been laid out in a really clear step-by-step format which is how you'll find most pattern instructions are laid out i'm not going to go into much detail about the palazzo pants but basically follow the instructions step by step take your time and just keep sewing until hopefully you reach something that resembles your desired garment and here is how my palazzo pants turned out in the end [Music] thanks so much for tuning in and watching i genuinely hope that you learned something in this video or maybe we're even just inspired to start sewing and but anyway i'm going to say goodbye and maybe i will see you in my next video [Music] bye

Channel: Vintage Thirsty

Views: 484,128

Rating: 4.9800434 out of 5

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Id: tBudnRKg_r8

Length: 10min 4sec (604 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 10 2020