I'm often asked by students to recommend a pattern cutting book. They usually ask the following questions:
What's the best pattern cutting book for bespoke jackets?
Which pattern cutting book has the best system?
Which pattern cutting books are used by Savile Row tailors?
After a bit of probing in an attempt to help, I realise that what they're really after is not a book with a perfect system, but rather a set of principles that guides them through the drafting and fitting process.
In other words: they want to know which factors add up to a great fitting garment.
While the list is long, some factors outweigh others. Think of Pareto's Principle:
80% of consequences come from 20% of causes.
When working on our Pattern Cutting App in 2022, I was forced to prioritise every bit of information, action, input and principle I had to clarify what really matters.
If you are a tailoring student looking to improve your understanding of pattern cutting and fitting jackets, carve the information below in your mind:
8 Principles of Pattern Cutting:
1. You are blind without balance lines
Your pattern MUST include:
A Chest Line
A Center Front line that is perpendicular to the Chest Line.
The Chest Line should wrap around the individual while being parallel to the floor from the front, side and back view while the Center Front lines overlap perfectly straight from top to bottom.
If this is not the case during your fitting, use these lines as you're guide when altering balance, mass distribution and suppression. Your changes should bring you closer to the correct alignment of the balance lines on the body.
Tip: The Chest Line is best managed when positioned roughly 1" (2.5 cm) below the base of the armhole and not the nipples. These can sometimes be lower than usual and misguide your fitting.
2. Never fit a jacket buttoned
Often times, tailors pin the front of the jacket while fitting the rest of it. This is risky and should be avoided at all times. Especially if you're a beginner.
Reason: Pinning does not allow you to see how your changes affect the hang of the Front Panels.
When fitting, allow the fronts to hang as they do while working on other areas. Once you're done, go back to the front and see if the Center Front lines are naturally, without your interference, still perfectly aligned straight from top to bottom. If not, make the necessary changes to the fronts to achieve this alignment. On that note:
3. Gravity is ever present
When the opening of your garment is on the front, as it is with jackets, any changes to the sides or back will severely affect the alignment of your Center Front lines.
Example: taking in the Side Seams can easily result in the fronts being pulled to the back (a swinging away effect). Even if the jacket is a lot bigger than the individuals body! It's obvious that a reduction of circumference can create this effect. But an oversized garment may hide a universal truth: Gravity is ever present.
Your jacket is constantly pulled down by gravity. All panels are encouraged to hang straight down. Waist suppression in the back and sides will in most cases alter the hang of your Front Panels (swing away effect). Therefore, you must counter this with a slash and close on the front Chest Line if necessary.
To do this during the fitting, pinch the Chest Line on the Center Front to bring the Center Front lines back to their correct position and apply the amount you pinched on the pattern.
4. Shape must be allocated to there where shape is present
Speaking about invisible factors, one of the most overlooked is the flexible characteristics of fabric. This flexibility often allows you to get away with small misalignments of seams, size and shape. Why? Because fabric can bend without breaking, stretch without tearing and hang without rigidity. All of this can hide small issues.
Mass distribution is an important part of a good fit. You must observe which parts of the body require more material. You can't let out the side seams to cover a big belly. While they are connected, they don't cover the same territory.
A few things to remember about mass distribution:
Your flat pattern eventually has to wrap around the body. This means that it also includes depth, not just width.
Size and shape are not the same. You may have enough width and depth on your pattern, but not the right shape. I'm talking about darts, wedges and their substitutes.
Give more than necessary. There are 2 types of sculpting: Reductive and Additive. While we can do both in tailoring (taking in and letting out), it's best to treat tailoring as Reductive sculpting. This gives you instant feedback on your changes while you're fitting a garment. Taking in is easier than letting out.
5. Convex lines have a limit
Here is a simple rule of thumb:
Stay away from convex lines. Especially on the Center Back.
Beginners often see round hips or backs and naturally think that these shapes must be reflected on their patterns. However, convex lines should be avoided as much as possible.
Reason:
They result in bubbles
Bubbles pulled across turn into horizontal waves/pleats. This can give the illusion of tightness.
Keep your seams as smooth and straight as possible. You can achieve corset-like fits with the right distribution of suppression.
6. Distribution of suppression
Corset makers understand this well. You can never achieve a smooth close fit by concentrating your suppression in one area. Your seams should be as smooth and straight as possible.
Rule of thumb: 2 small darts work better than a large one.
The same goes for the intake of your seams. Instead of taking in a seam by a lot, take smaller amounts on multiple seams to balance out the distortions that darts and suppressions naturally create.
7. Every seam has an ideal place
Remember principle No. 4?
Seams not only divide your panels, but also provide shape. The correct seam positioning is therefore crucial to smooth results.
Here is a little cheat sheet for you:
8. Construction matters
A pattern must be made with a specific construction in mind. You must consider all the areas where gathers, stretching and other manipulations take place. These have be incorporated onto your pattern. Without this, you will have a difficult time separating the "cutting" from the "making" errors.
Reza.
International School of Tailoring
Reza, please let me know if the following doesn't help or contradicts your POV re initial pattern measurements/fitting. Here are a couple of suggestions I've picked up concerning women's wear but they should also apply to men's wear.
1) Study the technique of using Head Height in relation to other Body Segments. It will help you identify where a part of your body has standard proportions versus non-standard. e.g. long waisted, short between thigh to knee, narrow or wide waist, etc. See the photo below.
2) Take 4 photos of yourself or who you are tailoring/ sewing for. The person needs to be standing straight and the camera should be a clear balanced shot of the body.
Have the person wear something that clings to the body like a tight-knit top and leggings. Take a full-length picture of your front, each side, and back. You can upload these photos to a free copy of Canva if you want; Canva lets you post the pictures side by side and draw lines to segment your body.
Look for parts of the body that aren't standard- narrow back, sloping/very square shoulders, protruding/flat abdomen, short/long legs, flat/prominent rear end, etc. Also, look for parts of the body that aren't symmetrical. e.g one shoulder/hip higher than the other.
You'll have to search the internet for more detail on the Ratios used comparing Head Height to other Body Segments.
I hope this helps.
Brilliant! Very intuitive, which is how I like things. Too many cutting systems are shrouded in mystery. I've learnt far more things like the above from watching drapers at work, than from old tailoring books. Thank you. 🙂
Especially love the section on correct seam placement Reza!
Whenever I experiment with my own drafts I always have a hard time trying to determine seam placements, especially the location of the underarm seam, it drives me nuts. I'll go and look at all my books & manuals and often it's something along the line of "C is found between A and B and those are found by some fraction of the scale from Q etc etc" at which point I'm just asking why over and over never getting to the true reasoning behind it.
This'll be interesting to use in the future 😀
I think this is a good introduction to the topic of the first fitting, which shows all the mistakes of construction and cut. Thank you!