Professional made-to-measure digital sewing patterns — PDF · PLT · DXF AAMA
Reference guides to garments and their parts: skirt and dress silhouettes, sleeve, collar and neckline types, and the anatomy of tailored pieces — the vocabulary behind every pattern.
16 articles
A capsule wardrobe rests on a handful of well-cut essentials. Here is what those pieces are and the pattern each one is built on.
The hem is the last edge finished and often the most visible. Here is a reference to the main hem types and where each one belongs.
Outerwear names carry specific meanings rooted in function and history. Here is a reference to the main coat and jacket styles and what defines each.
The waistline seam is one of the most powerful proportion tools in a garment. Here is where each waistline sits and what it does to the figure.
The cuff and placket finish the sleeve and quietly set a shirt's formality. Here is a reference to the main types and how each is built.
Silhouette is the outline a dress cuts against space, independent of its details. Here is how the classic silhouettes are defined and shaped.
Pockets split into three construction families: applied, seam-set and inset. Here is a reference to the main types and how each is built.
Pleats are controlled folds that add fullness in an ordered way. Here is a reference to the main types and where each belongs on a garment.
Trouser styles come from two variables: the rise and the leg line. Here is a reference to the main silhouettes and how each is shaped.
The trench coat is a catalogue of functional details inherited from military use. Here is what each part is and the job it originally did.
A tailored blazer is an assembly of engineered parts. Here is a component-by-component anatomy of how it is built and why it holds its shape.
Collars divide into flat, standing and rolled families by how much they rise from the neckline. Here is a reference to the main types.
The neckline frames the face and sets the tone of a garment. Here is a reference to the main shapes and how each is drafted and finished.
Sleeves fall into a few structural families defined by how they meet the armhole. Here is a complete reference to the main types.
A dress is a bodice and skirt joined by a waist decision. Here is a reference to the main dress types and what defines each silhouette.
Every skirt style comes from how fullness is added or removed at the hem. Here is a reference to the main silhouettes and how they are built.
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