Patterning Technique

Let's stop for a minute and talk about the choices for how to take a pattern from this dress.

What would the flat pattern for the dress look like?

There are essentially 4 different ways to figure that out.

1. Draping - looking at the lines and shapes of the original and trying to reproduce them by placing fabric on a mannequin of the same size
2. Tracing - laying a section of the garment out flat and tracing its shape onto paper or another fabric
3. Rub-off - placing fabric over each piece and rubbing chalk over it to find the placement of seams, etc.
4. Gridding - after basting thread lines into each piece to mark the grain of the fabric, measuring out from the lines to the seams, etc., (at regular intervals) to find the shape of each piece

Which one is best for this project? There's no right answer, so we're going to use all 4. Each part of the dress will be better served by a different technique. Accuracy is not the only concern. We need to think about which technique will be least invasive, to preserve the original object.

What are the pros and cons for each?

1. Draping - would be the least accurate for an exact reproduction, but would be the least invasive in terms of preserving the original object.
2. Tracing - a little more accurate, and not very invasive, but only will work with very flat, simple sections
3. Rub-off - middle of the road for accuracy, but the most invasive
4. Gridding - would be the most accurate for an exact reproduction, but somewhat invasive, and very time-consuming, requiring a great deal of concentration