One size “does not” fit all

Over the past 2 decades, the cost of production of garments has gone down drastically. With brands like H&M and Zara offering clothing for less than $5 people are not really  keen on spending money to first buy fabric and then to pay tailors to sew it. One would argue about the economic prudence of getting a bespoke dress done when a mass produced product is available for a fraction of the cost.
Yes it's true that one can buy clothing at very low prices at these brand outlets or even on some China based online platforms but there are many reasons why tailor made clothes are superior to the store bought ones from the perspective of quality to environmental aspects, which I will touch upon in the coming chapters. But one of the most important reasons why tailor made clothing (whether you sew it yourself or get it stitched for you) will always stand way above the ready-made clothing is the “Size”. Customized clothing is based on your measurements. Let's face it, not all of us have a perfectly proportioned body, although the garment manufacturers would love to believe so  (we would love to believe that too!) They follow their standard measurement charts for different sizes. You see a small tag at the back the garment that says S M L or 6,8,10 along with the brand label?  Those are the size categories the brands have followed. So your upper body might be size 6 or 8 but lower body might be 10-12 or vice e versa. Many people struggle with this measurement mismatch and alter their store or online bought clothes which explains the sudden influx of alteration specialized shops.
Another way to combat the sizing issues is to work with fabrics that are stretchable in nature. Stretchable fabrics are quite forgiving when it comes to fitting and you can easily accommodate two sizes in one garment.

Visualizing your Design - The very start

More often than not, dress making is perceived as a complicated form of art that has too many technical aspects to it. Newbies, whether you are a first semester fashion design student or a self-learner, often get intimidated by these technicalities. If you are first semester Fashion student, you wouldn’t have much choice, however others conveniently resort to their friendly neighborhood  tailors for their sewing needs.

But honestly dress making is  a simple process as long as we keep the end result in perspective.

To make things simple I would like to divide the whole process of dress making in four parts —

Your ability to imagine an outfit on completion, in it’s full glory. And thereon your ability to work backwards and translate that three dimensional visual onto a two dimensional paper or fabric. This transition from concept to product gets better with every well executed project.

I started making my clothes early on  in life. It was more an act of survival. Being a middle child with an elder sister and a younger brother most of my clothes were hand me down. Now that I have two daughters, I understand the joy and pride the younger one feels in owing her sisters clothes. I felt the same joy when I received my sisters’ clothes. The only problem here was they were  over sized, and I literally swam in them. So, I would say my experience with clothes had more to do with alterations than making them from the scratch. I would put on those over sized clothes on my petite body and start putting the safety pins around the waist to create the darts, pull in the shoulders to settle the cloth  on it and even fold up the hem to reduce the length to match my height. My motivation was simple – I was getting something new to wear. It’s not that I did not have my share of new clothes, but I understood early in life that for a girl there’s never too many dresses.  Hence  the moment  my sister got her new dresses I would start imagining them on me, if I did not  like the design or the style I would imagine how I could rip open the seams and redesign it to my liking. That imagination is the key.

Before you even start taking the measurements for yourself or for someone you want to sew you have to imagine and visualize that garment on the body. For which its also important to understand the body, its shape and curves. Body is the platform where your dress will develop. Your measurement will help you understand the body but your visual will make you understand how the design will drape and fall on that  surface. Of course it would help if you belong to the same gender as the clothes you plan to make. for example women would find it easier to visualize women clothing than men but with time and after taking many measurements one starts to understand the body well.

Another important aspect to visualization is the communication of that visual. Its not just enough to be able to see the design in your mind, unless you are the one who is sewing that design one should be able to translate that design visual first on the paper and then on the fabric. 

 I firmly believe pattern drafting is the back bone of dress making and a good pattern leads to good fabric cutting. Sewing is just a matter of attaching pieces of fabric together that can be mastered by consistent practice. With the accurate body measurements and the instructions you can achieve the basic fit and design and with time can incorporate more creative and innovative patterns in your dress making.