Part 1
Imagine this: you decide to buy a sew pattern and you find one that you absolutely love. Then you realize that you don’t know what to do next. How much fabric do you need? Do you need other materials? What kind of fabric should you buy? I am here to help you figure these things out! This blog post will have you reading a pattern with confidence.
First you need to understand the front of your pattern. There are usually 2 or more pieces on the front of your pattern and they are all included in the pattern packet. Pick out the pattern you like most on the front of the packet. There will be a letter by it that you need to make note of. This will tell you which pattern pieces and whatnot you need to use.
Now you will need to look at the back of your pattern packet. This will have tons of important information on it, one of which is what type of fabric to buy. Your pattern will list a variety of fabrics that you can use for this pattern. It’s important to buy one of the fabrics listed because otherwise your clothes might not fit properly, the fabric might not lay on your body correctly, or if you are making something tight fitting, you might not even be able to put it on. This will also say if there are certain patterns that might not work as well.
Now that you have found the fabric you want, you need to decide what size you need. Take your measurements to figure out what size since the sizes rarely align with what you usually wear. If your measurements don’t align with one size (which they probably don’t-they never do) plan on the largest size your measurements fit, you can always alter the clothes to be smaller in the places you need them to be (tutorial upcoming). Since this is a baby pattern, the measurements are pretty simple. If you are making clothes for an adult, there are likely way more measurements you need to take than on this one.
Lastly, you need to see if you need to buy any non fabric items (called notions). Look for the part that says notions, you need to get whatever this calls for. Sometimes the full list of notions will be on the outside, but if not, it will be listed on the back where you can find the notions you need.
Now that you know what to do with the pattern information, you are ready to get started on your project! You’ll soon be a pro at reading a pattern.
If you’re comfortable with reading a pattern, you might want to check out some of my patterns here:
