How to make a pattern for a little jacket aka a shrug.1. Get a basic blouse pattern - preferably made after your own measurements, but you can use one from a pattern sheet that you know that it will fit you.
This is what a basic blouse pattern looks like.
2. Marking down the shape.
For this piece of clothing you only need the upper part of the blouse pattern. Trace the needed lines over to a new sheet of paper if you dont want to cut up the paper the pattern is on.
You can shape the front of the jacket as you wish. You can make it close with buttons, hooks, a zipper or any other method you can come up with.
3. Transferring and erasing of darts.
There are three methods to get rid of darts:
1 - cut in to the paper in a straight line, aiming for the tip of the dart. Fold the dart closed (lines must go onto of each other) This will move the dart, however you still have to sew it. Example seen on the back.
2 - I cut a small slit in towards the dart on the front piece and folded the dart closed again. In this case we dont sew the small dart left on the lower edge of the jacket.
3 - This method is useful for getting rid of darts that are in the middle of a piece. You care allowed to "move" the dart to the back seam or the side seam.
Below is the finished product of the dart moving.
Now the body of the jacket is ready.
4. Making the collar.
Measure the neckline (on the paper or on the finished jacket body). Remember to only measure half of the WHOLE neckline.
Making the collar starts with 3 lines. 1 horizontal which is the measure you just got from the neckline. And 2 vertical lines in 90* angle to the horizontal line. Mark down the middle of the horizontal line ( that's 1/4-th of the whole collar).
Next choose the height of the collar (1) and pull the next horizontal line.
Then choose how much the collar will curve (2). Mark down the amount and connect the point with the centre point of the collar pattern. Make the line smooth. Draw a second line above that as before (make sure the collar stays even in width. Unless you want an asymmetrical collar )
Then connect the two lines. And you're done with the collar~
You can bend the collar downwards for a collar that holds away from your neck \ / <- like this.
5. Making the sleeve pattern. First measure the arm hole and the arm hole width on the pattern. Mark them down.
Draw a vertical line and start drawing horizontal lines on it. The vertical line should divide the horizontal lines in half. You can start off by making a full-sized sleeve at first and then when the pattern is done you can chop it off to a 3/4 or a smaller sleeve.
Connect the points marked on the horizontal lines in the following way:
For the curve of the sleeve shoulder part, follow these measurements and guidelines.
A good tip for marking down which way the sleeve is to be sewn on - clip(only a little bit) the seam allowance of the sleeves at the part where the 3 cm vertical line meets the curve (on the left part of the sleeve pattern).
6. The pattern is now finished and you can cut out the cloth details.Dont forget seam allowance!
Details you'll need:
2 x front piece
2X back piece OR 1 x back piece ( no back seam and no slit)
2X collar piece
2 X sleeves
And now you can start sewing!
I hope this tutorial was helpful. I will answer all questions you might have.
I'd love to see what you make, so drop me a comment or two if you do.
