How to Make Sewing Patterns, Second Edition

Book excerpt: How to Make Sewing Patterns solves the mysteries of pattern drafting with easy, step-by-step instructions and clear line drawings that show how to create custom-fit garments in a wide range of designs. The book's detailed instructions on measuring and fitting include do-it-yourself photographs as well as directions for creating custom dress forms. "Don McCunn has certainly mastered pattern drafting and fitting a wide range of bodies. Whether or not you have taken pattern drafting in a class, this book is a good reference in a very readable style. I especially liked the exacting instructions on taking measurements on the body and the solution for side seams which are not perpendicular to the floor." --Sandra Betzina, the power behind Power Sewing. --Author of 10 sewing books, a syndicated columnist, --and host of HGTV's "Sew Perfect." "Beyond the impressive range of material in How to Make Sewing Patterns is the author's obvious concern that readers understand what they are doing and why. There are many helpful tips throughout the book, some quite clever and unexpected. "The section on drafting a sloper contains excellent explanations of the various body contours, measuring, and fitting. Text, drawings, and photos of the human body from every angle illustrate the various interrelated contours and just how a pattern accommodates them. He even gives detailed instructions on how to measure and fit yourself." --Threads Magazine "McCunn's book dispels the mysteries of pattern drafting, an area which was once the province of the couturier. A do-it-yourself text in which lessons build upon one another, this book provides detailed guides to creating patterns." --Library Journal "The most readable pattern drafting book I've found. The drawings are the simplest line drawings possible but executed with concise purpose." --Whole Earth Catalog "Donald McCunn leads the beginning seamstress or the advanced into pattern drafting via a thorough introduction. He shows that drafting is easy if each step is clearly related to the final outcome and if the drafter visualizes what he or she is doing." --Christian Science Monitor