Clothing Patterns for a newbie

Wait for the sales at Joanne's and Hancocks: they put a lot of patterns out for 99c a shot then. :) I've had friends over your side send me bundles when that happens! :)

Look out for the Sewing for Dummies patterns by Simplicity, and KWIK-Sew's Kwik-Start range: some of these will be home dec, hats and mits, and other smaller, easier projects. They are a great way for a complete sewing newby to learn basic seaming, and how to drive a sewing machine in general.

You can sometimes pick up patterns in thrift/charity shops for pence, but they tend to be used, and older patterns that are more difficult to use...

It might be worth spending 99c for a few patterns on days when the fabric store has them on 99c sales.

There are free clothing projects/patterns listed at this about.com site (no affilitations)

general, it takes work to develop a pattern, and people generally don't give them away. If you happen to live in the San Francisco East Bay Area, contact me at mmeahan at sonic dot net if you want to talk about coming over to my tiny house and learning how to clone patterns of things you already wear. I can clone a simple skirt or jumper really easily.

P.S. If you are *just* starting to learn to make your own clothing, please take one pattern and make it several times (to learn from your mistakes and get familiar with the pattern) before you move on to another pattern, and you will be more satisfied with your learning curve.

OP here. Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I really appreciate them. For the kind lady who said she'd help me make a pattern, I'm Texas. Thanks for your offer anyway.

If you're new to sewing, I highly recommend checking the children's section of your local library in section 646. Try a couple of projects with extremely simple directions, then move on to an item of clothing.

I primarily learned to sew from osmosis, then honed those skills using older Simplicity patterns while sewing for my kids, then just made a lot of mistakes and not so mistakish items over the years.

Welcome to the world of the needle and thread!

Donna

Just curious, what is your aversion to purchasing patterns? I know of a few books that have patterns and cover ways to personalize them and adapt them to be different -- there's a Kwik Sew one, Sandra Betzina put out one called No Time To Sew that you can probably find on half.com for cheap, and Simplicity's Simply the Best Sewing Book had some "patternless clothes" in the back.

You are asking for "inexpensive patterns". JoAnn Fabric (also known as TSWLTH [The Store We Love To Hate]) regularly has patterns for $.99, you can locate one in your area here:

on their mailing list, they'll send you flyers with coupons and sale announcements. For a beginner, I suggest commercial patterns because they contain cutting layouts, yardage charts, notions lists, and instructions. I don't know how much of that you would get in a free online pattern you download.Also, it would be a really good idea to invest in "Readers Digest Complete Guide to Sewing". There are used ones here: have used abebooks.com, they are very reliable.NAYY,

Beverly

OP here. I'm not averse to purchasing patterns. I didn't know how much they cost. I was just wondering since I'm a beginner I'll first try and use any free ones available. I'm not that confident about my sewing skills and I'll probably wasting money anyway.

If that's the case, then I would really recommend getting the Sandra Betzina No Time to Sew book -- I've looked through it, and it's written for people with little to no knowledge of sewing and has lots of great ideas and patterns for four different items (I think) that are easy to make. No jumpers, though, but it's easy to make a jumper from a dress pattern

Someone mentioned Sewing for Dummies patterns, the book is an excellent reference, too. Although I've sewn for more than 60 years, and have always used 'Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing', the first issue, as my "Bible", I bought Sewing for Dummies for two DGD because it looked as it would be very helpful to them. Emily in Houston

May I make a different suggestion? If you don't have someone who sews well helping you, you might do better with a pattern with very clear instructions, written for someone who needs a little more help. The last pattern sheets I've seen for

I know that Kwik-sew has a line of beginner's patterns:

have not used the KwikStarts, but despite the rather dorky illustrations, Kwik Sew patterns are one of the better drafted patterns out there -- and they're usually highly versatile patterns that look much better than the pattern jacket. If I've got to use a commercial pattern for a project, KS is one of the companies I'll check first. They may cost a bit more, but I don't have screaming fits when I discover the pattern was misdrafted and I have to fix it before I can begin to cut. That's worth a few bucks to me. You might also check pattern numbers you are considering over at -- sometimes folks mention especially usefulor un-useful instruction sheets. Many commercial patterns have prettypathetic instructions.Kay

I started out not knowing anything about sewing but what my mother made when I was younger to being able to dive into "almost" anything. I started out by watching alot of Sandra Betzina on Sew Perfect and Nancy Zieman's Sewing with Nancy. I got lots of books at the library and also checked out videos about sewing from the library. Then I just started in. I asked questions to my mother and this newsgroup. Don't worry "YOU CAN DO IT !" Sandy

This reminded me of something else -- fit

To the original poster, do you have any figure problems that make ready-to-wear clothing not fit you well? I remember reading a long time ago that a ready-to-wear garment that doesn't fit is a nuisance that needs to be returned or exchanged, but a garment you sew yourself that doesn't fit is a waste of time and money.

If you don't fit into ready-to-wear well, it is really, REALLY important that you make sure your pattern will fit you *well.* I know I was really surprised at some things I could wear when the pattern was properly altered to fit me.

Some of the free ones are variations on burlap sacks and might not be flattering, though.

OP here. The clothes i buy fit me well. i want to learn to sew clothes just as a hobby. i don't think i'll ever stop buying clothes just because I learn to make them. Just the satisfaction of making something, that's all.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm impressed by the sincerity of people on this board.

Oh, well, that's good, because it can be devastating to take all the time to make something and then find out it doesn't fit.

Hang around; you will learn tons.

Did we remember to tell you that your pattern size is not your ready to wear size? Get someone to measure you accurately, and then choose the pattern based on the measurements. There are some fudge factors to work into the size selection if you've got a non-standard cup size (most companies draft for a B cup).

you're stuck on figuring a pattern size, ask -- ask a couple of usprivately if you're shy. I can almost guarantee for most of us who'vesewn for awhile that there's no set of numbers that can surprise us. Kay

Now THAR we really *do* understand! :)

Oh, we're all passionate about getting folk sewing. It's such good fun! I've even been known to make a whole new dress rather than iron one I already had... :D