Opinions on Pattern CAD Programs please

I know of a pattern CREATION program that fits your needs, Wild Gingers PatternMaster Boutique. You can find all you need about it here:

There are lots of fans of this program on the ng, so ask away if you have questions.

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

Threads magazine had a review on pattern drafting software recently -- if you search their website at

you will probably be able to find it.

All the programs listed in Threads are designed for home sewists and cost well under $1000.

I use Wild Ginger's Pattern Master Boutique. I absolutely adore it because it gives me built-in unlimited design options as opposed to having to buy separate pattern sets for everything I want to do, it has a clean-cut interface, and it has a built-in capability to edit my patterns to create additional things like color-blocking, etc., and it even has a yardage calculator where I can lay my pattern out as it would on fabric so I know how much fabric to buy. Also, FWIW I see far more commercial general sewing sites selling their software than Dress Shop.

I played with the demo (download from their web site at

for well over a year if not two and then bought a Click and Sew Pattern ($20, bought from fittingtips.com because they have a trade-in deal where you get full value of your Click and Sew pattern purchase if you trade in on the full program) to try it out in real life and fell in love. The Click & Sew pattern doesn't have *all* the options of the full program but it has enough to give you a real feel for it so you can see if you love it or hate it. I personally had an unhappy experience with trying out Dress Shop's bare-bones sampler program (contains bodice, casual pants, and unstructured shirt patterns, which they say are the ones people would use the most). I hated the IE interface because it felt very clunky to me (I had already downloaded the PMB demo and was spoiled, I guess LOL), I found all the buzzers, whistles, and clicks (downloading fabric swatches to make your pattern piece come out in the type of patter you might like to see, editing the model to put your own face on it, etc.) to be too distracting and unneccessary, I felt that the base program was rather limited in what it could do and didn't want to spend my money having to keep downloading more pattern sets for more functionality, and finally I never could get it to print on my HP Laserjet printer.

Now, I know that there are people who love Dress Shop. My own guess as to why is that they love all the buzzers, whistles, and clicks, don't have a lot of practice in combining pieces to make different patterns and prefer to stick with a specific set of options that cannot be varied, or they love IE and don't mind an IE-based interface and what that means. And I know that there are people who don't like Pattern Master Boutique, and my only guess as to why would be that they feel overwhelmed by all the choices it gives you in making something so that it is a longer process to come up with a finished garment -- if I hadn't already been used to doing exactly that, I would probably feel overwhelmed by it, too.

I would personally recommend that you download demos and try them out, if you want a better test to purchase the bare-bones models (Dress Shop Sampler is $30; a Click and Sew Pattern is $20) and try them both out and see which "clicks" (pun intended) with you. Like sewing machines, cars, operating systems, husbands, and religions, it's a very personal thing and what will work best for you might fail miserably with someone else.

Thank you, Karen. I am downloading a demo of one of their programs now. I appreciate your reply!

If you want a truely CAD program in a reasonable price range, check out Patternmaker.

Now for some questions. Are you sure you really want CAD. I really thought that I wanted a CAD program. What I use most is the point and click part of the programs. That is the part that you tell it your measurements and pick design features, like short sleeve, notched collar, button front, etc, and let it print your pattern. I find that this is more than enough to get me what I want. I hardly ever get into the Cad part.

The programs that have point and click that I know of are Dress Shop, DS,

Pattern Master Botique, PMB, Garment Designer, GD, I think it has 2 l's and Patternmaker PM with their mini programs called Macro's. see above

PM is full cad and you enter stuff like any cad program. Or you can start with a macro program and re design from them. This has layers like CAD and entering points by absolutes etc.

PMB, Has CAD like stuff ( it could be full cad I don't remember) I think the commands are a bit different though. It will let you alter any pattern you draft in PMB, I do not know if you can draw from scratch, but I suspect you can.

Dress Shop and Garment designer, let you change certain things from the pattern the program gives you, but some things are limited, these are great for the beginner because you really can't make mistakes, and get something too small say, but neither are true cad.

Wild Ginger and Pattern Maker, both have either extensions to the basic program or a seperate program, that let you do even more industry type stuff, like grading.

Patternmaker also has a program that runs along side PM that lets you make the macro programs which you could use to sell patterns to others. I haven't used this one. Others might have something similar.

There isalso another program called Cadterns, I don't know anything about it though, nor where to find it.

All have demos, check them out and ask other questions. I think they all have a user email list for questions, some are private to owners, some are open to all.

Sandy Erickson

Maybe not... There's this note on their site:

"All hardware sales are final - no exceptions. We highly recommend you evaluate our software programs prior to purchasing hardware."

I guess it depends on what they term "hardware".

Well, I have been hemming and hawing over what to do...try to alter patterns to different styles myself, or buy a program that will help me do that. I don't have a lot of experience in making my own patterns, but I have had some success at it. I find it too time consuming though and I get impatient in the process. What I am looking for is something I can accomplish more quickly.

I haven't used a CAD program before, but I don't see any reason that I can't learn how with some practice at it. I did download the Pattern Master Boutique the day I saw the first reply to my post here. I liked it right away. I had already downloaded the Garment Designer site's program and I didn't like it. It didn't seem to like my system either, not half as good as the way the PMB performed.

I'm in a hurry now for a program because I have a client who wants something in particular made and I want it to turn out right, so I called and ordered the Pattern Master Boutique this morning. I figure I can't lose since Pattern Master offers the money back guarantee, right? But I don't see asking for my money back on it. I think it's going to be quite useful judging from the demo.

I really appreciate everyone's input on this! Thank you so much.

:)

I

I hope that you'll like the program. I find it a godsend. There are, after all, only so many permutations of sleeves, collars and the like that one can come up with, and I find that any tiny, individual touches can be done either in the Pattern Editor or on the printed-out pieces themselves.

It's also great to get everything the right measures to start with - saves all those alterations I used to have to do just for fit (mainly length, being 5' 1").

Start by choosing Very Close Fit - if you've got your measurements right, you shouldn't need more ease than that except for stylistic reasons.

Good luck.

:) Trish

Congratulations!

Be sure to join the chat list for help with anything. That will help your learning curve immensely.

The definitions are quite clear:

Software: Programs, usually purchased on CD, floppy, etc.

Hardware: Printers, plotters, keyboards, CPUs, monitors, etc.

Yes, I understand that the hardware is not returnable. I am not planning on purchasing any hardware, not at this point.

Trishty I hope that you'll like the program. I find it a godsend. There are, after

Thank you, Trish, for your suggestions. I noticed that there are a lot of variation possibilities when I looked at the demo. I was impressed! The software won't be here until tomorrow. I thought it was going to be today! I was all set to play! :)

Melinda > Congratulations!

Thanks, Melinda! I'm sure I'll have at least a question or two. You all have been very helpful already and nice too.

Kirstie

What the poster said here is very much true with version 4, but the latest version 5 is much cleaner and works much better and not off of IE like version

1. So don't dismiss it out of hand new version is much better.

Sandy E

THEY DROPPED THAT NASTY IE INTERFACE??????? (jaw falling on floor in absolute shock) My, will miracles never cease!!!!!!

Actually, it still runs off the IE engine, but it doesn't hang up like it used to. There are also a lot of good features: adjustable layout view, saving the patterns, better measuring as well as standard sizing for the whole family, a lot of ways to change designs and a lot of other nice little tweaks that make it nice to work with.

The basic version also incorporated a lot of patterns that were once separate, so one could get by with just that for a long time before diving into all the other designs and extras. Works fine for the tall, skinny DD in my house...

"Poohma" a écrit dans le message de news: lqDsb.426$cX1.136@fed1read02...

Dress Shop Works well on my medium height but very pear shaped body too. having two dress sizes difference between top and bottom has always been a "huge " problem before. Claire

I am sure it works as well as Pattern Master Boutique, but I just didn't click with that nasty IE interface compared to PMB's. As they say, YMMV...

You won't, but they do have an incredible guarantee, and amazing integrity about it, too.

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

My software arrived today! I installed it on the computer and it went without a hitch!

Now I just have to learn how to use it! I have been experimenting with the pattern drafts today after getting my measurements in.

I'm sure I'll be back with questions!

Kirstie