Adding embellishments to a dress for a designer is one thing, but it’s another story to tailor a seductive piece that fits the body in a flattering way.

We’re talking about Jeanne Lanvin-level of skill here.

On the fabric, it might look like nothing more but a mere game of numbers. However, it’s a game that only a few are able to master.  Some call refer to those who can as celebrated “fashion designers”; we call them the expert “pattern makers”.

Pattern Making – The Soul of Dress Designing

Essentially, pattern making is the skill of producing a 2-D paper representation of a design that contains all the technical specifications required to produce the desired dress. The paper cutouts or CAD images are then used to create fabric patterns, which are assembled and sewn together to shape a garment.

Pattern making translates a designer’s basic idea for an item into a real garment. It is the basic component of what makes a dress a failure or a success. When a bride puts on that beautiful haute couture gown, it’s the masterful display of the pattern making skills honed by its pattern maker that gets everyone drooling on the occasion.  

Pattern making is quite a varied specialty in the fashion industry and different pattern makers prefer different pattern making approaches to execute a task at hand.

The most common pattern making method employed today is drafting, where designers take measurements of the wearer and produce patterns on a brown paper or advanced software using those measurements.

Then we have draping, a little older but an extremely creative way to produce patterns. It involves placing pieces of fabric onto a mannequin, and then manipulating those pieces to develop the design of the garment.

Finally, there is flat pattern making technique, which is often used by design houses that process orders in bulk. The technique heavily relies on the use of darts which can be shifted to any location around a pattern’s outline without affecting the fit or size of the garment.

To conclude, apparel pattern making Los Angeles  is to fashion design what a blueprint is to an architect, and no perfect piece of apparel is possible without skilled pattern making and a good pattern maker on board.

If you’re looking for a premium clothing pattern maker Los Angeles for your fashion label, feel free to reach out; Lefty Production Co. will be happy to serve you.