Custom Sewing and Alterations
If you want clothes that fit!

There are two aspects to pattern drafting software.

• The drafting component, where putting in measurements, and some parameters, drafts you a series of pattern pieces that can be used as-is to make a garment.
• The ability to draw on the computer (called CAD) to change the pattern pieces. This requires a degree of knowledge of pattern drafting, the degree depending on how adventurous you want to get in making changes.

What they all have in common is that you print out multiple pages of A4 and stick them together with the help of alignment marks.

DressShop, HatShop, Ultimate Pants

DressShop (and its companions HatShop and Ultimate Pants) (www.livingsoft.com/ or www.patrns4u.com/) is at one extreme, with everything being driven by the numbers you put in and the selections you make. There are a number of choices like neckline, collar, sleeve type, number of darts etc. to mix-and-match. There is a model who shows you what the combination of features looks like on a garment, and you can use fabric swatches to colour the garment in to see what it would look like made up. The parameters are the most flexible, because there is no CAD; for example you can set the degree of flare of a skirt and the pivot point the flare starts from to get different effects. However, if you want to make any changes after this, it's down to paper manipulation with pencil, ruler, scissors and tape.

This program runs under IE using Java, which some find disconcerting, (but it no longer uses cookies for saving measurement sets, thank goodness). It also has the largest number of measurements to be taken if you get the basic program. If you can get away with fewer measurements, because the body concerned is closer to an 'ideal', there are versions that cater for this, either Lite (cheaper) or Pro (more expensive).

There are a certain number of basic pattern styles, and add-on packs so you can purchase any extra styles you want. If you only want a particular style, you can even buy the (cheapest) Sampler plus the add-on you want. DressShop caters for patterns for men and children as well. One additional feature I like is the proportional printing, which allows you to stretch or shrink horizontally separately from vertically, so you can get tight fitting garments in knit fabrics by reducing the size instead of tinkering with ease. In a recent Threads magazine there were recommendations for widening and shortening pattern pieces for bias cut garments - with DS you could do this automatically. (BTW, HatShop is for hats and bags, and Ultimate Pants is a trouser only program.)

PMB

PMB comes next, (www.wildginger.com/, UK purchase from www.campdenfabrics.com/) as the main component of this program is the mix-and-match of pattern components. The combination of style features chosen are shown in a garment sketch. Having drafted the pattern, it is saved in a CAD file format. This can then be imported into the Pattern Editor (i.e. CAD) and changed on-screen. This does take a little time to master, but those who have gone through the learning process find it a valuable tool. Patterns can also be taken into the Yardage Calculator tool, in which you plan your pattern layout on-screen to work out how much fabric you need. (However, the other programs allow you to print out at a reduced scale so you can use these to work out requirements, layout etc.) This uses fewer measurements than DS, which seems to work well for many people, but there are some who struggle because of the assumptions made by the program, and who therefore find DressShop creates a better fit.

I think it is because of the assumptions made that the program is for 'the adult woman', and requires the use of their other programs, Childs Play for children's clothes, and 'Tailor Made' for men. There are a lot of satisfied Childs Play users, but those who have purchased Tailor Made don't seem to have had as much success.

Garment Designer

I'd put Garment Designer (www.cochenille.com/ , UK purchase from gillian.lamb@netscape.net ) at about this point on the spectrum too; however, it looks very different to PMB. In GD you have some basic measurements, then you decide if you want to split them front/back and add specific other measurements. The pattern uses a mix-and-match approach, but there are fewer styles available. However, the big difference is in the drawing tool available. This is easy to use, as you just grab lines or points and drag them, and you can change curves by using special control points. The symmetry feature allows you to decide whether the corresponding seamline on other pattern pieces is changed when you make changes to one piece. This allows you to affect the back neckline if you change the front, or if you change the back side seam the front will adjust accordingly. It even changes the sleevecap if you change the armscye, which is impressive.

However, you cannot split pattern pieces on the screen, so for example a princess line will require some paper manipulation after the pattern is printed. Another quirk is that the dart sizes are not dictated by measurements the way they are in the other programs, but you can drag the dart size and the position of the dart end (at the seam), so you can get the size you want that way.

It caters for men and children as well as women. It also has features for weavers and knitters, e.g. you can generate knitting schematics.

Pattern Maker

Next there's Pattern Maker (www.patternmaker.com/, and look at Leena's pages at www.leenas.com/, UK purchase from www.pro-specs.co.uk/ps_patterns.htm).

This is based around CAD, and if you buy the basic program you get the CAD engine plus a set of what are called macros to draft specific patterns. There are also versions with fewer or no CAD facilities that allow you to use the macros either as they come or with a restricted range of drawing tools to make alterations. You can also draft from scratch, which isn't recommended in PMB, so for example you could take the rules for drafting in the Winifred Aldrich book and use them in PM, then use the blocks as the basis for drafting on-screen.

There is a standard set of measurements needed for women, and a different set for
men, which can be saved, but some macros ask for additional measurements that must be entered each time the macro is run. The measurements used are rather different to the ones in PMB, DS and GD, as the drafting is done using a 'Scandinavian system'. It is very successful for some people, but others don't get on with it. Macros also ask questions about style features, rather than using the 'select' approach used in PMB, DS and GD. You can move the pattern pieces around on-screen, and that way work out you fabric layout and requirements. The CAD tool will take longer to learn than PMB's PE, but it is more flexible.

During the learning process you can sometimes get into a situation where the program crashes because you are using a tool wrongly, but if you save regularly (which I'd recommend doing anyway in PMB and GD as well) you can easily recover. You can save the CAD output in the same format as PMB if you want, and also import PMB files having converted them if you decide you want both 'chocolate and strawberry'.

There are women's macros, and also mens, 'misses', children, toddlers, newborn and maternity, and even a dog coat with or without hood and leg coverings. If you go to the top end of the range, there are tools for grading patterns and for writing your own macros, but I consider these commercial features, and the prices are set to reflect this.

Fittingly Sew

Fittingly Sew (www.softbyte.co.uk/fittngl1.htm) is at the extreme end of this spectrum, in that it is mostly CAD, with just a few garment styles available. The CAD tools work differently to those in PMB and PM, so this is yet another system to learn, and there is no way to export or import them. However, if you want to draft from fitted blocks rather than use a mix-and-match approach this tool works well. It is not as well supported as the other programs, however, and has not been updated recently. (The others are all actively being developed and updates/upgrades come out from time to time.)

CADterns

I will just mention CADterns (www.cadterns.com/) at this point. CADterns is a tool for drafting the basic blocks using a smaller number of measurements. It generates a standard CAD program format (.DXF), which can be imported into PMB's PE or (with conversion) into PM (But some curves can be a bit funny). It was originally intended for use with CAD packages like AutoCAD and AutoSketch.