Welcome to the Curvy Sewing Collective’s Pattern Hacking Month!
We’ve got an exciting month planned, all centered around pattern hacking. We hope to provide you with lots of ideas, inspiration, and how-tos this month. Based on the posts our amazing contributors have turned in so far, it’s going to be awesome!
We also hope you’ll join in the fun and share your own pattern hacks and tips in the comments and on social media using the hashtag #Curvysewinghacks!
What is pattern hacking?
I think this is open to interpretation, but here are my thoughts! I think hacking a sewing pattern goes beyond making fit changes or grading between sizes. Pattern hacking entails changing design details of a sewing pattern. It allows you to customize your handmade project to suit your needs, without having to start from scratch to draft an entirely new pattern!
Those changes can be simple or complex, ranging from lengthening from a shirt to a dress (or vice versa), to changing the hem or neckline shape, to combining patterns/frankenpatterning, to adding seams for colorblocking, to adding or removing features/details like collars, buttonbands, ruffles, etc. It can also be quite extreme changes, such as pattern hacking for cosplay, in which the original pattern is barely recognizable, but serves as the basic structure for the costume.
Why pattern hack?
What are the benefits of pattern hacking, you might ask… well, they’re myriad:
- Pattern hacking extends the usefulness of well-fitting pattern. Hacking allows you to get many looks from one pattern, which is particularly useful if you’re on a budget, creating a capsule wardrobe, or just want to add some flair to a pattern you already know fits you well.
- Pattern hacking is a great way to recreate RTW looks. I know I often see and take note of cool cuts, details or construction methods when perusing ready-to-wear clothes. But when it’s difficult to fit into RTW or you don’t want to pony up the cash for designer duds, you can incorporate these ideas into your handmade garments by hacking a tried-and-true sewing pattern!
- Pattern hacking allows you to alter pattern to suit your lifestyle. Are you changing jobs or careers? Relocating to a different climate? Having a baby? Hacking a well fitting pattern can help you efficiently adapt your handmade wardrobe to these changes.
- Pattern hacking allows you to experiment. Playing with sewing patterns and trying new techniques is a great chance to flex your creative muscles and have fun!
What does pattern hacking mean to you? Do you hack your sewing patterns, or are you more of a pattern follower?
I think I mostly stick to the patterns (aside from some fit adjustments) because I haven’t sewn many garments yet. Maybe when I’m a little more comfortable with pattern basics I’ll hack em up! Cooking on the other hand…gosh I don’t even know why I bother buying cookbooks. I’ll start with a recipe and when it gets to the table it’s a whole different meal lolol. Hopefully I’ll get there with my sewing, too!
i hack ALL THE PATTERNS! most of the time i have to make so many changes to get the fit i need that i will often make changes to the pattern itself to better fit or change the shape. My T&T skirt has gone from a woven skirt to a super high wasted rockabilly skirt. Now it is my go to pencil skirt that only slightly resembles the original.
I’m working on a neo-Aesthetic Dress for a reenactment that requires hacking and expanding a very basic pattern. Looking forward to reading about the fine art of hacking as I work.
I have a better understanding after reading this blog that a solid TNT pattern is a great way to dip a toe into pattern hacking. I have a pant pattern I have made about a dozen pair from, all succesfully, so maybe it is time for me to get a little more creative using it. Likewise, as Cynthia mentioned, I sometimes end up with a hack out of necessity, such as when I stretched a silk jersey collar all out of shape, but added shape back in with a few tucks and strategically placed buttons. Because the fabric was precious to me, I made it work, though my preference would have been to have used better technique from the get go and not stretched the daylights out of it (sorry Carolyn, all fabric is precious, but I get what you are saying too!)
If I were a pattern maker I’d be honored if people re-styled/hacked :o) my patterns. How cool is it if your pattern INSPIRED creativity! That’s what happened to me with the Springfield Top. It opened up lots of ideas for me, and I tailored it exactly as I like it! :o)
Oh! That’s a hack? I always chalked it up to too lazy to draft. Can’t remember the last time I sewed up a pattern as is-I always seem to change something on it, because I can.
Pattern hacking is almost a requirement, isn’t it? But really, it serves me well when I need it. I was trying out a new tunic pattern (Diane Ericson’s River Tunic) and cut the neckline way too low & wide. I put a pleat into the neckline off to one side – sewn down a few inches that will have a large button attached up near the neckline – and behold! I had something that fit better & added some interest to a simple tunic.
And the shirt I made using pieced together fabrics because I didn’t have enough of one fabric gets compliments every time I wear it.
I can’t remember when was the last time I used a pattern without a hack. My most usual hack is to make the necklines deeper. But it can go up to huge transformation like turning a cropped simple jacket into a fully lined raincoat with pockets, or a basic dress from Simplicity into a Queen of Heart costume. In between there are all these patterns I altered for better fitting, and that I can use as a basis for other projects, like tee with new sleeve length or new neckline (depth or shape), pants with new leg shape or length etc.
But when I proceed, I don’t see it as hacking a pattern. I consider patterns as puzzle pieces that I can put together to make the item I have in mind.
Hack away! You bought the pattern for personal use, so use it. Use it to express your personality, or to replicate rtw that you admire, or to achieve a uniform that can’t be made to properly fit you any other way (I’m thinking about you, junior high school gym uniform that was two inches too short in the torso and caused me agony to wear every gym day for three years).
Hack from top to bottom, from side to side, from back to front, from pattern company to pattern company, from decade to decade — even from century to century.
My most common hack is to mix and match skirts an tops into dress variations, but my favourite hacks are adding interest to the backs of patterns. SO many designers make gorgeous fronts but leave the backs plain, which to me completely ruins the design. A typical example would be a skirt with pleats in front, I’ll copyright the pleat design to the back piece as well.
Hedda, that’s a great insight! When the back (and sides for that matter) are not as interesting as the front, it says to me that the designer was thinking in 2 dimensions, not 3 that the body represents. Or, that the company went on the cheap by not investing in a design or designer that addresses the whole body, only the front, aka, 2 dimensions.