Dissection: From Clothing to Pattern

Ready to start patterning?

If you've been following the practical posts, you've got the know-how to dissect your knit clothes. Plus you have free pattern paper in the form of old grocery bags. You might even have a worn-out t-shirt or top that fit perfectly and now it's falling apart. So it's time to make the plunge. After all, what have you got to lose? It's an old shirt and some paper bags.

Here's the equation: Freshly made pattern paper + freshly dissected clothing = simple pattern making.You'll also want a surface you can pin into (like an ironing board or a dismantled cardboard box), an iron, straight pins, a pencil and a ruler. I'm using quilting pins with little yellow ball tips, but any pins will do.

I'm making a pattern from an old top that I like that is pretty close to giving up the ghost. I took out the coverstitched hems on the bottom, around the armholes and the neck. Then I took out the 4-thread overlocked side seams. That's all I need to get started! In this segment, we're patterning the back.

Here are the steps in picture format.