Rub-... | Patternmaking For A Perfect Fit: Using The

Clara laid a large sheet of pattern paper over her corkboard, and then laid the front panel of the jacket over the paper. Smoothing the fabric carefully to ensure the grainline was perfectly straight, she began the "rubbing" process.

She stood before her full-length mirror and slipped the muslin over her shoulders. She held her breath and looked. Patternmaking for a Perfect Fit: Using the Rub-...

Clara cleared off her large wooden dining table and gathered her tools: The target garment (her beloved denim jacket) A large cork tracing board Dozens of fine straight pins Translucent medical pattern paper A tracing wheel with a serrated edge A mechanical pencil and French curve rulers Clara laid a large sheet of pattern paper

The art of dressmaking often feels like a conversation between the fabric and the form, but for Clara, that conversation had become a series of frustrating arguments. Her latest project—a vintage-inspired Dior-style jacket—was a masterpiece on the hanger, but on her own body, the shoulders pulled, the bust gaped, and the waist sat an inch too high. Clara was an expert at following commercial patterns, but she was realizing that her body did not fit the industry standard. She held her breath and looked

She then had to add what the rub-off method doesn't naturally give you: seam allowances. Using her clear gridded ruler, she meticulously drew a parallel line 5/8 of an inch outside her traced seam lines.

It was perfect. The shoulders sat exactly where her natural shoulders ended. The back didn't pull when she crossed her arms. It was the exact, flawless silhouette of her favorite thrifted jacket, now immortalized in a paper pattern she could recreate in any fabric she desired. Clara realized she hadn't just copied a jacket; she had unlocked the secret to a perfect fit.