Pattern making CMT 8-7
Pattern making includes skills in pattern adaptation and pattern drafting. Pattern drafting requires a pattern block or working drawing to be established by using key measurements and using these to develop a pattern which interprets a garment’s or item’s design including its special features. Patterns are tested using toiles and mock-ups to ensure that pattern pieces correctly interpret a design and its special features.
Learning objective: CMT 8-7
Students will
- draft a pattern to interpret a design for a garment.
Indicators
- Researchers and analyses existing examples of patterns to determine and evaluate how these patterns allow for the designs to be interpreted. For example: What was the intent of the designer and how would the properties of different fabrics have an effect on the outcome of the design?
- Explores a range of pattern adaptations and practises drafting increasingly difficult adaptations to enable the student to become competent and accurate when interpreting and developing their own garment design.
- Accurately takes key body measurements and drafts a block from these measurements.
- Uses the block to make a toile and adapts, if necessary, to ensure correct fit.
- Tests and refines a pattern to ensure it provides the special features required by the design.
- Interprets and demonstrates understanding of symbols and language associated with pattern development.
- Shows clear evidence of their design (for example, a photograph or drawing showing the details of the garment), identifies the special features, interprets pattern symbols and then uses their block to make a pattern that includes appropriate language and/or pattern symbols.
- Discusses as a group suitable visual checks/tests that can be applied when developing a pattern.
- Shows that they have used tests to determine the suitability and fit of their toile and where necessary have made alterations to the existing pattern - such as a schedule providing evidence of the test carried out and the outcome of the test.
- Interprets existing pattern guide sheets and uses these to consider layout, visual, and written information required in order to communicate a step-by-step order of construction for their design.
- Decides on the most efficient order to construct their design and writes a guide sheet (which includes the pattern layout) that uses appropriate language and symbols.
- Makes a toile of their final pattern and applies relevant fitting techniques to confirm a correct fit – such as knowing that a gaping back neckline can be pinned out by adding a dart to eliminate the excess length in the neckline and address the contour of the shoulder blade.
- Constructs a final toile that demonstrates how the final pattern correctly interprets the design.
Progression
Initially students learn how to select and adapt existing patterns to enable a garment to correctly fit for the body or an item to meet desired size and fit specifications. This should progress to students learning how to draft patterns and test these using toiles and mock-ups to ensure the final pattern correctly interprets a design and its special features. Students also learn how to develop a pattern guide sheet that incorporates appropriate language, symbols and/or diagrams to: communicate pattern layout, and the step by step instructions required to construct a garment or item.
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Teacher guidance
To support students to develop the skills and knowledge at level 8, teachers could:
- provide students with a range of designs and/or patterns that display a variety of special features that will enable them to critique and understand how designs can be interpreted
- give students opportunities to explore special features with resources such as, examples of garments, pictures of garments showing specific special features, exhibitions at local galleries, books for example, Fifty Dresses That Changed The World, Dress Pattern Designing by Natalie Bray, websites such as
The Cutting Class.
- invite a designer to talk to students about designing a pattern and the importance of creating a toile to ensure correct fit and interpretation of the design features
- provide opportunity for students to discuss collaboratively to identify methods of testing that could be used to determine the correct fit of a toile
- ensure students have the time and resources to practise block drafting and mock up techniques prior to developing their own pattern
- encourage and direct students to develop clear communication strategies so that their guide sheet can be clearly understood and followed, ensuring the students understand and use correct technical language
- ensure students have adequate time, an appropriate environment and the correct tools to enable them to construct a final toile ensuring the final pattern correctly interprets the design and its special features.
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Contexts for teaching and learning
Students will draft a pattern that interprets a design for a garment.
The students may be given a design or choose from a range of designs given by the teacher, or they may be at the point in their technological practice where they are ready to develop a pattern for their intended outcome.
Drafting a pattern to interpret a design involves a number of specific steps, with each step building on the previous (refer AS91626 explanatory note 2).
Any design the students interpret needs to include special features, which require the development of a pattern in order to be realised (refer AS91626 explanatory note 5).
Literacy and numeracy considerations
Students will need to understand the language of pattern drafting and the specific symbols used in pattern preparation.
This would include:
- knowing how to draft a pattern block from measurements and how to calculate these
- knowing how to interpret pattern adaptation instructions such as those found in a pattern making text
- creating a pattern guide sheet
- being able to label the pattern with the correct symbols and information to enable the construction of the garment.
Resources to support student achievement
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Assessment for qualifications
The following achievement standard could assess learning outcomes from this learning objective:
- AS91626 Construction and mechanical technologies 3.26: Draft a pattern to interpret a design for a garment.
Key messages from the standard
This standard requires the students to have practice refining a pattern to ensure it interprets the conceptual design. Mock ups and toiles are an efficient tool in this process. (Refer to AS91626 explanatory note 8.)
Last updated August 22, 2019
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