The Myths
Many people are scared of making the jump to CAD software and understandably it can be quite daunting at first. For those who haven’t used a CAD program before the learning curve can appear to be quite steep. Most programs seem expensive, take up lots of disk space, have more manuals than you have sewing books and so many buttons you don’t know where to start … but let me assure you it’s not all as hard as it first seems.
Because most people who talk about CAD do so from the negative view point let me me dispel their myths one at a time! Firstly you don’t need to buy an expensive CAD program to do pattern making. You can even get free and shareware CAD programs that don’t cost anything at all. On average they cost more money as they get more tools and special features. The big three retailed products are Corel Draw, AutoSketch (AutoCAD) and Adobe Illustrator. These programs are sold at most retail computer outlets and are probably the best as they are well supported, training is easily available if you need extra help and most of all they’re around half the price of CAD software designed specifically for the fashion industry … not to mention that they have lots of nifty tools and can do lots more than the industry specialty programs when you get used to them.
Specialty software does have the early advantage however as it’s usually much easier to learn (especially the type aimed at home sewists) and doesn’t have all the extra tools cluttering up the workspace and confusing you. The biggest complaint I hear about specialty software is you get used to the easy format and you stop learning or, even worse, become afraid of stepping up to a real CAD program (which is what you’ll have no choice but to do if you end up working seriously in the fashion industry). There is nothing you can do in a specialty program that I can’t do in a cheaper standard CAD program … but there’s lot’s I can do in, say, Corel Draw that you can’t do in a specialty program … and I have 15 years working on everything from Gerber to domestic CAD software to back that up. Don’t get me wrong, for a home sewist that just wants a pattern to fit themself so they don’t have to learn pattern making or buy commercial patterns then these little specialty packages are just fine … but you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t interested in learning pattern making!
The second myth is the learning curve. If you load something like Corel Draw up for the first time you’ll probably look at it, make the sign of the cross and back out of the room slowly. That would be a pity. Sure there are a lot of tools and buttons to press and they’ll take you a while to learn what they all do but you don’t need to learn them all at once. The program opens up with a piece of blank paper. There is a button for drawing lines and curves and one for drawing rectangles. If you can play with just those two buttons at first and save your work then you’re really half way there already. All the big three come with CDs that teach you how to use the software to draw. Remember, this software is powerful enough to handle what an architect, designer or illustrator can throw at it … but that doesn’t mean you need to learn everything they know to be able to use it to draw or manipulate patterns.
The third myth is that you need to be skilled in mathematics. You need no more mathematical skill to make a pattern on paper than you do on a computer … and the computer has tools that (once you learn how to use them) can do things so much easier … so if anything you need less maths for the computer.
The fourth myth is that you just can’t get the feel of a curve on a computer than you can with a pencil and paper. Having done both forms of pattern making for years I can tell you that’s plain rubbish. Drawing curves in CAD can be an art form … you can constantly modify and tweak your curve over and over again, zoom in and out on it and have it perfectly line up with or square off to other lines instantly. On paper you need to erase the old line or draw over it multiple times … either way it makes a mess and is far less controllable. French curves and flexible rulers aside, I find CAD a much more creative medium than pencil and paper when it comes to curves. All that said, does it really matter whether something feels better or does it matter more that your pattern is accurate and reproducable?
Below are links to the big three products. I personally use and am happy to recommend any or all of them … and I’m not being paid to say that. These simply are the best products for the job.
Recently I’ve also discovered a new program called Inkscape. It is a free open source CAD program similar to CorelDraw that’s well worth the 22mb download. Not only does it appear to do everything the big three do, but it also exports to and from all your favourite formats like PDF! Now you have absolutely no excuse not to try CAD!
The Truth
CAD has the potential to help even the home sewist work faster. Besides the obvious of just needing a computer with a printer in order to make patterns you get a number of benefits that paper and pencil just don’t offer.
Of course for someone like myself, I am required by industry to provide them with patterns in a digital format that they can use. In most cases that will be the AutoCAD standard of DXF that pretty much every computer based cutting table will import. All the big three can export to DXF. For the home sewist, the equivalent is being able to share patterns with your friends via email or the web. The common PDF format (acrobat reader) while being read by most computers, can’t be written by everyone and certainly cannot be directly imported into CAD and altered. I know a lot of people like PDF as they can easily download and print it, but you simply can’t do much more with it than that.
CAD means never having to store thousands of paper blocks and patterns. If you’re anything like me and you collect everything to do with sewing you’re probably already overwhelmed with piles of fabrics, books and notions. You simply leave your patterns on the computer and once every now and then back them up to CDRom. Whenever you need them you just print them out. This is especially good if you’ve changed shape and want to tweak the pattern a little without destroying the original. Simply save it as a new file and tweak away.
CAD’s main benefits of course are how it works. Drawing perfect lines, curves and angles … cutting and pasting … mirroring … adding seam allowances instantly … not to mention being able to perfectly scale up and down to various graded sizes at the click of a button. Then there are more useful features like being able to accurately measure the length of a curve, rotate pattern sections, measure angles and move darts. All these are jobs which take a long time on paper and usually result in having to retrace the final pattern all over again.
I know there are the die hard paper and pencil people out there but look at it this way … while I love horse riding, I certainly wouldn’t do the grocery shopping on horseback … paper and pencil is a nice change now and then but it’s not something I’d want to do everyday.
Links
C Design Pack based on CorelDraw
Not real pattern making but a good demo
Specific thread on a Corel Forum that answers a few good questions
Hi, I am not a designer/pattern maker as such, but sew my own handmade items. I am trying to get some of my products done up in a digital pattern format to sell and I feel stupid in saying this, but I’m stuck to find a service that can convert my hand drawn patterns for craft items (currently very unprofessionally drawn, mind you) into a digital document using CAD or the like… can you please let me know what service I should be looking for as when I look up “pattern makers”, I seem to only get the hand drawn ones….and none have been able to help me with my search… I’m lost with this I’m sorry!
Thanks in advance
Julie
Hi Stuart,I have been fighting to print the block i made in Autocad in poster printing on my HP deskjet D5500 series and is only able to print it 2×2 or 3×3 4×4 5×5. i was wondering does anyone know how to print it so i can get the exact measurement i drew in Autocad. pls anyone help me im starting to lose patient and is even thinking on hand draw it.
ps. this site is awesome nice work
sincerly
Sergio
hello stuart.
i read your knowledge of cad for pattern making.i recently got coreldraw graphics suit x5 .but i found it difficult to record macros for adding seam and grading patterns which u said uved created.can u please share this online.because i know nothing about macros.am self taught corel user.thanks
Update: Having spent 3+ hours with Canon support, its Pro9000MII (which is a high-end home photo printer) will not print from Inkscape for love or money – either on oversized paper or in tiled (poster) form. If anyone has encountered and solved this problem with Inkscape, please let me know. Called a friend with AI who printed the blocks for me with ease, but until I can figure this out I’ll be making pattern alternations by hand
Having never used a CAD program for pattern drafting, I have a question that’s dumb as soup: How do you print the pattern? I have a pro-quality photo printer that can handle paper up to 17×22″. If I cut a sheet of pattern paper to fit and just hit “print” on one of the Inkscape pattern blocks, will it print true to size? Or to I have to make adjustments to the program or to the printer?
I believe i have Turbocad Version 10 kicking around somewhere-would that work too?
I down loaded the program you mentioned but it’s not like using a french curve;
In my business Life a am carpenter / furniture maker and so I use cad software all the time. When I started sewing last year I started drawing some patterns with my cad program. This was easy, just the way drawing nice curves brought me to the idea using Inkscape for that job. Since Inkscape is not a technical CAD Program, drawing the basic frames is harder here, so I decided to have a look to the programming capabilities of Inkscape to close the gap between technical CAD and vector graphics software. After some hours of research I wrote an Inkscape extension script (python) which asks me for some body measurements and then gives me my complete basic pattern for some pants. It works absolutely perfect an now I am just tweaking some dynamically generated curve points. I decided to give the scripts free to the community when they are finished. I attached an Image where you can see Inkscape in action with my MensPantsScript.
Oliver
Thank you Stuart, Sandra and Paul for your generous sharing of knowledge! I’ve been searching for what you have told me for months.
Halfway through the article, I was already thumping my fist on the table ‘how is it possible the he doesn’t mention Inkscape’
but sure enough, a bit further down you did mention it.
I am looking into pattern making, but I have been using Inkscape for other graphical designs for years. It is absolutely amazing and best of all, it’s free of charge and available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Katie, you have to download the ‘windows installer’ (assuming you use windows). You can either find it in the download section at inkscape.org or use this direct link: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/inkscape/Inkscape-0.48.0-1.exe
ciao,
joost
For in case Abby is still looking for the answer: To specify the length of a line, draw a line of any length, then press Shift-Ctrl-M. Select the scale tab, make sure you are working in cm, click on the scale proportionally tick box, and adjust the height to 42cm. This should adjust the line to the correct length.
HTH,
Chrystal
Hi Martin,
Illustrator and Corel Draw are used just as you would a normal pencil and paper … only way more accurate, repeatable and faster. Unlike speciality software you can’t just type in measurements and get out a block/sloper/pattern … you need to build it manually (at least the first time anyway). I have written a macro that I use which generates the patterns from a set of measurements (much like the lazy pattern section on this site, only way more refined). I have also written macros for grading, adding seam allowances, automatically swapping in and out sleeve heads, and a host of my own particular custom features. None of those come standard, but they’re pretty easy to write once you get the hang of what the software is doing. I also have a macro for generating layouts which isn’t perfect as yet but it does a pretty good job for what I need. At the end of the day I need a cheap but powerful CAD package straight off the shelf which is customisable and exports a DXF … corelDraw is slightly better than illustrator at this but both are very good.
There are two types of grading I use. Scaling for stretch patterns (pretty obvious – % vert and % horizontal) and node nets for non-stretch (your standard grading rule system). The nodes in Corel get named and then moved according to where they sit on a net from a fixed reference point. My macro will record a set of rules and then employ it each time you want to grade something so you only need type in the rules once for each client/job … still not as good as gerber but way faster than grading on paper … and a whole lot cheaper for the contract patternmaker working from home.
I am impressed, using Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator to make patterns!
I have used pattern software since ’85, been an apparel pattern maker for 30 years. (in no particular order)- 3 or so years on a Microdynamics, about 6 on a Gerber (albeit, an AM5) and the rest on the Lectra System. I do export/import .dxf format on the job. And I am interested in learning more on either of the illustrator software mentioned.
I searched and may have missed the answer, but one can grade the patterns as well?
thanks, and I am enjoying your website!
martin taylor
pattern maker
hi Ruth – just to let you know i had the same issue of wanting to measure curved lines, which i resolved with a third party plug in, if you look a little further down this page you will see the link – although it’s for corel,
i have AI but prefer corel
here are some plug ins to look through
http://www.adobe.com/products/plugins/illustrator/
and this one looks like it will do what you want
http://www.baby-universe.co.jp/en/plug-in/products/bpt-pro/
if you keep searching you sometimes find free plugins, but the paid ones usually let you trial them first
hope this helps
Hi Stuart,
I’ve recently just made the switch to creating my patterns on computer. The only trouble is I don’t know how to measure a curved line in adobe illustrator and I need to measure armholes to adjust cap ease
Hi Stuart – what method do you use – if it is in fact something that you ever do – to put a paper pattern into corel which wasn’t created digitally?
Hello everybody
Just to confirm that illustrator export in dxf…
Hi Brian … take a look at the “contour function” …. simply add a 10mm contour (or whatever your allowance is) to the outside of a closed shape.
Greetings Stuart,
I’ve followed your suggestion and jumped into Corel Draw and really love it.
How do you add seam allowance?
I’ve figured out everything else I want to do but that.
Maybe it’s very simple and I’ve not realized it.
I’ve posted some screenshots at various points in my exploration on my site.
http://web.me.com/dzynurbrian/Dzynurbrian/Design_Albums/Pages/Digital_Pattern_Design.html
Thanks so much for your AWESOME website that demystifies many of my concerns with proper stretch pattern making.
Brian
John, I don’t use CS3, I use Corel Draw… and that imports and exports DXF just fine. Perhaps one of the Illustrator users around here could answer the question?
Hi Stuart
I’ve been having a few issues working out how to do placement prints on my swimwear, from what I gather I need to use the digitised patterns and place my print on file with it so the print is printed either with outline or so a marker can be placed over the top matching the print and pattern exactly where it needs to go.
My question is, does illustrator CS3 support the importand export of DXF files ok? will it keep the proportions and not shift in any way otherwise it will not match where the prints are printed on the fabric.
Thanks
John
this may be of interest to those of you using corel,
it measures curved lines, which you won’t need too often, but might be useful on occasion
its a free plug in and i have installed/tested it and it works fine
http://www.macromonster.com/index.php?mod=descr&id_desc=60&keyword=curve+length&Submit=Go
Hi Stuart,
I have a question for Paul(February 10) who wrote a comment about Inkscape. To use it I need to know how I can get exact measurement. for example: If I want to go from point 0 to 42cm vertically how can I go about doing that? Hope he will answer. Thanks, Abby
You’re welcome. I’ve done a few variations on the method for different fabrics, but not enough to need a strategy other than “get it near enough, sew it up and fit the rest of the way.”
I would put in a vote for a pattern-specific CAD tutorial. It’s true there are a lot of tutorials, but collating the relevant bits out of several different ones is so time consuming.
Thanks for the link Sandra. I like Corel draw because it has a nice “snap to ruler” feature that makes drawing squared lines really easy. Mostly however I just draw a rectangle and resize it using the dimensions boxes so I can “snap to node”. Several rectangles all snapping to node on the first (usually by cut and paste) can be resized over and over to make a grid for a block or pattern … similar to snap to ruler but you don’t need to change dimensions for each line … just start each line where the other finished … fast and easy.
I’ve been asked a few times to do instructional videos of how to use CAD programs for drawing patterns, but really there are a million and one sites out there showing people how to use each brand of software … people really need to learn how the software works generally first by following the tutorials … doing patterns comes pretty easy after that.
Thanks for the info on socks by the way Sandra, I’m reading through it now … it’s pretty much how I did the wetsuit boots!
I would refer anyone to http://www.fashion-gorgeois.com for tutorials on using vector programs for pattern making itself, not just drawing flats or sketches. I was struggling a bit with Inkscape because I couldn’t find the relevant stuff in the manual easily. I’m not good at reading instructions. Once I watched a bit of the Fashion-gorgeois video with my netbook open to Inkscape next to me (I don’t recommend graphic work on a screen the size of a paperback book but it fits in my purse) I got the hang of it fairly quickly. It was a case of working out what program features were analogous, and finding out where they were located.
Abby, if I understand your question correctly, once you put in your first point you can draw the next one relative to it. You don’t need a fixed XY zero point. Look at the bar at the bottom as you move the cursor. It tells you how far the cursor has moved from the first point, and at what angle. Just make sure that you are working in cm not pixels (or inches for all you Imperial rebels). Document, rulers, guides, grids, everything. I don’t have a lot of experience with Illustrator, but it seems that Inkscape may be a bit easier to use, with less typing numbers into boxes etc. Once I noticed that bar (I can be slow off the mark at times) I was off and running.
Not sure I’m understanding the question right as the answer to the obvious one is as simple as “using the line tool, click where you want it to start and click a second time for where you want it to end”. I don’t use it normaly (I use CorelDraw) but it should have a snap to ruler/guide line in there somere where so you can do a nice straight line …. Or alternatively use the rectangle tool to create both horizontal and vertical guides. There must be tutorials for Inkscape somewhere but again it’s not somethinhg I’ve spent much time looking at. I found Inkscape to be very intuitive when I played with it initially so if you’ve used CorelDraw then it should be straight forward with a little practice.
Hi Stuart, Have a question. since my old copy of Coral draw doesn’t work. I have the inkscape program that you said works great for pattern making. I believe I found the following site on your site: http://www.fashion-gorgeois.com/archives/855 I was trying to create the tutorial bodice, as the above site is a tutorial, but with inskape I don’t know how to get the point to move to the second point. For example, if I want to go 42,5 centimeters down how do I fix a point 0 to go down to 42,5 with this program.
Since you have experience with it I thought you might know. Thank you, Abigail
Hi Abby. CAD is a whole new way of thinking to paper pattern making … you no longer need a french curve to tweak you’re curves just right … you make a curve between two points and you simplyadjust it to whatever shape you like … it’s much much faster and more flexible than using a french curve on paper once you have the hang of it.
Corel Draw 7 is still a great program and just as good as Inkscape, so if you already understand it then by all means its probably better for you. All of these programs pretty much do the same thing in a slightly different way
I down loaded the program you mentioned but it’s not like using a french curve; and how do you make the pattern to come out in cm after all I’m a home sewer. I took 3 courses of Pattern making in Italy for a home sewer. By the way a have a very old copy of corel draw 7 can that be used instead or is this inscape better? Thank you, Abigail
Hi Rainy,
I would recomand you the german CAD system, assyst. Has great functions for patern construction and grading. Really profi!!!! Is easy to learn and fun to use….is not cheap though, but it worth every penny.
…and Stuart…great site!!!
I’m not a CAD teacher as such … I just use it the same as you do … and I encourage others to do the same!
Your question highlights the problem I have with linear grading rules. It says to me your rules are becoming out of kilter as the vertical lines start going horizontal. Easy way to tell is to make both the smallest and largest sizes, check for trueness, then overlay them and grade the intervals in between without using rules but whatever size interval you’re using, confident that they too will be true. You shouldn’t need to manually create every size. You can then compare the result to what you would have previously graded and see where the difference lies … I bet its a bit of both!
I’m an even stronger believer in proportional grading (especially for stretch) having now seen the way measurements seem to increase in a linear fashion proportionately to each other. See the posting on demographics in the blog section. Proportional rather than linear grading rules much lessen the problem you are having generally, although won’t fix the issue I think you’re relating here. That’s the nature of the beast. Try the advice above.
Hi,Stuart,
I’m a pattern maker and CAD operator, using Gerber.
I’ve gone through your website, It is very useful.
As you are a trainer for CAD, I’ve a question regarding grading in CAD.
For a circular skirt, we make patterns in cut and spread method, so the angle of bottom line will be 90° to side seam. the same angle should be maintained for all size is a rule. but while grading, CAD software has options only to meet either angle or measurement. If i meet measurement the pattern goes wrong while stitching( square shape on bottom round at side seams ), If i meet angle the measurement goes wrong. what should i do to meet the both angle and measurement.
Now I’m making patterns separately for all sizes.
Guide me if I’m wrong.
Once again thanks for your website.
Muhamed ali
Sabine, I haven’t used Turbocad so perhaps someone else could comment?
I believe i have Turbocad Version 10 kicking around somewhere-would that work too?
I believe you can import DWG directly into inkscape (it says so on their site). I don’t have one to try with so I can’t say how effective it is. You can of course download a million different DWGtoDXF converters off the net and then import the DXF into inkscape. Of course there are also many DWGtoSVG converters as well!
Hi, I have sewing pattern files in DWG format. Do you know if I can alter them in the Inkscape or another program and print. My files are designed to print on 36″ with and I want to rearange to 24″ roll paper.
Paul, thanks a lot for making the suggestions … many people should be helped by these. I had resisted really getting into inkscape because I’m used to these features in CorelDraw. Interesting that you can measure curve length in Inkscape but not Adobe Illustrator (as far as I know). That makes Inkscape more valuable than Illustrator for the home fashion user … remarkable for a free product.
I’ll put a vote in for Inkscape… at least give it a try because it is completely free. I’ve been using it as a techno-savvy hobbyist for the past year and have not really been limited by it. Some useful Inkscape features that I’ve found that may not be obvious from the outset:
Path|Dynamic Offset: for automatically adding seam allowances
Path|Path Effect Editor: use the “Ruler” effect to draw hash marks at exact distances along any curved line you draw… this makes it easy to create a curve of exactly the right length for matching seam lengths
Extensions|Visualize Path|Measure Path…: measure the exact length of any curved line
Object|Transform|Scale…: scale any object by a percentage. I’ve often found it easier to draft a piece without any ease and then apply the ease afterwards using the Transform menu.
PosteRazor (a separate free application) to tile large patterns across many pages. You can print out the pages on a normal inkjet, and then reassemble them into a large pattern.
Thanks for the input Stuart, I’ll look into the three programs you recommend.
- Great Website! Rainy
Hi Rainy,
Without knowing what you consider to be “mickey mouse” it’s hard to give you an answer. Having used Gerber you’re going to expect certain fashion-custom features to be available in everything and find it frustrating using software that doesn’t perform the same way (it’s the same as the whole mac vs pc argument). I’ve already highlighted the three most popular and powerful CAD programs on the market and I’d happily recommend anyone of them for making patterns. I use Corel Draw in a commercial patternmaking context myself and have done so for over a decade without any problems. You’ll probably find each easy to adapt to if you’ve used gerber but you will have to do alot of things manually. If you want to lose a lot of CAD features and flexibility but get a few automatic fashion features instead then perhaps look at a domestic fashion specific CAD program … personally I find these way too frustrating and inflexible but I can only speak for myself.
Hi Stuart, I’m a retired experienced Gerber PDS/GMS user (19 yrs) My background is pattern making/drafting. I would like to buy software to make patterns at home for pets, crafts and people. Do you have any suggestions? -nothing mickey mouse please.
Thanks Rainy
Okay will try that!
Hi Stuart,
I’ve been a Gerber user for 15 years and in the past worked for Gerber as a PDS/GMS trainer. From a trainer’s standpoint, the biggest stumbling block that I saw with new users of the Gerber system was simply the person’s own fear of the computer itself. Once pattern makers, graders and marker makers saw how they would use the knowledge they already had, and how much less cumbersome using the system was, they turned on to it and jumped in with both feet. The initial jump from table to screen was scary for most.
Also, in terms of curves, I always move the curves provided in the Gerber system into whatever storage area I’m working in. The curves are identical to what a table pattern maker would use. I could then (instead of reinventing the wheel) copy the bits of lines from the chosen curves and obtain the same curved lines as I would have on the table, only much faster! I am a swimwear pattern maker so finely tuned curved lines are critical to the outcome of my patterns.
Thanks for such a wonderful, insightful, web site!
Sharon
I’m not sure what the problem might be with downloading inkscape … it worked fine for me. You’d need to email their support team if you’ve got a problem with their product. For the record, it’s a very good CAD program, especially for something that’s free!
hi Stuart,
I stumbled upon your website and have been studying it thusfar. But i came across a problem when trying to download the Inkscape I found that it will not download correctly to my computer.
could you help?
sincerly
Katie