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The History of Pattern Making

Pattern making has its origins in early humans' need to create clothing and shelter. Over hundreds of years, patterns evolved as a template for recreating perfected designs. Initially, fit was not important in clothing which was largely utilitarian, but as fashion advanced, fit emerged to create desired body shapes or increase comfort. The first known clothing patterns appeared in Spain in the 1500s and provided instructions for tailors. Later books from the 1700s provided more technical instructions on measurement, cutting and construction but were still aimed at professionals. In the 1800s, less technical books and full-size patterns were produced for home sewers, especially charitable groups, and provided patterns and garment drawings.

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VeronChris Mison Balangatan
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1K views1 page

The History of Pattern Making

Pattern making has its origins in early humans' need to create clothing and shelter. Over hundreds of years, patterns evolved as a template for recreating perfected designs. Initially, fit was not important in clothing which was largely utilitarian, but as fashion advanced, fit emerged to create desired body shapes or increase comfort. The first known clothing patterns appeared in Spain in the 1500s and provided instructions for tailors. Later books from the 1700s provided more technical instructions on measurement, cutting and construction but were still aimed at professionals. In the 1800s, less technical books and full-size patterns were produced for home sewers, especially charitable groups, and provided patterns and garment drawings.

Uploaded by

VeronChris Mison Balangatan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE HISTORY OF PATTERN

MAKING
We previously shared The History of Tailoring  and continue our series on fit with a
comprehensive history of pattern making.

In order to survive, human beings had to master the arts of creating and sustaining food, clothing,
and shelter. As time went on, we became better at those tasks and began to create standards for
what worked best and instructions on how to replicate the best results. That is a pattern’s main
function: to act as a template for recreating a design that has been created and (hopefully)
perfected.

For hundreds of years, fit was not considered particularly important when it came to clothing.
Clothing was largely utilitarian and the most important feature of any garment was that it
covered your body. As the concept of fashion advanced, fit began to emerge as a way to create
desired body shapes or to make clothing more comfortable or functional. But, initially, fit was
considered a luxury – something only the wealthy had the disposable income to worry with. More
affluent families could hire tailors or dressmakers to custom sew garments, but the average
citizen made their own, or reworked hand-me-down clothes.

The first known clothing patterns appeared in Spain – Juaan de Alcega’s  Libro de Geometric
Practica y Traca in 1589, and La Rocha Burguen’s Geometrica y Traca in 1618. During these
years, Spanish fashions dominated European dress – and these books gave specifics on making
garments for men, women, clergy, and knights – but were perfunctory how-to books written for
tailors. Later books, like L’Art du Tailleur by de Garsault and Diderot’s L’Encyclopédie Diderot
et D’Alembert: arts de l’habillement,  written in the 1700s, provided instruction on measurement,
cutting, garment fit, and construction, but they, too, were written with the professional tailor in
mind.

In the 1800s, less technical books were produced for home sewers – particularly those in
charitable ladies’ groups. The charmingly titled  Instructions for Cutting Out Apparel for the
Poor and The Lady’s Economical Assistant printed full-size patterns for practical items of
clothing. The Workman’s Guide provided not just patterns, but also detailed drawings of the final
garments, and pattern drafting instructions.

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