Hi all – today I’m excited to announce something else I’ve had in the works for a while – PDF pattern services and classes for aspiring PDF pattern designers! In other words – how to make pdf sewing patterns. As a professional designer with my own successful line of patterns and a teaching background plus 12 years in the classroom, I know that these courses are well structured to put you on your way to your own pattern line!
When I started trying to make my first PDF pattern, the resources were wide and scarce. I compiled some of them here, but since then I’ve learned a lot just through my own trial and error and refining what I know about the programs and how that applies to what I know about pattern drafting. And I now have a system that works pretty well for me. So I thought I’d take some of the guesswork out of this endeavor for others, and share what I’ve learned. Because the teacher in me might be out of the classroom, but that just means the whole population of the internet are my students now.
This course called Creating PDF Patterns + Pattern Grading is available now to teach you how to scan, digitize, format for printing, and draft and grade within Illustrator to create your own PDF patterns. The course is taught through a combination of written course materials and video, and each lesson includes printable resources.
This is the course I wish I had been able to find when I started – it covers only what you need to know in Illustrator as a pattern designer, not all the other bells and whistles that graphic designers love about it. It is a vast program capable of a lot, but there are only a few tools needed as a pattern designer. So instead of sorting through hundreds YouTube or Vimeo videos about how to use it, and googling to figure out how to do what you want to do, I’ve focused the content for you – this is just what you need as a pattern designer.
I decided to focus on Illustrator for a few reasons:
- It’s what most of the professional independent pattern designers I know use
- It’s the most accessible tool for the job – yes there are workarounds that allow you to use Photoshop, but I don’t think building your potential business is where you want to be using workarounds that might affect your product quality. And it costs much less than the CAD software that bigger companies use.
- It’s stable software. I tried Inkscape before I committed to Illustrator, but it crashed on me constantly.
- Adobe now offers subscription services, which means that even if you can’t afford the huge price tag on the software, you can get access to it through their Creative Cloud on a monthly basis for a much more reasonable fee.
The right software and the tools to use it are an investment in your business. As businesses go, I still think a monthly subscription and the price of a course are super low startup costs.
The third course, Draft a Child’s Bodice is for those who just want to dip their toes into drafting methods. You don’t need Illustrator to do this one, and your you’re free to draft with your child’s measurements or the measurements tables I provide.
You can read more about any of these courses by clicking on their buttons below – or you can also enroll through those buttons and join the hundreds of satisfied students I’ve already taught.
Regina
I love your patterns and I just down loaded the romper pattern and would like to get the criss cross dress pattern.
How can I get it? Is it offered as a free pattern each week? Thanks regina
Jeannie dougherty
I would love to learn how to take a aline dress for a child and change the neckline on it. Can you you give me some directions or a blog? Thank you.
Jane
Hi I want to make bag patterns, sewing machine covers, pin cushions etc, would this me suitable?
Melissa Mora
Yes, you’d learn skills applicable to any type of sewing pattern you want to make.
Asumpta
I’ve been needing to learn this for some time, thank God i found you!
Hannah
Good job Melly, just found the starter video on YouTube and I must say it was very explanatory. Hopefully I’ll be able to afford buying the materials soon. Keep up the good work