Earlier, I promised you a post about a cool pattern making technique and here it is – Transformational Reconstruction! The designer behind the idea is Shingo Sato. As far as I know, he’s written one book on the subject, holds workshops and to top it off, runs a Youtube channel with “watch-and-learn-guides”.

The basic idea behind TR Design is to manipulate your  garment in 3D and not in 2D. Begin by creating a muslin with fitting of your choice and then fit it onto your mannequin (or other test subject). Next step is to grab a pen and draw your design straight onto the muslin. When your happy with your new design, remove the muslin from the mannequin and cut it open. You will most likely have a flat pattern ready to use by now but it that’s not the case, I recommend having a look at the video TR Cutting School – Easing and Forming. The last step is to cut out the new pattern pieces in a proper fabric and sew everything together.

I’m actually trying this out when making the pattern for my wedding dress. So far, I’m rather happy with this way of working. I had to make quite a few adjustments on my second muslin after noticing that there’s a huge difference in making a dress with one shoulder-strap and two shoulder-straps. Apparently one needs to make a really fitted bodice if one expects it to stay in one place. Today I learn. On the plus side, I just had to remove the straps and make the darned thing smaller and then later on, reattached the straps. Bridezilla transformation: successfully aborted! BOYAH!

Some day (when I’ve finished the dress) I’ll try out an even more elaborate design using transformational reconstruction.

For more information, I recommend checking out the Youtube channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/trpattern