Back to School -- First Patternmaking Class!

I went back to school yesterday!

Actually, yesterday was our second class; I'd missed the first one as I was on vacation.  I nearly didn't get into Patternmaking at FIT at all because by the time I tried to register, all three sections of the class were full (they're each limited to 18 students) and for some reason they weren't maintaining waiting lists.  From Provincetown I managed to get someone in the department to find out if any of the professors would be willing to take one more student.  Fortunately for me, someone was: Professor Tamanaha.

I owned most of the supplies we'll be using already, with the exception of an L-shaped ruler, which I picked up locally on Tuesday.  The supply list includes muslin, pencils, rulers, pins, tape -- about what you'd expect.  I'm one of only two guys in the class; the rest are women.  There are a few people around my age in the class but most seem to be undergraduates or maybe just a little older than that.

The room is full of Alva body forms and each student will choose a form to work with over the semester (or so it seems).  I think most of the first class was focused on how to take the necessary measurements of the body form; luckily I was familiar with most of these measurements already.  We were given handouts on what to measure and then how to use the measurements to draft a basic sleeveless front and back bodice to fit the body form we'd chosen.







We spent most of the 3-1/2 hour class drafting, with the professor first demonstrating at the blackboard, and then all of us students working on our own.  The time flew by, though by 10 pm I was pretty fried.  I like the professor a lot -- very clear and also helpful.

Our only assignment is to complete our bodice drafts but since I finished mine in class, I'm basically homework free.  (If there's time it might be fun to draft for the body form I have at home too.)

I really enjoy all the measuring, calculating, and drafting: I find it very satisfying.  I've already done some drafting, albeit using a different formula than the one being taught in this class, and that helps tremendously.   (Clearly there are a number of different formulas people use to draft bodices, maybe with the same results and maybe not.)  So that was class #1!

Meanwhile I've been busy working on another shirt muslin (below), which I'm making entirely on my Elna Grasshopper.  I love sewing with it, though I'm not used to working on a free arm: I may consider setting up the table using the metal carrying case after all -- we'll see. 



And that's it!

Anyone ever taken a patternmaking class out there? If so, how was it?

Have a great day, everybody!