Understand fabrics like a professional pattern maker

Are you sure that pattern will work well with that fabric? Understand the basic fundamentals of fabrics when making patterns.

Woven, jersey and the third option

We can distinguish the material that we will use when making our garments in 3 categories:

The Woven fabric consists of vertically and horizontally interwoven threads. As a general rule, the vertical thread will be the most stable. To add some flexibility to the fabrics, elastic fibers are used in the horizontal threads. 

The Jersey fabric differs from the woven fabric that in its most basic form, it is made from a single continuous thread that loops together. All knitted materials are more flexible because the loops can be distorted and return to their usual shape.

The third option would be all those materials that don’t fit in the previous descriptions. Examples are leather or plastic but there are many more. With these materials the grain line is not that important because they have other types of properties. The patterns will also have to be different. Normally, fashion schools mainly teach for woven fabric because it is somewhat more complex.

Grain Line

The Grain line is a reference mark that every pattern should have that indicates in which direction or directions that pattern can be put on the fabric when cutting.

As explained before, the vertical threads of the fabric are the most stable and deform less, so the most normal thing is that the patterns go in that direction. To give you an example, a shirt, if the fabric allows it, will be cut parallel to the fabric but the cuffs and yoke will be cut against the thread to give it more resistance and so it better adapts to the body.

The grain line usually goes perpendicular to the selvedge (edge of the fabric) unless otherwise indicated. Over time you will learn that there are patterns that can be put in different directions to reduce costs or to fit better to the body.

If the grain line is not done properly, there will be problems that the garment won’t hang properly or some seams are distorted (you may notice in cheaper jeans that the seam is turned) among other problems.

Bias

A bias pattern is a pattern cut at a 45 degree angle to the fabric. This allows the fibers to expand and this creates an elasticity that helps the fabric to mold to the body.

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