Long time no see

Hi all,

It’s been a long time since my last post. I have been quite busy with my big plan of immigrating to Canada. That was tons of work – from sitting in IELTS exam, accessing diplomas and preparing all kinds of documents. I spent over 6 months to finish all the Canadian authorities required and finally submitted my application in April 9. Although I do not know what lies await for me in Canada, but I truly hope that it is better than what I am having now in Vietnam. Lots of Vietnamese people are moving out of the country to run away from environment pollution, extreme corruption and low quality of life and I am no exception. You may say there is no guarantee that life in a faraway country could be better or worse, but it’s always worth trying.

Now my plan has reached the waiting-for-PR period which can take at least 4 months, I am not as busy anymore. Because I can’t stand being idle, I’m back to my favorite activity of sewing and designing! I even dream of opening a tailor shop in the future when I arrive in Canada – well, there is a long way to go, but no-one taxes your dream, right?

Although I did not have time to write blog, I did try to improve my skill in designing whenever I want to escape from the stress of work and other pressure in life. I have a good friend who is a professional pattern designer in a big company in my country, and he taught me a lot in pattern making – some are secrets that professionals seldom share with other people – during our coffee talks during weekends. He also introduced me to computer-aided designing programs used by large companies and their advantages over Adobe Illustrator which most of indie designers are using.

Now besides Adobe Illustrator, I am learning to use a professional pattern drafting software called Lectra Modaris, which is a very famous computer-aided designing program used by professionals all around the world. I bet this can help me a lot in the future. Of course, this means I can share with you more professionally looking patterns. I think that making separate pattern for each size is quite time-consuming and can be inconvenient if you want to download patterns for many sizes, so I will try to come up with nested patterns. You can download just one file, print out and cut whichever size you need, or even cut between sizes if your body is not all one size. I will have a blogpost about blending sizes to your personal shape.

My little boy is now over one and half years old, and I found myself highly interested in sewing cute clothing for him. Of course, I became enthusiastic about designing for babies and kids also – they are so adorable! Don’t be surprised if you see patterns for little babies and kids in the near future! And if you are a mother, let’s expect cute designs for your darlings!

You are going to see a lot of changes in my designs, and I hope you like it!

Love XXX

Tine the Little Sewist 

The basic dress block #1

(Download links at the end of the post)

I would love to post here the basic dress block, which is the start of all kinds of dresses. If you are a just a bit familiar with sewing, you may have heard of this already.

When I first started sewing about thirteen years ago, I struggled with drafting a correct basic dress block for my figure because I was just a self-taught designer. I read a lot of designing books, and it finally became easier for me to draft the block for myself (at first, I was only thinking of sewing my own dresses). Gradually, I got more ‘customers’ who were my mother, my sisters, friends and their mothers. They all loved to have the custom-made dresses that I sew for them. Choosing between a dress made exactly for your figure and a store bought one, you know the result!

The hobby then became a small business. At peak time, I had customers waiting for 1 month to get their desired dress. I always draft a personal basic dress block for each of my customers and save it for the next time they come to me. As I had more customers, it took me more and more time to start from scratch, and I understand the feeling of those who must spend a lot of time beginning. That is why I turned to digital designing. And now I just need to input the measurements and print out the blocks. Next, I just need to modify it to make the styles to customer’s ideas.

A basic dress block is surely a great time-saver. From this you can easily modify and create all kind of styles and designs. If you are a newbie, just this block can turn into a great sheath dress! If you are already familiar with designing using blocks, you will find it enjoyable just copying it to drafting paper, then draw and cut them to your ideas. There are a lot of books about pattern drafting, and all of them start with a basic block. You can also find on the Internet a lot of blogs talking about pattern modification – I sometimes take ideas from them. Pinterest is also a good source for ideas – I have a board named Sewing where I put a lot of pictures related to sewing and pattern drafting. Surfing Pinterest has also become one of my favorite leisure time activity!

That’s enough with the blabbing! Now turn to the pattern pieces that I am sharing today!

The basic dress block is, um, up to its name, basic! And it is important – I must say it is the foundation of fashion designing. You cannot have a good dress if you do not have a good basic block – of course there are some dresses that do not require patterns, I will write about them some day.

As I am short and curvy, I love to make petite patterns to share with those who has the same problem with me. That is why this basic dress block is created for both petite size and normal size. It is also created without any seam allowance. When you finish modifying the block, add seam allowance as you love to.

The pattern is created in pdf format using A4 paper. The patterns use the sizes in the size chart here. If your size is different from the one shown in my blog, please comment your measurements below. I will make a pattern closest to your measurements. I can also create the pattern in other paper sizes (A0 to A4, Letter, Tabloid), so please inform me if you need them.

Not sure how to print and cut the patterns? Check the guide here.

Again, happy sewing! I hope to see your masterpiece!

XOXO

Tiên the Little Sewist

Download links for the basic dress block:

Check for your size in the Size Chart before downloading.

Petite XS	Regular XS
Petite S	Regular S
Petite M	Regular M
Petite L	Regular L
Petite XL	Regular XL
Petite XXL	Regular XXL

Hello world!

Hi everyone,

This blog is created to share my love for sewing and creating sewing patterns.

I have a petite and curvy body shape, and this is why it is quite a problem finding clothes that fit me well at the stores. After giving birth to my baby, the problem got worse, and I turned to self-making my own clothes.

My taste in fashion can be summarized in a few words: simple - elegant - classic. I admit I am not very adventurous with my clothing. Most of which I created are dresses - sheath dresses, fit and flare dresses, shift dresses. I always try to make my creation with highest quality standard - choosing nice fabrics, careful with cutting, ironing and sewing. I love to know that my dresses can be compared with pricey tailor made dresses at the store. Above all, I love wearing my self-made dresses, because it gives me the feeling of achievement.

A few years ago, I also downloaded patterns online, printing and cutting them to make my own clothes. But most of them were made with "normal"sizes for women of 170cm average height. With someone who is only 157cm tall like me, the patterns needed a lot of alteration - sometimes it took more time than drafting a complete new one.

I realized that many other had the same problem. Most of us are not "normal"- we are either too short or too tall, too big or too small. That is why I made the patterns for not-so-normal sizes, mostly for petite women. Some are made for tall women because I have a friend who is nearly 180cm tall.

As time goes by, I grow more and more interested in creating patterns. I love how the patterns are turned into beautiful dresses by my friends - how creative they are! They made all kind of small changes in the original designs and got their own unique creations! I can now create a pattern, give it to my friends and eagerly wait for them to bring me surprises.

This is why I create this blog. I want to share all of this to anyone who loves sewing, and I love to see how you guys turn the patterns into real clothes.

My patterns tend to be classic - with basic forms and shapes, which leaves you a lot of space for improvising. I will try my best to make them as diverse as possible.

Hope that everyone would love this blog!

XOXO

Tien - the Petite Sewist