Tutorial Resizing Human Patterns TUTORIAL

Thank you so much for this tutorial! I have it bookmarked and will be attempting to adjust some patterns! I'm excited now because it's hard finding patterns for BJDs!

 

I read the tutorial on Dale Rae's website and I just could not understand it. This is so much simpler, thank you!!!

 

Wow, this is such a great idea! Thanks for the awesome tutorial....What once was a complicated business now has become much simpler...Thank you so much!

 

This is a great, easy to follow tutorial. I picked up some old patterns at an antique shop that I am itching to try this with XD

 

I found this tutorial easy to follow and sewed up a cute dress for my Lorelai, will post a pic asap. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful tutorial.

 

This tutorial is perfect! Thank you so much for taking the time to show all of us. I have a ton of old costume patterns laying around and didn't know what to do with them, but now they are going in the dolly pile!

 

thank you! this is amazing.

 

This tutorial and the idea in general is amazing! I know what I'll be doing with my free time from now on

 

Thanks for the tutorial, it's a great help.

 

Wow thank you so much! I've found that its hard to buy the clothes that I want for my dolls but making them opens so many door!

 

That is really helpful! Thank you very much!

 

Such a great idea! It will definitely help me get my new doll into some correctly fitting pants.

 

You
are
the
best
person
ever!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This is awesome! I cant wait to try it out!

 

Printing Tutorial for Large Patterns (SD size)

I use photoshop cs5 to print the resized patterns out, but I'm sure there are other programs that do this.
For photoshop

1. go to print
2. uncheck center image
3. drag image to the top of image
4. print
5. drag image to the bottom of image
6. print
7. drag image to the side (if necessary)
8. print

Here is a part of a cloak pattern, and it should look like this:

 

Thank you so much for this! If only I'd known about it a few days ago - I just threw away a whole bag of patterns. *sigh*

 

This is such a great idea, I can't wait to try it out for myself, thanks for sharing

 

what a great tuitorial, thanks for sharing
Ilse

 

Here is another pattern I've made up for my MSD dolls. It's a reproduction of a 1940's Shirley Temple dress. Simplicity 9346

 

This makes SO much sense!! Thank you so much for posting it I can't wait to try it!!

 

This is excellent! I was hoping there would be an easy way to use those pieces!

 

Thank you soo much!!! It's so hard making your own pattern!!

 

Can this method be used with any human size patterns or just "Simplicity" brands pattern sheets?

 

Almost all patterns today have the technical drawings included.

Belinda

 

THANK YOU for doing this. I have tons of patterns that I would love to turn into doll outfits and this will be a huge help!

 

Thank you for this - it was most helpful.
However, I discovered that none of the programs on my computer had the option of enlarging or decreasing using a percentage. That was a bit frustrating, but by trying again and again using inches and/or centimeters I was able to get the pieces to the right size. And for me Instead of keeping all the pattern pieces separate, I put all the pieces for each garment together and enlarged/decreased them all at once. Then I was able to get them all the same size.
I am very happy with my finished garment.

 

Oh my gosh this is fabulous!!!! Now when patterns go on sale for a dollar I can buy loads and resize them for my Minifee gang!!! Brilliant!

 

Another tip: given most SD girl proportions, their cup sizes are equivalent to C/D. (Easy formula for figuring out equivalent: measure at full bust and under bust, multiply both by 4 for SD, subtract difference between the two. A = 1", B = 2", C = 3", D = 4", etc. I use 4 instead of 3 because SD measurements are petite even at human scale. A 21.5" band size is much rarer than a 28.5".)

Most human scale patterns, and almost all Big 4 patterns, are developed for a B cup (exceptions below). Patterns that come with multi-cup pattern pieces are easiest to use -- using the C or D piece. Other patterns need a full bust adjustment, which is easy, but fiddly at this scale. (I recommend Mary Danielson Perry's tutorial, found here: http://curvysewingcollective.com/the-beginners-guide-full-bust-adjustment/ , using a scant 2-3 mm adjustment.) Alternately, Nancy Zieman's pivot and slide alteration can work reasonably well.

I find I have to do three regular adjustments -- a small swayback adjustment (to take in the small of the back), a narrow shoulder adjustment and a long waist adjustment. I also often have to flatten the sleeve cap.

Exception pattern companies: these pattern companies do not need a full bust adjustment because they are drafted on a larger cup size.
Colette Patterns -- classic-contemporary design, built on a C cup (gold standard directions)
Hot Patterns -- contemporary, built on a D cup (complicated directions; patterns can be poorly printed.)
Blue Ginger Doll -- human scale patterns, classic-contemporary, built on a D cup (excellent directions)
Deer & Doe -- contemporary, built on C cup (I haven't used these patterns.)
Kitschycoo Patterns -- contemporary knits, built on a C cup for knits.
Kwiksew -- Kwiksew's XS/S are built for B cups, M for C and L/XL for D. This can be useful for comparison purposes.

 

Thank you for posting this! I've been trying to find it again for a while! And thanks to everyone for all of their great tips! I can't wait to give this a try!

 

it's awesome tip. thank you very much and I think I can use this tip very useful.

 

The problem with using a larger size is that the shoulders may be too large and the sleeve cap seam may droop. That being something I hate in my own clothes, it just picks at my perfectionist streak. But I agree -- cheap patterns are worth the fudging of them.

I am actually having a great streak with Colette patterns. The scan @ 125% and expand to 500% method is fitting Resinsoul 60cm girls precisely (except leg length, but humans do not have doll proportion legs).

 

Great idea, thanks!

 

This is so much easier than trying to draw the patterns out and hoping they're close enough. Thank you!!

 

I actually use those technical designs as a starting point to draw my own - I measure the doll & use graph paper. If I've the patterns I know what pieces I need to make

 

I like this better than attempting to guess patterns with newspaper. Far more accurate.

 

This is amazing! Thank you so much!

 

Thanks for this! Can't wait to get my girl and start sewing (I know I could already start now by her measurements, but I'm scared - I'd rather try it on her as I'm making it)

 

I love this tutorial! I've been playing with it lately, and here's the finished results I've gotten so far:

From Simplicity 8192, I used the dress but drafted my own corset, since I wanted a different style from the one shown in the pattern.
Prae's Dress Complete! by vicemage, on Flickr

And this one's from Simplicity 5359:
Kneeling by vicemage, on Flickr

I've got more cut out to work on, and hopefully I'll remember to come back and post more of them!

 

Been looking for some techniques like this thank you so much. Well time to try and practice sewing again but first pattern! Hihi

 

Thank you for the tutorial! I have to give it a try in the future!

 

Great tool. Thanks for sharing.

 

So many new options have opened up now.

Thanks so much for sharing.

 

NOT the best pic, but this is a denim jacket & jeans that I made by resizing an old pattern - I'd made the jacket (full size) years ago for my little brother LOL

 

I could do this with some of my old "ugly" quilting cotton for test pieces, and make stuff for my tinies! thank you!

 

EilonwyG, thank you so much for the tutorial. It was very clear. I can't wait to try it. I also like your Simplicity 4092 you made.

Elfstone, you really went to town with the technique. I love the steampunk outfits. My new doll's first outfit will be steampunk. I look forward to using one of my human patterns for this.

Vicemage, Beautiful outfit!

Teleri, I'm impressed with the jacket and jeans. The detail is fantastic!

 

This is great information - thank you very much for this post! Can't wait to give it a shot.

 

Here's another pattern I prepared using this technique; this is Simplicity 8944 (discontinued), with some modifications to make it match the look I wanted. (I've also made the same coat with the same modifications at full size, so I was well prepared for what needed to be changed.) And I've got plenty more patterns to try out!

 

My latest pattern - it's Butterick 3830 (Cowboy gear) - I resized the coat for my 70cm boys. Here's Trey (AngellStudio Ty) modeling:

 

Gorgeous!! Thank you so much for that! Been looking for this because I've some cute pattern, but couldn't find a way to resize them xD

 

Thank you for sharing this. I am so going to try it.

 

Awesome! This is very helpful ,Thanks for the tutorial

 

I'm SO glad I found this technique. I am already imaging all the costume and historical clothes my dolls can have now.

 

This is great. If the pieces are small I usually scale them on my ipad screen and then use it like a light box to create a paper pattern. I learned pattern manipulation the hard way so this is easy for me.

 

This is great!! Thank you soo much!!

 

Thank you so much for this tutorial. I was going to pull out my old college costuming textbook out and try recreating the pattern pieces by drafting but now I can just ask my DH if he'll move the scanner into my sewing room this weekend.

 

Thank you for this! Also..While sheets would be a great way to cut patterns, would interfacing work? I think of it as the stuff dryer sheets are made of but of course, it isn't. I can't think of the name. I just need something with a bit of body, since I have trouble handling some biggish bits of material, due to hand-eye coordination issue. Oh..and Eilonwy I love love love your name. My favorite character in Prydain.