Unpopular opinion: patterns aren't the enemy of unique design

I used to think using store-bought patterns was cheating. For like 5 years I refused to touch them, thinking I had to draft everything from scratch to be a real designer. Then about 2 years ago I was working on a coat for a client in Chicago and spent 3 weeks getting the sleeve cap wrong. Finally I bought a basic pattern from Simplicity and altered the hell out of it - changed the collar, added pleats, swapped the length. The client loved it and I saved 12 hours of frustration. Now I treat patterns like a starting point, not a rulebook. Has anyone else found that using a pattern as a base actually freed up more time for creative details?

2 comments

2 Comments

blair6308d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah, that sleeve cap thing is brutal, I once spent a whole weekend staring at one before giving up and using a pizza box as a template.

avery6297d ago

Bought a Vogue pattern last year just to steal their sleeve cap math and saved 3 days of guessing.