Demystifying Pattern Markings - What Do They Mean?

Sometimes patterns and pattern markings can be confusing. So I thought it would be helpful to put together a glossary of terms for you to use as a reference point as and when you need it.

Buttonhole Position

This has been carefully worked out by the pattern designer and should be followed.

On a woman’s garment which is fastened at the front the buttonholes are placed on the right hand side and, on the back of the garment, they are positioned on the left hand side.

The 3 main key placement points for a buttonhole are the neck, the fullest part of the bust and the waist. Additional buttonholes are then spaced evenly between these points. The buttonhole must be positioned on the garment you are making in relation to the button placement line which, in turn, is placed according to the centre line of the garment. The pattern will tell you to mark the button placement line on both halves of the garment in order for the central lines of the garment to match when your garment is closed.

There are 2 buttonhole positions: the Vertical buttonhole and the Horizontal buttonhole.

• The vertical buttonhole – is often used with a narrow placket where there is not much space such as a shirt or blouse band or where there are a lot of small buttons closing the garment.

• The horizontal buttonhole – is used on most garments and is the most secure.

It sounds more complicated than it is and if you follow the pattern markings all the hard work is done for you and your garment will match when closed!

Circles/ squares/solid triangles

These are markings to be transferred from the pattern pieces to the fabric for matching or to indicate detail.

You can mark these on to your fabric either by transferring the mark with chalk or a fabric pen or by placing a tailor tack (see the short video below on how to make a tailor tack).

Cutting Line

Solid line on pattern piece used as a guide for cutting out fabric –many patterns today have more than one size printed on the pattern paper. Each size is clearly marked and the cutting lines are indicated often using a different colour or type of line for each size.

Top Tip: highlight with a highlighter pen the line you are going to be cutting on all your pattern pieces before you trace or cut your pattern, it might add 5 minutes to your garment making but will save you time and money if you make a mistake!

Darts Darts are folds of fabric stitched to a point, used to give shape and fit to a garment. Next to seams darts are the most basic structural elements in dressmaking. They are denoted on a pattern as broken lines (stitching lines) that meet at a solid point. All darts must be first transferred from your pattern piece to your material using your preferred method of marking, then you will need to pin and tack the dart carefully before accurately machine stitching it in place. Darts normally fall into 3 categories:

• Plain Darts – These are often found at the waistline of skirt or trousers or at the bust on a top. They can also be found at the elbow and shoulder.

• Contour Dart – Is normally a long diamond shape dart that fits at the waistline and then tapers off to fit both the bust and hip a the front of a dress or the back and hip on the back of the dress.

• French Dart – Extends diagonally from the side seam in the hip area to the bust, it can be found on the front of tops and dresses. This dart can either be straight or slightly curved to achieve garment fit.

Grainline

This is a straight line with arrow heads at either end, it means place pattern piece lengthwise on grain of fabric. If you did not place your pattern on the grainline your garment would turn out twisted or mis-shapen.

Hemline

This line tells you the recommended finish edge of your garment, if there is no line then there will be an instruction at the bottom of the pattern eg turn up a 1.5cm hem.

“Lengthen or shorten here” lines

This is denoted on the pattern as a double line and it is used to specify the exact place to lengthen or shorten the garment to suit your measurements. It is important to adjust the length of your garment where it states in order to create a well fitting balanced garment. If you were to lengthen or shorten your garment in a different place of your choice you will lose the intended shape of your garment, especially if you are having to add or take a couple of inches off your garment.

Notches

Diamond or triangle shaped symbols used for accurate joining of pieces when making garment up. One diamond or triangle denotes the front of that pattern piece, two diamond or triangles together references the back of a pattern piece.

When marking these on your fabric you may want to cut the triangles outwards so they are extra to your seam allowance or snip into the seam allowance. Either way works but it is important to remember that if you have a small seam allowance not to cut a large snip inwards going beyond your seam allowance.

Place on Fold Bracket

This is another form of grainline marking – it means that the thin outer continuous line of the cut pattern is to be placed exactly on the folded edge of fabric. You will find this on front pieces of many patterns.

Seam Allowance

Sometimes marked as a broken stitching line all around the pattern but more often or not in modern patterns it is in the instructions. E.g. sew a seam allowance of 5/8 in or 1.5cm. It is very important to stick to the seam allowance instructed as the pattern has been drawn up in such a way that that seam allowance will give you the fit the measurements indicate, if you do not follow it your garment will more than likely be either too small if you have taken a bigger seam allowance or too big if you have taken a smaller seam allowance. Also the crucial shaping elements such as the darts will be in the wrong place and you will more often than not have a garment that does not fit and is unwearable.

Small Arrows

These are not often seen on the new indie patterns that are available now but if you were to sew a vintage Vogue or Burda you would come across them and they do have an important role. They tell you which direction that seam should be sewn to get the best possible fit and finish.

Zip Placement

This indicates the placement of the zip on the seamline. Top and bottom markings show precise length of zip to be used. The instructions in the pattern will also indicate which method to use when inserting the zip e.g. invisible/concealed zip, a centred zip or a face fly front zip.

At first this all seems like double dutch but the more garments you sew the more confident you will become with pattern placing and markings. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to drop me an email on