Patternmaking For A Perfect Fit: Using The Rub-... May 2026

It was perfect. The shoulders sat exactly where her natural shoulders ended. The back didn't pull when she crossed her arms. It was the exact, flawless silhouette of her favorite thrifted jacket, now immortalized in a paper pattern she could recreate in any fabric she desired. Clara realized she hadn't just copied a jacket; she had unlocked the secret to a perfect fit.

Clara laid a large sheet of pattern paper over her corkboard, and then laid the front panel of the jacket over the paper. Smoothing the fabric carefully to ensure the grainline was perfectly straight, she began the "rubbing" process. Patternmaking for a Perfect Fit: Using the Rub-...

Clara cleared off her large wooden dining table and gathered her tools: The target garment (her beloved denim jacket) A large cork tracing board Dozens of fine straight pins Translucent medical pattern paper A tracing wheel with a serrated edge A mechanical pencil and French curve rulers It was perfect

The next step was "truing" the pattern. Clara took her French curve and straight rulers to connect the dotted lines left by the tracing wheel, smoothing out the wobbles. It was the exact, flawless silhouette of her

She started by prepping the jacket. She buttoned it up and laid it completely flat. She realized her first lesson: a 3D garment does not want to lie flat on a 2D surface. To combat this, Clara stuffed a small towel into the sleeve to maintain its shape while she worked on the bodice. 📍 The Pinning and Rubbing