Grid Patterns and Ratios

When I am not teaching math, I make costumes from scratch.  I also buy parts and put them together to create a certain look.  It all depends.  I was at Costume College this past week which is a three day event where people come to learn more about certain aspects of costuming.  They sometimes listen to lectures while other times, they attend workshops.

One lecture I attended was on enlarging pattern pieces drawn on graph paper in books.  Many times, the books are published showing a style like the one in today's picture.  On the other side of the page they print the pattern pieces. 

Sometimes, the pieces are separated while other times the pieces are printed on top of each other.  Either way, they are printed on a grid with a scale found somewhere on the page.  Occasionally, you will not be able to find a scale so you set one such as one square equals one foot.  Some of the earlier books do not even have a scale and you end up reproducing it on graph paper.

The instructor suggested people stock up on wrapping paper because the backside of it has one inch squares already printed there.  To do this, she taped a good sized sheet of paper on the board so it would remain stationary.  She would then place a dot on one intersection that represented the corner of the piece.

From there she would carefully count out from there the number of squares to the left, or right, up or down.  If there were curves, she'd carefully  mark off the appropriate dots and connect them using a french curve.  Eventually you end up with a larger pattern that has been proportionally enlarged properly.

Most people who start with these types of patterns, realize the enlarged pattern will probably not be the correct size even enlarged.  This is for several reasons.  One is that if the piece the author used was old enough to create the pattern, it could have been a young person's outfit so it will be too small.

Little history lesson here.  Way back in past times, especially in the 1800's once fashion and women's magazines started appearing, small patterns on grids were included in as a special extra.  Many magazines would publish one outfit a year, or every quarter or every issue depending.  Women were expected to take the small sized drawings and create the full sized patterns to make the outfit.

This is a wonderful example of how ratios and proportions are used in real life.

  Several of these dresses might have been made by enlarging a pattern from a book filled with patterns from a certain time period.  I've done it but I didn't use this method. 

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  I'm still researching the mathematical pattern information for clothing patterns.  As soon as I find it all, I will be sharing.  Have a great day and sorry I went MIA for Sunday but I got so caught up in attending classes, I didn't get a chance to post anything.