Welcome to the Basic Sewing Blocks Library. Here you’ll find the basic foundations for ANY design you want to make. If you’re just getting started, focus on the 4 basic foundations: the Top, the Skirt, the Trousers and the Sleeve. These foundations can be modified to draft the other ones!
In each chapter I’ll share with you what the best projects are for each foundation are, and where you can have more information to draft the final design. Check out the free pattern instructions for similar designs to yours or the shop if you want the concise information.
As always, this is a working document and I will keep adding to it as I learn myself. I would love your feedback!
These are all the available instructions for the top patterns. Each of them comes with instructions for the basic, the casual and the oversized versions. If you are a beginner, start with the top foundation as all the other blocks are drafted from this one. If you want to learn more about how to modify them, check out the Drafting Tops 101 article.
Top foundation: This is a tight fitting pattern that ends at the waist. It is great for dresses with a waist seam or corsets.
Torso/Dress foundation: This is also a tight fitting pattern that ends at the hip. This foundation can also be called dress foundation because it is perfect for dresses without a waist seam.
Shirt foundation: This pattern is very similar to the torso but with added ease for ease of movement. It is the perfect foundation for designs like shirts and blouses.
Jacket foundation: This foundation is also very similar to the torso but with enough ease to be used for jackets and coats.
This section has the instructions for the skirt foundations. If you read the Skirts 101 article, you know there are 3 blocks, the basic, the circle and the rectangle.
We only consider the basic block to be a foundation as the other two will change depending on the design and are easier to draft on the spot instead of having them as foundations.
If you want to learn more about skirts, which one is the best for your design or how to modify it to get a different shape, check out the Drafting Skirts 101 article.
This section introduces the sleeve blocks which should be drafted together with any of the top foundations. The instructions explain how to draft different ease and cap heights and this foundation can be modified into any other sleeve type.
Personally, I do not have a ready-to-use sleeve block, because every block will have different armhole length and cap height requirements. This means that I keep this instructions close by and I draft it every time.
If you want to learn how to modify these foundations to get designs like the raglan, kimono or dolman sleeve, check out the Drafting Sleeves 101 article.
This section introduces the four pants blocks, the culottes, the trousers, the slacks and the jeans. If you want to learn more about how to change the foundations to get to your design you can check the Drafting Trousers 101, or get my ebook on how to draft trousers.
Culottes: This pattern is drafted from the skirt foundation and has a lot of ease around the crotch. This block is great for designs like the culottes and the palazzo pants.
Trousers: This is the most basic foundation and it has enough ease to be comfortable but still shapes the body. The trousers are great for any formal type of pants.
Slacks: This is a slightly tighter version of the trousers and this foundation is the base for designs like the chinos.
Jeans: These are the pants that contour the most around the legs and they are perfect for any jeans design.
This last section introduces all the foundations used for stretchy fabrics. For now, the instructions are only available for the top stretch patterns but more will be added with time.
If you want to learn how to modify these foundations, check out the Drafting Elastics 101 article when it’s ready
