Basic Sewing Blocks

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, 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!

The Top Foundations

In this chapter I introduce the four top foundations: the basic top, the torso, the shirt and the jacket. All the foundations are drafted from the basic top, so I would advise to start there.

What are the patterns good for:

Basic top: This is a tight fitting pattern that ends at the waist. It is great for dresses with a waist seam or corsets.
Torso 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 foundations: 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 foundations: This foundation is also very similar to the torso but with enough ease to be used for jackets and coats.

Each of these foundations comes with three options, a basic, a casual and an oversized look. If you want to learn more about how to modify them, check out the Drafting Tops 101 article.

TOP FOUNDATION

TORSO FOUNDATION

SHIRT FOUNDATIONS

JACKET FOUNDATIONS

The Skirt Foundations

This next chapter is all about skirts. There are 3 skirt foundations: the basic skirt, the circle and the rectangle. The last two are very easy to draft and you can just draw them when need it.

What are the patterns good for:

Basic skirt: This is the foundation that contours around the body. It is great for designs like a pencil skirt or a straight skirt.
Circle skirt: This foundation has the shape of a circle (or parts of it) and is used for designs with minimal bulk at the waist and added flare at the hem.
Rectangle skirt: This skirt has the shape of a rectangle and is only used when looking for specific designs like a pleated skirt or a layered skirt.

The skirt foundations can also be used when making a dress with a seam at the waist.

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.

SKIRT FOUNDATION

CIRCLE FOUNDATION

RECTANGLE FOUNDATION

The Sleeve Foundations

This section introduces the sleeve blocks. These foundations should only be drafted once the top patterns are ready because you will need some of those measurements.

Here I introduce you to two different foundations, the basic sleeve and the sleeve with a dart. The first one works well with any designs and the second one has the added value that it also follows the shape of the arm so it is more fitted.

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.

SLEEVE FOUNDATION

DART SLEEVE FOUNDATION

The Pants Foundations

This last section introduces the four pants blocks, the culottes, the trousers, the slacks and the jeans.

What are they good for:

Culottes: This pattern is drafted from the skirt foundation and has a lot of ease around the crotch which allows for movement and comfort. The best designs for this foundation are 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: A tighter version of the trousers and these are great for designs like chinos.
Jeans: These are the pants that contour the most around the legs and they are perfect for any jeans design.

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.