How to Improve Your Sewing by Building a Fashion File
Let me preface this by shooting myself in the foot! Although we sell fashion file packs here at Digital Pattern Library, you do not need to purchase them to get started building your very own fashion file.
But, what is a fashion file?
Throughout my career spanning over a decade, I have kept arch lever files stuffed to the brim with notes, photos, sketches, samples and techniques that I’ve picked up through both formal education and industry experience.
So far, I have about four bursting at the spine with valuable knowledge repackaged and rewritten in my tone of voice, from my learning perspective, techniques I’ve developed myself and in a way that has made the knowledge ‘click’ in my own brain.
Building a fashion file results in a physical, tangible comprehensive resource of knowledge that you can dip into forevermore to enhance your sewing projects.
Why keep a fashion file?
What’s the difference between this and a book? Why bother?
In layman’s terms, the main difference is that your fashion file will be home to a wealth of samples, something a book will never be able to provide. I advise you store all samples the same way for cohesion and organised storage whether that be right side or wrong side facing.
Armed with A4 poly-pockets, you can sample up techniques without feeling obliged to create half a garment just to do so. Concealed zips can be sewn into pieces of fabric and stored in the file opposed to a full garment sample, which provides another great use for your scraps.
You can also interpret your learnings in your own style by building your own file. Think of it like a form of journaling. You can annotate, take photos and make notes in a way that makes sense to you, in a way that allows you to absorb the information.
It’s a great tool to look back on and see how far you’ve come in quality further supporting your self-belief and sewing journey. I look at the French Seam samples in mine from my first year as a student to now as a fully-fledged professional and it’s a needed reminder to quieten the otherwise noisy critic in my creative brain.
If you’re working on a particularly challenging project, documenting the process can really aid in skill retention and be invaluable when you come to visit that method in the future. For example, not all sewing projects include a vent and lining, but recording it in your fashion file will make the process tenfold easier should you revisit the technique 18 months down the line and feel like you’ve forgotten the steps.
Invest in your sewing skills, explore pattern cutting techniques and work through the worksheets and exercises provided in these collectible packs.
Five packs with over 5000 words and 100+ illustrations to add to your fashion file including:
Seams 101
Plain
French
Flat Fell
Welt
Dart Manipulation
1/4 Scale Block Patterns
Pattern Cutting Techniques
Worksheets & Exercises
Zips, Part One
Centred
Fly Front
Concealed
Slash & Spread Sleeves
Pattern Cutting Techniques
1/4 Scale Block Pattern
Sleeve Variation Worksheet
Pocket Basics
Templates
Patch Pockets
In-Seam Pockets
Like what you see? Join us in The DPL Atelier and access everything with our fashion membership for sewists.
Invest in your sewing skills, explore pattern cutting techniques and work through the worksheets and exercises provided in these collectible packs.
Five packs with over 5000 words and 50+ illustrations to add to your fashion file including:
Collars, Part One
The Right Angle Method
How to Draft a Shirt Collar
Hand Sewing, Part One
Slip Stitch Technique
Prick Stitch
Crossing Stitch
Overhand Technique
Draft a Basic Sleeve Block
How to draft a basic one piece sleeve for any armhole.
Shirt Collar Construction
Construction Techniques
Detailed Theory
Pattern Basics
Walking Your Pattern
Truing Your Pattern
Adding Notches
Like what you see? Join us in The DPL Atelier and access everything with our fashion membership for sewists.
Invest in your sewing skills, explore pattern cutting techniques and work through the worksheets and exercises provided in these collectible packs.
Five packs with over 6000 words and 70+ illustrations to add to your fashion file including:
Create a Hood
Measure, draft and construct your own hood for any neckline.
Draft a Skirt Block
Draft a basic skirt block that fits any unique figure. This fashion file pack is a fantastic resource to introduce yourself to pattern cutting techniques.
Ruffles and Flounces
Add a fun, flirty and feminine design detail to any garment with this beginner friendly, fabric manipulation technique.
Sleeve Plackets
Plackets are defined as an opening or slit in a garment which almost always enables clothing to be put on or taken off easily.
Draft a Tailored Collar
With a lapel and revere, you can elevate a basic design into something more refined. This pack helps you achieve the formal look with ease.
Like what you see? Join us in The DPL Atelier and access everything with our fashion membership for sewists.
Invest in your sewing skills, explore pattern cutting techniques and work through the worksheets and exercises provided in these collectible packs.
Five packs with over 10,000 words and 140+ illustrations to add to your fashion file including:
Pockets Continued
Learn how to create front hip pockets and a variety of slashed pockets with this simple guide.
An Introduction to Fitting
Understand how to diagnose fit issues with confidence and clarity whilst developing a fitting process unique to your individual figure.
Sleeve Modifications
Get the most from a basic sleeve block and hack your pattern into more elaborate designs with this easy to follow PDF guide.
Easy Fitting Amendments
Start creating clothes for YOUR unique shape and building a wardrobe tailored to your measurements. This fashion file pack reduces the overwhelm and is a great place to get started for garments that fit like a glove.
Draft a Basic Bodice
This beginner friendly method is designed to reduce the overwhelm of drafting your own block whilst connecting the dots between taking your measurements and applying that to a pattern.
Like what you see? Join us in The DPL Atelier and access everything with our fashion membership for sewists.
so what’s a fashion file pack?
Not to be confused with a tech pack, a fashion file pack is a collectible PDF that details specific sewing methods and pattern cutting techniques in incredibly easy-to-follow and digestible instruction. Inclusive of both written word and ample illustrations, you can select from a range of topics.
If you are a member of The DPL Atelier, you get every single pack included in the membership alongside first access to future releases and a new pack every quarter.
If you purchase any one of our PDF Sewing Patterns, a fashion file pack is included as a bonus product to support your sewing journey and unique creative process. Of course, you can absolutely purchase fashion file packs separately or as bundles detailed above.
So, there we have it! A fantastic resource to start today an improve the future quality of your sewing projects. If you’d like to find out more information you can watch the replay below or visit our fashion file page.
Of course you’ve tapped into some awesome value here, but if you want to catch me at my best, come and join our fashion membership for sewists where I’ll support you towards building your dream wardrobe.
