Secret Messages

Have you ever considered: If there were no written pattern instructions, would you be able to put a sewing pattern together? This question isn't meant as a quiz for the highly intelligent or the practiced seamstress. Your answer should be YES, no matter your skill or IQ.

Patterns have within them what I'm going to call "secret messages" that can get ignored, even by those who have sewn for many years. These messages lie on the edges of the cutting line, and inside the pattern itself. Yes, you see them often, and we call them notches and symbols. What the notches and symbols look like will depend upon the program that is making the pattern, and sometimes you'll see various types of symbols (circles, squares, triangles, lines) to keep you clear on what matches to where. Everything should match up perfectly with something- or there is a problem. These are the secret messages that a patternmaker uses to instruct you in assembling the pattern without any written instructions whatsoever.

I'll use the hip sash section of the Myrtlewood pattern to show you what I mean.

Here are two pattern pieces that go together, one on top of the other. Pc. A is actually in two parts, but I'm going to illustrate using the front half only. Pc. A is a 'base' and add stability to pc. B, which is on the bias as you can see.

They both have several written messages (though you may not be able to read them!) and that there are notch marks (like slashes) and symbols on both. The trick is to identify what goes to where. It's like a puzzle almost. It's a good idea to figure all of this out before you start sewing.

Here is a view of the front of that pattern a bit larger.


Can you tell what goes to what?






In the next diagram, I've identified what goes to where. Center Front and Center Back notes let you know where that pattern matches up down the front and back. See the full size pattern for pc. B above for the message in red on that topic below.

You might also like to know that when the instructions designate a "left" or "right" side, it is the left or right as it would be if you are wearing it.

These messages are a very important key to assembling your pattern, so I hope they won't be such a "secret" anymore. I challenge you to put your next pattern together without written instructions. See if you can decipher; what message is the patternmaker sending you?