Hand Drafting Patterns Vs Computerized pattern making
Introduction
Pattern making is the art of manipulating and shaping a flat piece of fabric to conform to one or more curves of the human figure. There are three methods of pattern making: drafting, draping and flat paper pattern making (Bhati, n.p). I will focus on drafting; this is making patterns directly from measurements taken from a preexisting garment, an individual, or a body form. Hence, by using the collected measurements, the pattern is drawn straight on paper (Ng).
This paper will therefore try to compare between hand drafting patterns and computerized pattern making. The comparison will hinge on a number of factors such as cost, efficiency, equipments, time, quality and other factors as discussed in this discourse.
Quality and fit
Computerized pattern making produces better and quality patterns that fits well compared to handmade Patterns. This is because the patterns made by computer are of superior quality compared to that made manually, as fitness of patterns created by CAD (computer-Aided Drafting) are better than those made by hand drafting.
In similarity, quality and fit patterns can save time, energy, and money. This is because most patterns are accurate to a point and enables good fitting. In addition, it is difficult to determine desired pattern for large-scale production.
Preference, availability of equipment and skills
Compared to computer pattern making most people prefer using hand draft pattern because they are available, easy, and cheap than CAD, which is expensive. In computerized pattern making a maker can change the styling in accordance to customer’s preferences for instance adding darts, dropping and allows viewing compared to handmade drafting which may not allow adjustments as once a pattern has been cut it is difficult to change the measurements not unless the pattern maker left seam allowances while cutting.
In similarity, they both require specific tools for instance, hand drafting pattern-drawing tools includes pencils, scales, parallel rules, templates and razors, this requires repetitive drawing and editing tasks while CAD has a variety of drawing tools to create a pattern and it is easy to manipulate the patterns to a desired shape. In addition, knowledge and skills pattern construction is vital in using both manual and computerized pattern making.
The cost
Most people use hand-drafting patterns compared to the computerized pattern making, because they are cheap, and making the pattern manually is easy while the CAD is expensive and requires computer knowledge and skills to use it. In most cases, CAD system is unavailable to most of the users, it is expensive or they do not know how to use it. However, CAD can help minimize fabric usage and saves labor costs.
In similarity, users/pattern maker requires adequate knowledge and skills to understand both hand and computerized pattern making process.
Time
CAD pattern making reduces time required to cut out pieces of patterns, it also reduces time needed to trivial corrections or styling adjustments compared to hand drafting pattern which is likely to take much time during the cutting of a piece to a desired design and layout. In similarity, we can say that both they are time consuming depending on the users, tools and skills while making a pattern.
Speed
Computerized pattern making has eased the speed in making the patterns especially in performing repetitive time-consuming tasks compared to manually drafting, as one has to draft repeatedly the same pattern over time. In addition, CAD, reduce time required to design a layout. In similarity, both hand and computerized pattern making have a challenge with the issue of speed as sometimes patternmaking process can be delayed by the tools used or on by the user’s inefficiency and lack of equipments.
Scaling and accuracy designs
Computerized pattern making produces accurate designs as drawings can be created in both 2/3D and rotated compared to hand drafting, where a patternmaker must first determine the scale of a view before beginning to draw. In similarity both requires the maker to know the measurement of the scale before drawing a model at a certain scale. In addition, accuracy is required to attain the desired pattern and measurements. In addition, it is hard to determine the average body measurements for target consumers on a large commercial scale.
Pattern Modification.
While using manually drafting one must erase and redraw the pattern again when you need to make changes or revise the object, this can be tedious compared to computerized pattern making as it eliminates this and it is easy to edit a pattern by modifying the existing objects using various commands and computer tools instead of having to erase it.
While in similarity, modification of a pattern requires revision, whether you work on paper or with CAD. Moreover, pattern storage is difficult in manual patterns, as you have to destroy the patterns after some time due to space and hard to find any pattern in case of a repeat order, this has been eased by CAD due to large storage of data on computers and easy to retrieve a pattern and manipulated.
Conclusion
In sum, regardless of the tools one uses, a user should always choose the desired pattern maker that suits him/her. Since quality of the pattern has nothing to do with the tools used, rather it depends on the skills of the patternmaker. As both hand draft pattern and computer pattern have benefits and drawbacks.
Works Cited
Bhati, Mithlesh. Basics of pattern making.2011.Print
<http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/35/3431/basics-of-pattern-making1.asp>
Ng, Roger. Discovering Garment Pattern Design: Vol 1 Basic Concepts. Ed. Chin, Helen. Hong Kong, 2001, Print.