Commercial dress making uses 3/8" seam allowance, it is easier to sew evenly I find, it’s very close to to the edge of the presser foot. For darts an awl is used to poke a small hole on both corners and the widest part of the long curve. Then you pin along the fold and sew just outside the holes like so.
While my muslin fitting biz seems like a lot of work, this stuff you are talking about with transfering markings and basting seems very time consuming to me, lol!
I am talking the pattern used for home use…it says right on the pattern 5/8 inch seam allowance.
My cousin was a dressmaker and designer in Japan…her seam allowances were huge and she turned them under 1/8 inch and hemmed each one…I kept one of her silk blouses just to oogle the designer touches, like bound buttonholes and organza interfacing. Of course, a blouse like that sold for $$$$$. I rarely sew like that…I even quite finishing the edges…out of the need to get it done and worn.
oh, I like that way of sewing darts! I have an awl…
I bet as a commercial dress maker you can make a muslin fast… except for one wedding dress that was done through the mail, I have never made one…I just buy patterns when they are on sale for a few dollars…and I don’t sew much clothing anymore.
I use my presser foot and a piece of tape to mark for seam allowance, which keeps things simple at 1/4 inch for my projects. The seam allowance on patterns isn’t something that I follow :).
It’s been ages for me because I don’t love it. I do have some fabric purchased to recreate a few fave garments that have worn out and I can’t find replacements. I will cut apart the old things for patterns and using a scanty 3/8" S/A. Poking holes for markings is very fast and easy, you just jab right through the tissue pattern.
I can hand bind button holes, and sew a seamless continental pocket, and invisibly hand pick hems, make a thread hook and eye closure. I just hate that fussy work. It is tedious though, yes, lovely meticulous results. I do adore looking over a garment made with the techniques your cousin uses but I don’t want to do any more of that work myself. I prefer costuming, quick and dirty, get 'er done!
Exactly…I think we talked about this in another thread…just because you can do something doesn’t mean you want to…or have to…I like comfy clothes that don’t require preciseness…stretch is good, too for fit and a good belt if needed…modern times means faster and whatever works!
I’m sewing what accordjng to Google is called tailor tacks - very loose stitches with loops that you cut open to look like this https://images.app.goo.gl/5pQJgPF3X2HDqWLG7
But this isn’t wat you guys mean by tailor’s tacks? This is how I was taught by my mother and sewing teacher, this is how they used to teach it in schools. I was taught to make this stitches around every edge of the pattern piece but I already feel like a rebel because I only stitch around the important parts like darts and neckline. Yes, it’s basically a line of small cut open stitches to show you where to sew. I always make sure to cut the seam allowance very neatly so I can use the edge of my fabric as a guideline so I know where to stitch without using loops.
Removing the pattern and then drawing the markings on is something that hadn’t occured to me because I’ve always been taught not to remove the paper pattern until every line on the pattern was transferred. But you can just take it off and pin it to the other side of the fabric and copy the shape of the dart there? (This is seriously revolutionary!) As for time: drawing this pattern took me about 45 minutes, 15 minutes for cutting, 1 hour for the tailor’s tacks. I think it will be another two hours before it’s finished (simple sleeveless dress).
As for seam allowances, I usually prefer 2 cm. That way there’s some extra fabric in the seams to work with if the finished item doesn’t fit perfectly. American patterns are notorious for including the seam allowance in the pattern and I know a lot of people avoid them for that reason, or they cut off all seam allowances from the pattern before using it.
Yes, those are the same tailor tacks I use. I have skeins of special silk threads that I got in Japan to use so as not to leave any permanent marks on the fabric. It is the more traditional way to mark. I still use them for important markings like darts, buttonholes, etc.
I hate to add seam allowances to patterns, which is why I rarely buy patterns online. I remember when Burda patterns were introduced and so many Americans complained because they cut out the pattern without adding seam allowances!
If I have doubt, I will cut a bigger size and then adjust.
I never remove the pattern until it is marked, but as the video shows, you take out a few pins, put the paper in and trace it to show on both halves. Pretty simple.
I can cut out and entire dress and mark it in about 15 minutes. Including a zipper, I can make a sleeveless dress in about two hours from start to finish if the fabric has been prewashed and ironed.
Now you have me wanting to sew clothing…I think I will try the pattern I bought online…I will have to add seam allowances…but I will eyeball it and add about an inch all around.
I will answer in Dutch. Nothing weird going on here ladies, just easier this way.
Ik heb lessen gevolgd en daar werd mij ook geleerd om alles door te slaan met garen. Dat vind ik echt veel te veel werk en ik gebruik dus alleen mijn verdwijnpen om noodzakelijke aantekeningen te maken op de stof (verkeerde kant). Ik leg mijn papieren patroon op de verkeerde kant van de stof en daar teken ik bijv figuurnaden op met verdwijnstift. Draai het patroon om voor de andere kant van het uitgeknipte patroon.
Een figuurnaad speld ik dan af en dat kan heel precies omdat ik die heb getekend op de stof.
Waar mijn stiknaad loopt, teken ik niet af. Ik gebruik de maat van mijn voetje hiervoor. Alleen bij een mouw en mouwkop teken ik het nog wel eens af en een zoom heeft meer naadtoeslag.
Doorslaan is uiteraard veel preciezer, maar ik speld het liever op mijn pop om het dan te stikken. Het patroon is toch nooit precies mijn maat.
Helpt dit? Ik hoop het! Voel je vrij om vragen te stellen! Ik ben geen coupeuse maar ik kan aardig naaien. 
Yes, you sew very well…I think whatever works for people but I am always learning new tricks from everyone to make my life easier and I also love a disappearing pen as long as I work fast!
@Immaculata also sews well as does those who answered…we have all found our way and new things, too!
Here is the English translation (direct from Google) for those of us that don’t read Dutch 
I took classes and there I was taught to talk everything through with yarn. I think that is far too much work and so I only use my disappearance pen to make the necessary notes on the material (wrong side). I put my paper pattern on the wrong side of the fabric and I, for example, draw darts with disappearing marker on it. Turn the pattern for the other side of the cut-out pattern. I then peel off a figure seam and that is very precise because I drew it on the fabric. I don’t mark where my stitching runs. I use the size of my foot for this. Only with a sleeve and sleeve head do I sometimes sign it off and a hem has more seam allowance. Tipping is of course much more precise, but I’d rather pin it on my doll and then choke it. The pattern is never exactly my size. Does this help? I hope so! Feel free to ask questions! I am not a hairdresser but I can sew pretty well.
Sorry, but this is hilarious!
lol so much is lost in translation but I understood what she was saying…ha ha ha it is hilarious as I am sure the reverse is true!
OMG you girls are crackng me up!
It’s a really quiet day at work so I was secretly checking my phone, but I almost laughed out loud at this!
I don’t use tailor’s tacks for all pattern edges anymore, just for darts and other crucial things. I try to be very precise with cutting the seam allowances. I use a tool like this Seam allowance thingy to help me with the seam allowances. When I use a marker pen I prefer frixion pens that only disappear after ironing.
I imagine working with patterns with or without seam allowances included is just a matter of getting used to it. I have some Simplicity patterns that look really odd to me but I’m sure if I tried it wouldn’t be such a huge problem.
Thanks for starting suck a great discussion. I am learning lots.
For paper patterns I always cut out the most outside line and fold into the size I need before pinning to the fabric. It’s not the most accurate but does allow for reuse without tracing.
I also do a lot of tracing (patterns that don’t come on tissue) and must say that Swedish tracing paper (it’s kind of fabricy) has made that process so much better.
I was taught by my mother who was the shortcut queen. Instead of cutting around those silly diamonds for matching up, she would cut right through them and then clip a small cut into the seam allowance as a marker.
For darts she would mark with pins. stick a pin through each dart dot, then stick a pin through from the other side and pull the two pieces apart. Match up the pins and pin the dart. I don’t think she ever tacked a garment together with thread, it was pins all the way. She was mostly self taught as her mother never learned to sew, and her grandmother (my great) would just lay out the fabric and start cutting. No pattern! She made most my mother’s clothes when my mom was a child.
I rough trim out the pattern pieces, smooth them, pin and cut.
I am so out of practice with making clothing. But I do occasionally make doll clothes and baby outfits. And of course crafty art dolls.
Seam allowance: commercial garment pattern standard is 5/8” or 1.5cm; quilting standard is 1/4”
markings: I actually use blackboard chalk instead of fancy tailor’s chalk; I probably started when I was using the pingpong table in my parents’ basement, which has a chalkboard nearby. I will fold back the pattern to where the dot goes, mark that, & then fold back another layer if there are multiples.
Hahahahaha!! Yes that is hilarious!
No mannequins were murdered while sewing, I promise 
Hahaha! That is funny too!!
Mhm, now I wonder if I used the wrong Dutch word too hahaha
No I did use the right word!
For things like darts in pieces cut on the fold, I use wax tracing paper and a little marking tool that looks like a bone folder. With the tracing paper between the layers, I trace over the pattern line with the tool and that transfers the mark to the fabric. Flip the tracing paper and repeat for the mark on the other side.