Making clothes is fun, fashionable, and thrifty...but how can you find a pattern that fits you just right? And how can you adjust it if it doesn't? The book's opening chapters present an illustrated guide to the tools, equipment, and fabrics needed for making garments, while also serving as a miniature textbook to teach basic sewing techniques. This book shows you how to get the most from sewing patterns...from choosing the right size to understanding all the different markings and translating flat shapes into wearable garments. You will learn how to change the shaping, length, and detailing to suit your own body shape, taste, and style. Once you understand how to adapt a store-bought pattern you are well on your way to designing your own clothes. You'll understand how to make a new pattern out of a ready-made store-bought one, or draft your own from scratch. This book is suited to dressmakers' patterns of all shapes and sizes, styles, and skill levels. More than 500 instructive illustrations.