Global Approaches to Pattern Cutting-Traditional Freehand Cutting

Today was part 5 of my Global Approaches to Pattern Cutting lecture series. This was session 1 of 2 that explores the process of freehand pattern cutting.

This method has been around for centuries and is primarily used in Africa and Asia. The practice involves drawing measurements directly on to fabric with chalk instead of drafting through metric processes on to paper. In African communities, freehand cutting is taught as part of home economic classes in schools and sometimes, used in small scale production processes.

The process begins with precise measurements being taken from someone; vertical and horizontal, and these are used with added ease amounts to draft the pattern.

Chinelo Bally's Book (Source: thefoldline.com)

Drafting process (Source: Chinellobally.wordpress.com)

There is very little documentation about freehand pattern cutting in the UK. However, one of the books that has been written about this process is 'Freehand Fashion: Learn to Sew the Perfect Wardrobe-No Patterns Required!' by Chinelo Bally. She was a contestant on the Great British Sewing Bee in 2014 and was taught this process by her Aunt, and she also runs classes around the country talking about this practice. The freehand process that she discusses in her book is the Nigerian method, however I understand there is also a Ghanaian method too.

Freehand Fashion by Chinelo Bally (Source: Amazon.com)

My first attempt at a freehand bodice

I personally found this method very hard to understand at first. Having been taught how to pattern draft using metric methods (a la Winifred Aldrich), i found the proportions difficult to work with. It  requires a different way of thinking when you have been used to a more structured way of drafting. However, I tested this process a few times before introducing it to my students.

This method has been tested by a number of sewing bloggers such as The Foldline, House of Pinheiro, Almond Rock and English Girl at home. However, this process isn't without its problems. It can be considered quite wasteful as if a mistake is made, it is difficult to repair, and it cant be used for larger scale production of garments as it is quite time consuming.

In this session, we focused on taking precise measurements that we could use to develop our bodice patterns next week. Take a look at the photos below to see how we got on.



To find out more about Chinelo Bally and the Freehand method, head over to her website.