Patent Application
20100229408
Not Applicable
Not Applicable.
The present invention relates to sewing patterns, and more specifically to the physical aspect and method of creating the patterns. When the document refers to “garment” it refers to any sewn product including, drapes, upholstery, clothing for all types of persons and uses, etc. Any terminology used, unless otherwise stated, and the word pattern refer to a sewing pattern and sewing terminology for the creation of any sewn object.
Since the invention of the sewing machine, patterns have been used in the production process of the garment and sewing industries. They have been used as blueprints for the creation of sewn articles. Specifically, the same process has been used to produce original sewing patterns which are then used by factories to manufacture sewn articles or for resale through various retail outlets to those interested in producing sewn articles for personal use or for using those pattern in commercial enterprises. Unfortunately, such patterns are sized to fit standard shapes and the person doing the sewing typically must modify the patterns so that the final sewn article properly fits the person who will wear the sewn article or to fit the object that is being covered. Modifying such patterns may be particularly difficult due to the complexity of the article to be sewn or the skills of the sewer.
Sewing patterns, such as used by seamstresses and designers for producing articles of clothing, are typically sold in retail stores. Such stores generally maintain numerous standard sewing patterns that cover a wide-range of clothing articles and each pattern is sized to accommodate a small range of measurements. In selecting a pattern, the sewer will review the standard patterns and will select the pattern that most closely conforms to the desired article to be sewn. Often, the available standard pattern will not produce the specific article desired and requires substantial modification. Again, this may be difficult as well as time consuming depending on the complexity of the desired changes and the skills of the sewer.
The form the standard pattern come in determine the steps that must be taken to produce the garments. Generally one standard pattern contains the pieces for one sewn article but it also comes with two or three slight modifications to that one pattern. All those pieces are drawn on brown tissue paper with several parallel lines to account for different sizes or measurements. Also all the pattern pieces are only drawn in halves of the actual piece.
The process of adjusting the pattern to fit specific measurements consists of going back and forth between tracing the pattern unto tracing paper, pinning the pieces together or creating a trial garment out of cheap fabric, adjusting the lines on the pattern, retracing it again unto tracing paper and repeating the process until the pattern fits the required measurements.
Once the consumer has done the painstaking process of adjusting the pattern to fit his or her measurements, the next step for the consumer in working with these patterns would be to transfer the adjusted pattern unto tracing paper (as mentioned above). The original pattern pieces are laid out on a flat surface and tracing paper is carefully placed on top. Then, using a writing instrument the lines of the original pattern are traced unto the tracing paper. The newly transferred lines are then cut out on the outer edge and this new shape is then pinned unto the fabric. The process is repeated for every single component of the selected pattern (every pattern has several components ranging in size from a few to fifty and sometimes even more). It is important to note that pattern pieces are generally sold drawn in half of the actual piece. This is significant because one needs to fold the fabric in half, insert carbon paper in between the folds of the fabric and then pin the traced pattern pieces unto the fabric. The next step is to trace over the edges of the pattern pieces with a tracing wheel putting as much pressure as possible, so that the lines are transferred through the carbon paper to the inner side of the fabric. The pressure caused by the tracing wheel, which is a wheel with pointed edges, sometimes damages the fabric by rupturing it, leaving marks or creating small holes. This is extremely problematic when working with expensive or rare fabrics. The carbon paper sometimes leaves stains on light colored fabrics and also, the transferring of lines through carbon paper is not very accurate because usually the paper moves and the lines do not match entirely or there are pieces of the line missing due to imperfections in the carbon paper. This is difficult when one has to match and sew the garments so that they fit properly on the body.
Once the lines have been traced unto the fabric, one must draw a parallel line to them which is called the seam allowance. This line is used to denote where one must cut the fabric, while the interior line is used to denote where to sew. The seam allowance line measures different distances to the sewing line depending on the garment and which part of the garment the current pattern piece refers to. To draw this line one could either trace a parallel line to the outline of each pattern piece using chalk, tailor's pencil, or a similar fabric marking utensil, which exacerbates the problem of inaccurate lines and improper matching of pieces resulting in an incorrect fit of the garment.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method of supplying patterns for sewing, and a method that permits sewing patterns to be easily modified by the sewer, that permits sewing patterns to be inexpensively maintained and produced, that eliminates or reduces the need for retail stores to maintain large amounts of on-site sewing patterns, that reduces the current time expense in working with sewing patterns, and that expands the range of patterns for nonstandard measurements.
The preferred embodiment of the invention solves the issues mentioned above by customizing the sewing patterns to the users selected measurements before producing the physical pattern. Also in the preferred embodiment of the invention the physical patterns are produced on self-adhesive paper. They are printed with markings where the outer edge is a guideline for cutting. Once the end user receives the pattern he/she will peel the pattern and place it directly unto the fabric. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the sewing pattern will adhere instantly unto the fabric, thus eliminating all the current steps performed while using the current form of sewing patterns (namely tracing, cutting, pinning, transferring, measuring, retracing, etc.).
Since in the preferred embodiment of the invention the pattern is already customized to the users specified measurements, there exists no need for altering the pattern, thus eliminating one more issue with the current sewing patterns. This customization also allows creating sewing patterns for nonstandard sizing, eliminates the need for stores to hold inventory of patterns, and allows patterns to be easily produced and maintained.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the sewing pattern might be composed of strips whose inner and outer edges are used as guidelines as to where to sew and cut. The strips may also contain marks to represent other possible functions and steps in creating a sewn item. These functions could be, but are not limited to folding, top stitching, darting, etc. Or alternatively, the sewing pattern might be a contiguous piece with markings for cutting, sewing, and other functions performed during the aforementioned process.
Another aspect of the preferred embodiment of the invention that creates an advantage over current sewing pattern is the Identification system which marks each seam according to the order in which it should be sewn and to which other pattern piece it should be adjoined. This is not the current practice.
To provide a more detailed understanding of the present invention and the further features and advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The present invention relates to sewing patterns and more specifically to a method and apparatus for providing a sewing pattern for use in producing sewn objects. In describing the preferred embodiments of the invention illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific terms so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents that operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.
A preferred embodiment of the method for creating a sewing pattern is shown comprising two steps. Briefly, the first is the user inputting their personal measurements, or any type of user interaction where the user determines the final measurements of the article to be sewn. The second step is the creation of the pattern which will have its own preferred embodiment.
The interaction of the user with the creation of the pattern will determine the measurements of the pattern and the final shape and purpose of it. The mode of the interaction includes but is not limited to physical, virtual, phone, Internet interaction or any form, combination or evolution of thereof. So the resulting pattern will be customized to the user.
The pattern itself is of a different shape and form than the current patterns available to consumers. The current commercially available patterns are printed on a large sheet of “tissue” paper with the drawings of the pattern pieces cut in half and graded to different sizes (
The use of strips is not limited to representing sewing and cutting lines, in the preferred embodiment of the invention they are used to represent all of the markings needed in completing the sewn garment and also the pattern pieces are printed in full size to eliminate the need of folding the fabric, therefore, where appropriate the preferred embodiment of the invention might present the pattern in a contiguous piece in which the markings perform the same functions mentioned above.
